This Is Not A Toy

The Design Exchange has great exhibits, and this one was no exception. The Mins joined BC and I to see "This Is Not A Toy", co-curated by Pharrell Williams.

This sculpture is called The Simple Things. It's hard to see, but the items are encrusted with thousands of diamonds and other precious stones.

The Mins liked these smiley guys. They are from a series called Wish Come True.

I have friends in Hong Kong that collect To-Fus. They take the To-Fus on their travels, like I do with the Quatchis.

Can you guess who designed this Be@rbrick? Mr. Lagerfield, of course! The Chanel doll was donated by Jeanne Beker.

This KAWS piece was one of the largest at the exhibition...

...and these guys were some of the smallest. There were rows upon rows upon rows of them! We felt like kids in a toy shop!

Swan Lake with the Perfect Date!

Maggie is really getting into the culture scene here in Toronto. She was the perfect date to see Swan Lake at the Four Seasons. We pounced on a last minute deal and got amazing orchestra seats for $33 a pop. For once, we weren't in the nosebleeds!

The ballet was beautiful! I know the music quite well but haven't seen the ballet in full nor live. Maggie quite liked the snazzy building too. For such a little monster, it was a big place to be!

It's 11:18 PM...

We planned on going to bed early, but we were wide awake! What to do...what to do...

The Mins had an idea - make a simple dessert! After a quick Google search, we came across an easy peasy brownie recipe. It involved few ingredients, one mug, and 75 seconds in the microwave.

 The photo doesn't do it justice but the brownie turned out great. We'll be keeping this recipe in our roster for when we need a chocolate fix. Now to bed we go!

For 30 other mug recipes, check out No. 2 Pencil.

Our Second Lemon Tart / Pie

The last time we made a lemon tart, it was an epic disaster! My crust was the downfall. Since Q and I were baking for a dinner party this weekend, we didn't want to take any risks, and bought a pre-made pie shell. Thank youuuuu, Tenderflake!

Whole Lemon Tart

1 partially baked 9-inch tart shell

1 average-sized lemon, rinsed and dried

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon table salt

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 F. Place the tart shell on a baking sheet.

Slice the lemon into thin wheels, remove any seeds, and toss the rounds (lemon flesh and peel), sugar, and chunks of butter into a food processor. Process until the lemon is thoroughly pureed. Add the eggs, cornstarch, and salt and pulse until the batter is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared tart shell. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the filling is set. Cool on a rack, unmold tart pan, and serve.

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Our Quatchtastic notes: Q and I were able to make do with a blender as opposed to a food processor. We used one regular lemon, and the fleshy half of another. We had enough batter to fill one 9-inch pie shell and four mini tart shells. The 9-inch pie took almost 60 minutes to set (the oven we used was an oldie). If we had powdered sugar, we would have sprinkled it on top to cover up some of the imperfections. We ate the pie warm and chilled. Both ways tasted great!