Provençal Cooking Class

Dear Lovely,

As you know, The France Dance and I are guest hosting a fabulous trip to Provence, France with A Taste of Paris in September 2027. To kick off all the excitement, we co-hosted a cooking class last week and celebrated the flavors of Provence at Lorie’s new home. Many of the ladies that attended are also traveling to Provence with us next year, and I told the ones that weren’t that I hoped traveling with Lorie was in their near future, because everytime I travel to France with A Taste of Paris, my life changes.

Below are pictures of Lorie and me in Paris, September 2026, and in Cassis, September 2023.

So today, I just wanted to give a fun little recap of the class complete with lots of delicious pictures.

Cooking class day actually began at home when I prepared fun little gifts to give each of the participants: a free copy of my packing and travel diary 11 Days in a Carry-on along with a custom bookmark I had made for The France Dance containing a special recipe from the novel.

For class, I decided to wear jeans, my new favorite white button-down from Anthropologie. It’s chic and perfect weight for this time of year. I topped it with my cropped trench coat, which I acutally own in 2 colors, khaki and navy. (These cropped trenches are super cute but probably just a trend, so I didn’t want to spend much on one. Again, the weight is perfect for this time of year!) I also wore one of the cameos I purchased at the Paris brocante flea market as a necklace. You can read about my other flea market finds HERE.

When I arrived at cooking class, I went ahead and changed into my A Taste of Paris chef’s coat which I received after traveling with Lorie to Provence. Such a wonderful souvenir!

Over the summer, Lorie and her husband Mark moved into their new home, one they spent 3 years building, and we were fortunate enough to be the VERY FIRST cooking class she’s taught since moving in! Lorie’s style of decor is obviously French and very feminine, and it was a wonderful experience to get to learn about French cooking in such a beautiful space. Don’t you love to see the homes of fascinating people?

We welcomed people into the parlor and then got started with appetizers of Provençal flavors like roasted carrots with whipped goat cheese honey, fresh vegetable mini skewers, and my favorite Rosemary Cashews from the novel. (Lorie even surprised the guests with a bag of Rosemary Cashews to take home!) We toasted with Kir Royales-another favorite flavor spotlighted in The France Dance, and I did a live reading from the novel of the scenes when Rosemary Cashews and Kir Royales were served.

For dinner, Lorie taught us how to make Farcie. In French, the word farcie means stuffed; these are basically vegetables stuffed with a protein. When I traveled to Provence with Lorie, I learned to make these in Avignon at a cooking class at Les Halles. In that class, we stuffed bell peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini with pork, and served them with a salad. They were fabulous! Lorie’s version is a touch different, but just as wonderful. Here are a few pictures from that cooking class in 2023 plus a few extras of Avignon.

Lorie’s version calls for beef stuffed into long strips of eggplant, and soaked in a tomato broth. Tomato broth is different than a typical Italian tomato sauce—the consistency is a bit thinner, but just as flavorful. For the side, she taught us to make Browned Butter Potatoes. COOKING TIP: We learned that Lorie loves Yukon Gold Potatoes because they don’t need to be peeled. I love learning little tips like this from Lorie’s classes.

Cheese Course

After the main course, we moved into the cheese course. Lorie selected a soft Brie served with Apple Compote. For anyone who doesn’t know, a compote is a preparation of whole or chopped fruit gently cooked with sugar and sometimes spices or citrus. What I loved about Lorie’s presentation, was the combination of raw and cooked apples to accompany the brie.

Dessert Course

For dessert, we learned to make Cold-Poached Pairs with Choclate Ganache. I’m serious when I tell you, this was probably just as easy to make as the Rosemary Cashews. Only 5 ingredients, and so impressive, both in taste and in presentation.

By the end of the night we were stuffed, with food, knowledge, and definitely gratitude for a lovely evening surrounded by lovely ladies. Experiences like this are what keep me inspired, friends. If you want a full life, if you want to romanticize your life, if you’re looking to pour into yourself a little bit (because we can’t pour from an empty cup) I highly recommend a cooking class with Lorie, or any other experience that appeals to you.