Last Saturday, Melissa and I had guests and I wanted to impression them with my highly developed culinary skills that come from a long French lineage and a so exquisite French tradition.

Anyway, in addition of the Bœuf Bourguignon, and the Gratin Dauphinois, I decided to cook two Tartes Tatin.

Having sold most of our pans in a garage sale last month, I went to buy some new ones on Saturday afternoon but since I was not sure which one to use and given my tardiness and available choices, I picked two very nice springform pans.

I started to melt sugar and butter on the stove and noticed a small leak at the bottom of the pan. This was not a big deal, the stove is actually easy to clean.

I peeled and sliced twenty apples and stacked them in the pans. I then covered the pans with fresh made crust and shove them in the oven at 400F.

There was more caramel leaking at the bottom and some smoke. This was not a big deal. the oven is actually easy to clean.

The smoke detector went off in the foyer. This was not a big deal, the fire alarm is connected to the burglar alarm and it was not a big deal to silence it on the wall panel.

Six o’clock arrives and one of my guest calls to tell me he is in the neighborhood looking for the house.

I hear sirens in the distance. This was not a big deal, must be some firefighters late for tea.

It turned out that the fire alarm is in fact monitored and the alarm company called the fire department. My guests arrived on one end of the street while the three fire trucks (a full box in their jargon) arrived at the other end of the street. Everybody stopped at our house and for some reasons, our guests were hesitant to come in.

The two firefighters were not so hesitant and they kindly checked that everything was ok before going on their merry way.

Our kind landlord was surprised to receive a phone call from the Alarm Agency.

No tarte tatin that evening but we had a nice chocolate cake brought by one of the guest and I need to buy the proper pans. Springform pans are evil…

One of the side benefits of moving to a foreign country is that you get to enjoy its culture more closely. We are watching a lot of movies, and it is nice to discover new Canadian movies when visiting the local Blockbuster. Yesterday, we watched A Stone’s Throw directed by Camelia Frieberg.

Set in Nova Scotia, it tells the story of a photo-journalist who is fighting corporations for Nature rights. There are many surprises along the way. I liked the way the story was told. I will not say more so you can enjoy the movie.

I also enjoyed the following Canadian movies that you can easily find in the USA:

• Away from her
• Juno
• Les Invasions Barbares