Un four, une clementino, et les visiteurs

I have been corresponding to some of you about our recently acquired “oven,” but I seem to have raised some levels of confusion. I am going to use the term “oven” here loosely. Our “oven” is actually an all in one microwave, grill and convection oven, and to make things all the more interesting you can combine the functions. Yes you can microwave and grill your roast at the same time. We are very pleased with this appliance, though it is still taking quite a bit of getting used to to figure out how long to cook things for and what the temperature should be in degrees Celsius. Now what I think has caused some confusion is that as soon as I say oven you think about your standard size oven that fits a turkey and at least two cookie trays. Oh my lovely North American readers, that is so not the case. Our kitchen space is definitely limited and really an actual size oven would never fit. Instead our oven is on top of our fridge.

Ah! I can see the light bulb going on. Tu comprends?

The oven will definitely add a bit more diversity to our culinary adventures, but it is definitely not the same as at home. Another culinary addition we have made is a clementino tree to our balcony. We actually got it especially for Christmas, and instead of a Christmas tree we will have a Clementine tree and then eat the clementines for our Christmas oranges! The tree is supposed to be outside all year round and it grows its blooms between November and March.

In addition to an oven and a Clementine, we have also acquired some visitors! Elise and Adrian arrived at our place at 3:00 am Tuesday morning after rearranging flights and multiple delays. It was a bit of an ordeal on their part, but we are now together and beginning the Christmas preparations.

Unfortunately their first day in Marseille consisted of a continual downpour that left all of our shoes beyond soggy. Good thing we invested in some washable slippers for guests for our cold floor.  

Hopefully the weather will cheer up and Père Noël will find us!