Don't try this at home . . .

So when Inder Preet offers to cook for us, I sort of hem and haw a while, and make some polite noises about how she is our guest and really I don't want her to be doing all the work, but in the back of my mind, I'm shouting YES YES YES YES PLEASE COOK SOMETHING! Not only is it nice to have someone cook for you, the food is amazing. A few days ago, she set an eggplant on fire . . . ON PURPOSE. The sight of that giant vegetable flaming on my gas stove burner was just so transfixing, so gloriously odd, that I couldn't even be moved from my fascination to get the camera and document the moment. I also had wierd fantasies about the looks on the faces of the fire department when they arrived and we told them, "Yes, sir, the fire just leapt from the eggplant to the valances and then it was all over. . . " But luckily, that didn't happen. Here Jimmy gets in on the action making parandha--a sort of flatbread used in lieu of forks to scoop up the yumminess. The only thing in danger of burning here are my husband's fingers. . .

One week until we fly to India!