Spencer, the Cake Tester

I baked two cakes, a chocolate olive oil cake and a lemon polenta cake, and asked Spencer to taste test. He preferred the lemon polenta cake. To be honest, I must agree with him, though the chocolate olive oil cake was still very good.

I will keep both recipes in my toolkit since they were fairly simple. Would love to hear what other peeps have been baking these days!

CHAMPIONS

Spencer, B, and I are so pleased that the Raptors are the NBA champs!!!

Spencer was calm, cool, and collected as he watched game six. I on the other hand was stress eating - polishing off a whole sleeve of arrowroot cookies in the final quarter.

We the North! We the North!

Nap

Spencer is enjoying a nap in the afternoon sunshine.

We hope everyone is having a fantastic day so far!

The Rock

Spencer joined B and I for a hike a few weekends ago. We went to Rock Dunder, a wilderness area 30 minutes away from Kingston. Rock Dunder used to be Boy Scout camp and is the highest point of land in the area. It was a hot and steamy hike, but the view was worth it!

Overnighter at the Shangri-La

We had the opportunity to stay at Toronto's Shangri-La at a fantastic price. Spencer and Dumbo were game for a swanky overnighter. They each brought a magazine to read in the afternoon...

...did a bit of work...

 ...took a bath (Spencer was insistent on wearing a shower cap!)...

...and watched TV in bed!

Happy weekend!

Mmm...cake!

I have been perusing many baking blogs lately, and came across this Swedish Visiting Cake on Pastry Affair. Spencer was a big help.

He made sure I had all the ingredients ready...

...told me when the butter started to brown...

...mixed orange zest with sugar...

...sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the batter...

 ...kept an eye on the cake while it was baking...

...and waited for the cake to cool before slicing some up for his pals...

We didn't use any leavening agents so the cake was flat and chewy. We had a wedge with some black tea for an afternoon snack. The cake is supposed to get better with age so we can't wait to try it tomorrow, and even the next day.

Mmm...cake!

Bedtime Reading

The Quatchis are big on reading and this has rubbed off on Spencer. We recently finished The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. Spencer is currently reading Nudge by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler. Let us know of any other books we should add to our roster!

Bake Sale Treats

Spencer and I whipped up some treats for a charity bake sale at my office. They were insanely easy and a hit among my co-workers. Check out the great recipes below!

Green Tea Chocolate

http://www.justonecookbook.com/green-tea-chocolate

Nutella Truffles

http://eugeniekitchen.com/nutella-chocolate-truffle

Knock Knock!

Look who arrived! It's Spencer from Monster Factory, and he's ready to move in!

Snowman showed him where to unpack his belongings...

...and then introduced him to the friends! Maggie and Colin are out and about but knew Spencer was coming. Welcome, Spencer!