'Tis the Season to start Cooking....

The season at Cuisine de Provence starts this coming Wesdnesday and I am really looking forward to meeting my first guests who flew in from Australia! The new aprons have arrived just in time, I have busily been testing recipes on my favorite and ever patient OH guinea pig and today I started spring cleaning the kitchen. First step: putting my overflowing bookcase that holds most of my cookbooks into some kind of order. Not an easy task! Not only because I own more cookbooks than I care to admit (and still regularly break my self imposed ban on buying new ones) but because I got stuck reading - and these are just a few of the books that kept me from getting my task done today....

In here I found the inspiration for a lovely raspberry clafoutis that has become one of our favorite desserts - thinking of it, I can't wait for new raspberries to be found at Vaison's Tuesday market....

Not only am I really, really jealous that I didn't think of this title first but also, given my love for tarts, quiches and the like that I didn't write it! This fabulous book is a great source of ideas whenever a fast lunch is needed.

Found a real good recipe for "Ketchup à la Provençale" in Gui Gedda's sumptous Provence cookbook today that I will try out as soon as there are decent tomatoes to be found. Too early yet. Anybody who is interested in Provençal cooking and looking for a cookbook - this is the one!

And now -  back to the kitchen.....