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!

Muffins by Maggie (and Colin!)

Maggie was reunited with her cousin, Colin, this past weekend. And great news - he's here to stay! Maggie wanted to show Colin her super duper baking skills. She also wanted to show him how to wear a muffin liner like a fancy hat.

The Best Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon until fluffy. Beat in eggs, then stir in the milk. Mix in the flour just until combined, then the chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake the muffins for approximately 30 minutes.

Source: Cinnamon-Spice & Everything Nice

LWA's Newest Member

Meet the Letter Writers Alliance's newest member!

Q is a keen letter writer. He loves keeping in touch with friends around the world. He asked me to sew the LWA badge onto one of his belongings. I'm thinking his backpack...or maybe one of his shirts?

Bonsai Thanksgiving

Just chilling with our new bonsai tree on this fine Sunday.

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends!

King of the Mountain

It was a huge treat to hang out with my good friend, Michelle. We've known each other since grade six. She's been working and living in Calgary for the past few years. I haven't seen her since last summer.

We lucked out with awesome weather when we ventured out to Banff. It was much better than the flurries I encountered when I flew in to Calgary a few days before.

The gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain was worth every penny. It took us 8 minutes to go up to 7,486 feet. Hiking up the mountain would have been fun but we didn't have the time. The hike would take anywhere between two to five hours.

The views were spectacular!!! To the left of Mini's shoulder is the Banff Springs Hotel. The very blue body of water in the distance is Lake Minnewanka.

There is an old meteorological observatory building at the top of Sanson Peak. It cost $950 to build back in 1903.

Thanks, Mini! I was wondering where to find Toronto...

There are many shops, restaurants, and bars along the main drag in town. Mini was super excited when he found the Dancing Sasquatch! It wasn't open so we opted for a dance party in the street instead.

Sending lots of love to Michelle in Calgary! Thank you for being an excellent host!

One Day in Cowtown

I went to Calgary last week for work. Mini joined, since I extended my stay to visit a friend. On our first free day, we walked all around downtown. I completely forgot to take any photos in the morning since it was so chilly out. We accomplished a lot in a few hours - we checked out Kensington, the Peace Bridge, the Bow Valley Pathway, and Prince's Island Park.

Mini is pointing to the Chinese Cultural Centre. We dipped in quickly before heading to Chinatown and grabbing a bite to eat.

There's a decent amount of public art in the city. This sculpture is by Jaume Plensa, a Spanish artist. 

Olympic Plaza was much smaller than we expected. If we had more time, we would have went to Canada Olympic Park - the main site of the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Mini is standing in front of a newspaper being held up by Nellie McClung. She, along with four other women that make up this monument, were very important for women's rights in Alberta.

Though not as tall as the CN Tower, the Calgary Tower has the highest 360 observation deck in the world.

Mini was very patient while I went shopping along Stephen Avenue Walk. There's no provincial sales tax in Alberta, so I tried to take advantage of some good deals.

Graceland

With less than 24 hours to go in Nashville, we made the last minute decision to rent a car and drive to Graceland. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but totally worth it. I doubt we will be coming back to Tennessee anytime soon.

Elvis bought this house for him and his parents in the 1950s for $100,000. The property was named Graceland by the original owner.

Each room in the house was very different. We liked the living room the most.

Maggie posing with a portrait of Elvis, in the foyer.

This is the famous "Jungle Room", complete with waterfall (though not pictured). I'm sure this place was really hip back in the day!

Downstairs in the media room. Not too sure how I feel about that monkey on the coffee table, but the three TVs in the background are a nice touch.

Jumpsuits, jumpsuits everywhere! It was cool to see his stage outfits, including these.

Paying our respects to the King himself. The flowers in the photo were sent from various fan clubs across the states.

Popped into another building to Elvis' car collection. Maggie photobombed the Ferrari!

A Little Bit Country

Howdy! Maggie and I had a great time exploring Nashville with two of my friends. We covered a lot of ground in just a few days. Here are some highlights.

Checking out cowboy boots. They were buy one, get two free!

Admiring the awesome letterpress at Hatch Show Print.

Visiting the Parthenon at Centennial Park.

Maggie, we're not in Nashville anymore!

Outside of RCA Studio B, the recording home of many country music stars.

Inside the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In front of a small sample of country music's best sellers.

Taking a rest at Belle Meade Plantation.

Making a pit stop for some goodies at the Loveless Cafe.

Baking Momofuku Corn Cookies

We were on a baking hiatus and are back in full force! We look forward to sharing a whole bunch of recipes we have lined up for the rest of the year.

Today, the Quatchis were itching to try the corn cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar. The recipe is not as complex as the cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow cookie or the chocolate-chocolate cookie, but it involves a very unique ingredient - freeze-dried corn powder. We tried hunting down said corn powder at a grocery store with no such luck. We ultimately opted to buy a bottle of it from the Milk Bar itself.

We made a double batch, and kept half the dough to bake later on in the week. The dough really spreads out in the oven, so be sure to leave lots of space in between the cookies.

Special shout out to Sarah who bought us these charming measuring cups! We used them for this recipe. Thanks again for the thoughtful gift!

Name those Cities

Maggie joined my gal pals and I on another girls getaway!

Can you guess where we went?

City #1

City #2