Spring is here and with it comes my favorite warmer weather ritual: sipping a small aperitif outdoors before dinner. Of the many things that are nice to sip, I especially love Lillet for its light, citrusy bittersweetness. I like it simple, just served over ice with a slice of orange and a spring of mint or basil, if I happen to have it. As the evenings warm up, look for me sitting among the blossoms and bumblebees, a glass of Lillet in hand. Ah, yes!

When I decided to host a casual yet elegant weekend brunch for my book club, I knew immediately that the main dish would be a quiche. For me, quiche is the ultimate special brunch treat, combining flaky, buttery crust with a rich yet light egg custard studded with flavorful mix-ins — in this case, sweet roasted cherry tomatoes, fragrant basil and tangy bits of goat cheese. And while it seems like a lot of work, most of the prep can be done ahead of time, leaving you with plenty of time to get dressed and relax on the morning of the party.

Who would turn down childhood summers spent in France, traveling between a farmhouse in Provence and the glamour of Paris, or taking a long road trip through Bordeaux, stopping off in Saint Malo and Lyon and ending up in on a beach in the Mediterranean? Who wouldn't love to offer such a life to their own children? If that's not immediately possible for you, then you can take vicarious pleasure in reading and cooking from this beautifully photographed cookbook/memoir written by two lucky women who had that very childhood and more.

If Dan Lepard's new cookbook Short & Sweet is the one-stop shop for homey everyday sweets and baked goods, Patisserie is the one-stop shop for all things classic and French. Want to become the master of puff pastry? Craft your own pulled-sugar roses? Drap petits fours with fondant? With over 3,200 step-by-step photos and 210 recipes in 800 pages, this book will show you exactly how to do all of these things and more. Wowzas.

There’s something exciting about dessert in our house — shocking, even. Dessert rarely appears at the table, even though we have no specific rules about sweets. Every now and then one of the children will make a request — usually cookies, a love they inherited from their dad — or I'll feel nostalgic for something like cobbler, vinegar pie, or homemade Magic Shell over ice cream. Dessert is not a required course and we definitely don’t need it to survive. However, because my husband and I come from different cultures (I am all South Carolina, while he is half Serbian and half French) he’s been known to claim his Gallic heritage as the reason he must have dessert. But he comes by his love of dessert honestly...

Madeleines.  That little French butter cake that most (non-French) people think of more as a cookie.  They have a classy, literary reputation, having served as Proust's muse in his famous Remembrance of Things Past.  Like most muses, however, madeleines appear to be simple but actually require a fair amount of patience and careful following of instructions.  In the end, though,  you are rewarded with a truly unique little cake, browned and crispy on the outside and spongy and soft on the inside.  A perfect accompaniment to your afternoon cup of tea.

Have you, perhaps, forgotten how délicieux French food can be? This is Rachel Khoo's worst fear, and she is determined not to let the situation get out of hand. If your idea of French cuisine is fussy technique and loads of butter, wait until you see her muffin tin croque madames and her chicken dumpling soup. In her tiny Paris apartment with its two-burner stove, Rachel Khoo reminds all of us how truly phenomenal French food can be.

Two years ago I took a cooking class in Paris with Paule Caillat, a charming and knowledgeable cooking teacher. As our delicious lunch drew to a close, Paule hopped up from her seat and said something that surprised me then but that I often think of now... 

I find it impossible to pass by a bakery selling macarons and resist stopping in for a sample. Or two. Making them at home isn't all that difficult, but there are a few tricks of the trade that can set you up for success. Equal parts enlightening and inspiring, this colorful cookbook from the French blogger Mercotte is all you need to get started making your own crunchy cream-filled confections. More

Here's what makes a tarte tatin so fabulous: even if your crust isn't perfect, even if it crumbles a bit when you flip it (as my buttery crust has done this time), and even if the tarte is not perfectly centered on your serving platter, it will still taste like something that came directly from heaven. Creamy-soft apples in a deeply caramelized sauce will cover a multitude of other culinary imperfections. Tell your guests that it's meant to be "rustic" as you pass out the forks and carry on with the devouring. More