Sometimes I feel I should be living in the country. Or at least a little more rural than downtown Toronto. I like activities that are mainly associated with rural life. Last week I went strawberry picking with some friends and my girls. It was raining on Saturday so our family spent the morning in the kitchen. Jess and Reya were grinding flour from spelt and wheat berries for our Sunday pancakes. Wini and I made jam from our picking haul. I can envision spending more days like these. The only improvement would be to be able to look out my kitchen window and see a lot more space.
Part of the problem is that I can only envision good times in the summer. I'm not sure I am cut out for long Canadian winters outside of city limits. I'm sure we would spend time outside making massive igloos and cross country skiing. But those scenarios are always interspersed with visions of me looking out a snowy window eating chocolate by myself and wondering where all the people are.
My ideal situation would be to sell my house in Toronto and buy a fabulous place in the country with lots of space to roam around. But here's the catch, all my family and friends would have to come with me. I am way too social to leave my Toronto network. I've been building up this network my whole life . I'm not sure I could move and throw it all away. Oh I'm sure they would come visit and I'm positive there are some cool country folk that I would like to befriend. I'm just too comfortable in my little life here in the big smoke. Even if the grass is just as green in rural Ontario, I think I'm going to stay on my tiny patch in Toronto.
adapted from The Globe and Mail
6 slices of toasted crostini
12 ounces of goat cheese
1 pint of strawberries
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tbsp of lime juice
1 tbsp of diced pickled jalapenos
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
freshly ground pepper to taste
freshly ground sea salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil
2 tbsp fresh chopped mint
Spread generous amounts of goat cheese on toast. Combine all the other ingredients to make salsa. Top toasts with salsa and serve.
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