May - I'm Dreaming of...

May is proving to be a very busy month.

My baking momentum had stalled, started again with a sputter, and was quickly quieted with a power outtage and illness.  I made the above tart shell (with my new rectangular tart pan from Williams Sonoma!) and a load of lemon curd during Mother's Day weekend, but never got a chance to put it together.  It was so sad when I had to compost the shell and the very creamy lemon curd. 

I've been dreaming about baking for most of this month and May is almost over without as much as a small batch of cookies.

BUT, I think there is one word that I would have liked May to be or to be more precise, I'd like to have been a Flâneur, which according to Wikipedia means "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", or "loafer".  I came across this term from Anthony Bourdain's Layover Paris episode and if it's anything I love to do on a lazy afternoon, it's to stroll around.

To stroll, lounge is something that is awesome in the Toronto spring weather.  I love the idea of walking and then just popping into a cafe or something to rest, have a drink and chat.  Then walking to peruse some clothing shops or wandering the neighbourhood with no purpose but to see what might catch our attention.  However, most often then not, we're headed directly for a specific place/restaurant/cafe...it isn't something that you just wander upon. 

In Toronto, I find it hard to pinpoint an area that would be a "cafe hopping" neighborhood.  Kensington Market does come to mind though.  There are some independent coffee houses, little restaurants, and vintage shops where people could wander and spend an afternoon visiting a few establishments. Pedestrian Sundays is a great opportunity to wander the Kensington Market area which actually starts May 31st this year.  Queen West (Ossington area) and College Street are other areas that could be "cafe hopping" neighborhoods but I guess the length of walking to me is short and it really is one strip. 

Here are some cafe hopping areas...in Seoul, and of course I have to mention Taipei, here, and here. And just recently, a Taipei city guide that expresses the best of wandering the Taipei's streets and alleys.

Here's to hoping one of the last few days in May will be as wistfull as the word flâneur sounds and as relaxing as watching cherry blossoms drift to the ground!