Thanks Meet for all your hard work and sharing your Diwali traditions with us all! Here are some great photos from Friday’s Community Lunch.

We’ve got heaps! Last week at Preserves Group we made 24 jars in just 1.5 hours - very industrious and efficient.

So now we have loads of cucumber pickles, tomato relish and marmalade for sale. If you’d like some drop past $7 a jar. The profits support our AAA programs.

Thanks to those that came along.

With the return of daylight savings comes the return of the social Fridays nights at Alphington Bowls Club. Try your hand at bowls, meet locals, have a drink with your friends or family and some dinner … Great prices. Great food. Great company!

Out Men’s Breakfast on Saturday 28 October has been cancelled. John has fractured his hip. Poor thing!

We wish him a speedy and straightforward recovery - and will keep you updated in the next event scheduled for Saturday 15 November.

We’ve had an abundance of leafy greens growing in the garden and they are all about to go to seed. If you are in the same boat (ready to harvest leafy greens) here’s a great recipe we trialled at Garden To Plate this week.

We used bok choy - but you can use whatever you have.

Bok Choy with Ginger

Ingredients

• 6 small bok choy

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup ginger finely julienned

• 1/4 cup water (for steaming)

• 3 tsp cornflour

• 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp oyster sauce

• 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine

• 1 tsp sesame oil 

• 1/4 cup water (for sauce)

• salt

• white pepper

Instructions

• Trim the base of the bok choy then separate all the leaves. Cut the larger stems in half lengthwise so all the leaves are roughly the same size. Wash thoroughly and pat dry.

• Mix the cornflour, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine and sesame oil together to make a smooth paste, then add the water. Season with salt and pepper.

• Saute the ginger in the oil until it turns golden (about 1 minute). Then add the bok choy and toss to combine.

• Add 1/4 cup of water and turn the heat up with the lid on, so the bok choy steams for 1 minute.

• Remove the lid, add the sauce and gently stir until the sauce thickens. The bok choy should still have a soft crunch. If the sauce is too thick you can add more water.

• Serve with rice.