Northern Uprising

It's been six years overdue...

LET'S GO RAPTORS!

Coconut Snowballs

Even though we Torontonians are ready to say goodbye to this cold weather, Q's buddy, the Snowman, is gonna miss his favourite season. To cheer up the Snowman, Q and I baked snowballs. Coconut snowballs!

Coconut Snowballs 

1 3/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut, divided

2 teaspoons melted coconut oil

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Place 1 cup of shredded coconut in a food processor along with the coconut oil. Process on high speed, scraping down the sides periodically, until it reaches a paste-like consistency.

Add the maple syrup, coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and process until well combined. Add 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut and pulse until just combined.

Shape the mixture into 12 (1-inch) balls and coat with the remaining shredded coconut. Refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before eating.

Source: The Kitchn

There were a lot of firsts with this recipe - first time using a food processor, first time baking with coconut, and first time using coconut oil. It was also my first time baking something gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan. I am using the term "baking" loosely. As you can see from above, no baking required!

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!

We Are Winter

The Quatchis and I were so busy watching the Olympics we didn't have time to blog about them! CBC was awesome and had webcasts of everything. My favourite sport was figure skating. Q and the Mins loved the other skating events - speed skating, short track, and long track. Canada did really well this year, placing third overall with 25 shiny new medals. Yay, Canada!!!

French Getaway - Part Deux

Our third and final day in Montreal was sunny and crisp! We spent the majority of the morning watching the Olympics and on Mont-Royal. It's a bit blurry, but can you see the 1976 Olympics stadium in the background?

We had a good skate at Beaver Lake. BC and I pretended to be speed skaters.

After some exercise, we had the best poutine we could find in the city at La Banquise. We opted for a large and finished it all.

We also went to the best bagel joint that I know of - St-Viateur. I bought a dozen to share with my co-workers back in Toronto. They were tres heureux!

The weekend flew but we had a great time. Au revoir, Montreal!

French Getaway

The Mins, Maggie, BC, and I escaped to Montreal last weekend. We got there in a jiff via Porter. The Mins and Maggie enjoyed some bball clips on BC's iPad on the way. We also watched a bunch of Olympics. We are so proud of our Canadians!

After some brisk shopping on Saint-Catherine (I was on a mission to get to Simons before it closed), we indulged in a Montreal staple - smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz's. YUM!

We then relaxed at our hotel, the Omni,  before BC and I left to meet a friend at Mme. Lee. It was all very French until we saw their featured cocktail - the Rob Ford!

The next morning, we went to Le Cartet with one of my besties from Western. The place was hopping! I got the "healthy brunch", knowing for what we were up for later that evening.

After brunch we visited the Musee des beaux-arts. Luckily, the place wasn't busy so we were able to enjoy the large pieces of art from afar.

The highlight of our trip was Cabane a Sucre. It was a feast of five appetizers, three mains, and four desserts. Everything was rich, plentiful, and over-the-top. The Mins was excited to try different foods. Here, BC is serving him a baked yam, topped with whipped marshmallow and maple syrup.

Naturally, being at a sugar shack, maple syrup was in everything! One of the desserts were maple syrup pops. Pure liquid gold it was. And refreshing after our glutinous meal!

We spent one more day in Montreal. I'll save it for another post. G'night!

We Heart You!

Wishing everyone lots of love and happiness this February the 14th!

Happy tummies make happy Quatchis so we went all out making dinner at home.

Sending lots of hugs to all our quatchtastic friends around the world!