Found!

Unpacking another box (of things we obviously don't NEED since we moved in August and the box is still packed) I found this book and when I opened it to my favorite page I found something I thought I had lost, my letter from Peter Mayle.

My letter to him was brief and I mentioned how I felt it was "a daunting task; writing to the writer" and as you can see, he made me feel at ease about it. I also told him how his books were so well written that I had a tendency to live vicariously through him, knowing I would never be able to visit Provence.

He was very gracious to have taken the time to write me back, and obviously had actually read my letter.

I love letting good writers know just that, it's such a difficult thing for me to do (write) that I am often in awe of those I feel are well written.

I would "translate" this but then it would lose it's charm.

Starry Sky

"Now I really want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that the night is still more richly coloured than the day, having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. If you only pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are citron~yellow, others have a pink glow, or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it will be clear that putting little white dots on a blue-black surface is not enough."

~Vincent Van Gogh writing to his sister, Wilhelmina~

I bet you're wondering what a painting has to do with food? Well, although Van Gogh was Dutch, he spent part of his later years in Provence and, to a Provencal, his stomach is second to nothing!

I must say, I love this painting for too many reasons to list but one of them being that it was done from memory and supposedly while Van Gogh was in asylum at Saint Remy in June 1889. I'm no art critic or historian but, unlike many others,I can't help but feel, regardless of the time of year it was painted, regardless of what season it seems to depict, that the "whorls" coming from the left across the upper part of the painting are really Van Gogh's "vision" of what the mistral must look like.

I don't begin to have time to go into how enamoured I am with Provence but it ranks up there with my love for my family!

Here is my very favorite Provencal recipe~also contained in the "Family Favorite Recipes" page.


Tapenade is a popular food in the south of France. There are entire stalls in the outdoor markets which sell nothing but tapenade. Tapenade is basically an olive spread with one rule; you cannot call olive spread "tapenade" unless it contains capers.
Why? In the old Provencal dialect, the word for caper is "tapeno", hence the term "tapenade".

Anne's Tapenade
Makes about 2 cups
Printable Recipe

1 c pitted Nicoise olives
1 c pitted ripe California olives
2 t anchovy paste
1 t brandy
1 T capers-drained
1 T honey
2 t Dijon mustard
1 t lemon juice
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic-minced

Combine all in a blender and puree until smooth and spreadable. Serve with rounds of toasted French bread.