We have been having a great time cooking, photographing (and eating!) the food featured in our cooking ideas page. Follow the link here for recipes like Creole stuffed peppers, lamb koftas and a beef tagine with ras el hanout.

We have also been preserving lemons using hand-harvested sea salt from Guérande. Instructions and a recipe using preserved lemons will be available on the website soon.

We met some wonderful producers, among them the Sourdon family at Moulin Mas St Jean, a small independent mill near Arles. The business is run by sisters Ann and Magali who carry on the tradition of olive oil production from their father, Jean-Paul.

We met Magali during our visit and couldn’t help being swept up in her passion and love for good food and the quality of her olive oil. Magali, who also teaches classes in Provencal cookery at the mill, stressed her belief that olive oil, like any good condiment, should enhance, and not overpower, the flavour of food.

That commitment certainly comes through in the taste of Moulin St Jean's cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil, now available to buy on line. Click here to find out more.

We are delighted to be supporting writer and performer, Rose Collis, in her first one-woman show at the Brighton Fringe this year. Trouser-Wearing Characters is a collection of salty, spicy tales of eclectic female characters told through history, music and comedy. Rose is appearing at the Marlborough Theatre, 4 Prince's St, Brighton on 3, 4, 7, 8, 19 and 20 May. Check www.brightonfringe.org for availability and tickets.

You can find out more about Rose and her work at www.rosecollis.com