It is hard to believe it is the middle of the month already. Happy New Year to all; so my good intentions to be more consistent with articles has begun sluggishly.

The last divan was very enjoyable; a perfect day to cook so the cooking lesson preceding the dinner worked well. It was a frigid Saturday. My two 'students' were the successful bidders at the Fireball event for Sheena's place. We had some chai by the fire as we waited for Valerie Howes the food editor for Reader's Digest. She came from having High Tea, bearing very tasty goodies. Look for her article in the next issue/blog at www.readersdigest.ca/food/blog.

We made lamb koftas (meatballs) stuffed with almonds and raisins in a yogurt curry, moong dal and bhartha (eggplant) which I served like a soup with paratha quarters, a rajma-chana (beans/lentils) salat, which is the Hindi word for salad. This was our first course, served with mathris - like thick crackers made from chickpea flour with spices. Main course was the koftas, with raita and kachumbar and dessert was mango phirni. The dal and bhartha was unanimously the favourite dish.

The only down element was the last minute cancellations (literally 40 minutes before they were to arrive!), so any suggestions on how to counter that would be greatly appreciated.

Very much looking forward to the divan this weekend which is full. However, January 29th is available so I look forward to hosting you.