At Home with Monsters and Crepes

About 2 weeks ago I attended the Guillermo del Toro exhibit "At Home with Monsters", at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. This was an exhibit that gave an inside look into his home, "The Bleak House". This house is filled with life-like figures of freaks and monsters, a large research library filled with creepy comic books, a rain room with an Edgar Allen Poe figure, as well as sliding bookshelves, and secret passages.

I must mention that Del Toro recently won a 2018 Golden Globe Award for Best Director for "Shape of Water". This guy loves his monsters.

What I love about many stories about monsters is that they are romantic stories. Finding romance amongst the myriads of imperfections. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a perfect example, and happens to be one of my favourite novels.

It was an interesting exhibit. I really enjoyed seeing the life-like figures, which were made from silicon. Being able to glimpse through his creative journals was very interesting. I enjoyed seeing how chaotic his journals are, filled with stories, notes, and sketches. Inspiring for my journaling as I tend to get stuck in trying to be perfect, when really there is no such thing as perfect.

I grew up with a love for anything out of the ordinary. Finding the beauty and the good in things that were imperfect or odd. Steering clear of the status quo and things that just seemed too good to be true. That's what interested me in visiting "At Home with Monsters".

I'm glad I went as I do love art and history. But the crowd really turned me off. It just didn't feel special anymore and now became mainstream.

The exhibit was so jam packed with admirers or just those who are curious and happen to have an AGO membership. My husband enjoyed taking photos of the life-like silicon figures, while I tried to navigate my way through the crowds. Gosh, I felt like a bit of a freak shuffling and stumbling through the crowd, trying to keep my balance. I wasn't expecting such a crowd, and with having Post Concussion Syndrome, crowds can make life a little difficult. Anyways, I felt like I fit in just fine.

Anyways, below are some photos that are pretty cool. I'm off to make crepes. I have a dozen eggs in my fridge that are going to expire, so what better way to use them up.

Crepes are unbelievably easy to make. I love making a stack and having them handy in my fridge. If you roll them up and slice them into 1/2" wide strips, you have easy egg noodles, or you can stuff them with anything really...making them savoury or sweet. It's all up to you!

Tools: Crepe pan

Ingredients:
8 ounces milk/water/broth (liquid or weighted)
8 ounces eggs (4 large eggs)
4 ounces of flour (about 1 cup)
Pinch of salt (add 1/2 tsp if your crepes will be savoury)

Optional: add 1 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of real vanilla extract if your crepes will be sweet.

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Let the batter rest at least for 30 minutes, or covered for a day maximum in the refrigerator.

Swirl 1 tsp of butter in the pan. Add about 1/2 cup of batter to the pan, making sure to swirl the batter until it is covering the entire bottom of the pan. Allow the crepe to cook for a minute, completely untouched. The crepe needs time to set. Flip the crepe over and finish cooking for a minute on the other side.

Transfer the crepe to a cooling rack.

Storing crepes: stack them together on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Store them in the refrigerator.

Gluten Free Note:
Because crepes have a high amount of eggs in it's ingredients, just about any gluten-free flour can be substituted. I have tried millet and quinoa flour and experienced perfect results. I would be cautious of trying coconut flour and oat flour because they absorb quite a bit of liquid. One of the important characteristics of crepe batter is it's liquid consistency. It needs to be fluid in order to cover the crepe pan.

Enjoy!

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