About this time of the year, I begin to plan how I will spend my vacation days for the rest of the year. (I'm actually on vacation right now and Heidi is posting this for me. I'll tell you all about it when I return.) One of my favorite vacations was one I took to the South of France where I attended a week-long cooking class in Julia Childs' home--the one she and her husband Paul built so they could live near Julia's very best friend, Simone Beck.

Kathie Alex runs the cooking school called, Cooking With Friends in France which is a culinary immersion program that features cooking classes, a market tour, cheese ripening cave and butcher shop tours, classes with professional chefs and lunches at Michelin two-starred restaurants. You don't have to be a good cook to take these classes--they are for amateurs too.

For more information go here. You can contact Kathie at info@cookingwithfriends.com 

If you are interested in going on a Truffle Hunt, she conducts one in February so contact her right away about this.

I enjoyed the first time that I traveled to this school so much that I went a second time for all new recipes and more of the same kind of fun. If you aren't able go this year, check out her website anyway for a couple of delicious French recipes such as Roast Chicken with Garlic, Shallots and Potatoes, and Tomatoes Provençale.