Oh man, so I've been thinking about moving to Montreal for ages. Like, years. It's been hanging over my head for so long, especially every time I have to move apartments, and I have to move apartments in 6 weeks. It's not my dream city, but Montreal has a lot going for it. The atmosphere is so much more relaxed, and the apartments are so big, and sunny, and half the price they would be in Toronto. The music scene is definitely decent. I could live in Mile End, and walk up the mountain every week. I could buy wine at the corner store until 11!!! (Toronto peeps, you know how it is). But the main reason is something I learned a few years ago, when I relocated actually way further than a $30 Megabus away, and that is; always keep moving. Every time I make a mental pro and cons list for moving to Montreal, the pro list trumps the con list, no contest. It's not even that I like it better than Toronto, 'cause I don't, but I strongly believe there's more to be gained in being somewhere new, than you could ever lose from the experience. Almost no hardship I could imagine of building a new life somewhere wouldn't be overshadowed with the inherent reward therein. And so, I feel pretty sure I should just fucking do it already, before it becomes something I just talk about, and never do. But for some reason, I don't feel very brave about it at the moment.
Anyway, back in March, I got to visit with Zoe! I know her from Toronto, from the music scene, she's been in a few pretty cool bands, she now spends most of her time in Montreal. But for a while she was living in Africa, so I feel like she's a doubly good person to talk to about this, 'cause she knows what it's like to want to be somewhere new, and she's probably also the right amount of MTL-biased I need to encourage me to go. Anyway, this post is like months late, but it was really good to catch up, and hear about her adventures, and at the time, we were actually deliberating over her moving situation. And she came over and baked bread in my (old) apartment. Always impressive and fun to watch! Here's the process, sandwich to follow.
Yea, so there's the bread, so cool, right? No, I'm not going to give instructions. It's a sourdough with cranberries and walnuts, and topped with, um, I forget. And that's about all I remember, other than some vague kneading, folding, and waiting. It smelled AMAZING, though I didn't eat because of le gluten.
The sandwich I'm really happy with though. It was totally her idea. It's effortless, and unpretentious. You couldn't call it ambitious, it's just so much more interesting than that. It's got tons of style, and depth. There's just something so damn Montreal about it. And bread DIY, I mean, come on. Great afternoon.
Here's what's in it:
cranberry and walnut sourdough (homebaked)
green onion cream cheese
cucumber
pea sprouts
dill
Himalayan salt
fresh black pepper
Not even toasted, because this bread is fresh out of the oven.
Zoe topped it with a blackberry, because Zoe has good instincts.
I insisted that I enjoy watching people eat, even if I'm left out, 'cause it's true.
Thanks girl. See you again sometime!
xx Emily
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