Want to learn how to make the perfect tagine? Then, stop in at a Bay Area Le Creuset store on Sept. 20 and 21, when veteran cookbook author and Moroccan cuisine expert, Kitty Morse, visits to do a book-signing and cooking demo.

The events are free, too.

I always will be indebted to Morse because she turned me on to making my own preserved lemons. I almost always have some in the fridge now, made with Meyer lemons that have been partially cut, stuffed with Kosher salt, then packed tightly into a sterilized glass jar. After the jar sits on the counter for a couple of days, the lemons will exude their juices and combine with the salt to create a thick preserving brine.

Refrigerate, and after a few more days, the lemons will turn soft and start to collapse. Then, you’re good to go to use them in stews, tuna salad, vinaigrettes, vegetable side dishes, and a whole lot more. Stored in the fridge, the preserved lemons will keep for more than a year, as long as the lemons are kept submerged in the brine.

Morse will be appearing at Le Creuset stores on these dates:

* Noon, Sept. 20 at the store in Olympic Place, 1637 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Walnut Creek; (925) 932-1186.

* 4 p.m., Sept. 20 at the store in the Vacaville Premium Outlets, 111 Nut Tree Road, Suite B; ( 707) 453-0620.

* 1 p.m. Sept. 21 at the store in the Gilroy Premium Outlets, 8225 Arroyo Circle, Space #24; (408) 848-6619.