Free Table of Contents: From Breakfast With Anita Diamant to Dessert With James Patterson - a Generous Helping of Recipes, Writings and Insights From Today's Bestselling Authors by Judy Gelman, Vicki Levy Krupp Page A

chiles to protect your skin from the oil in them. Avoid direct contact with your eyes and wash your hands thoroughly after handling.
    1 large eggplant
    Approximately ½ teaspoon salt
    3 tablespoons canola oil
    1 onion, chopped
    4 garlic cloves, chopped
    1 ½-inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and chopped
    1 teaspoon chopped serrano or jalapeño chile (less if you don't want it spicy; more if you want an added zing) (see note)
    1 teaspoon ground coriander
    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    1 teaspoon garam masala (see note)
    2 large tomatoes, chopped
    Hot rice or roti (rolled bread similar to tortillas), for serving
    1 Chop eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt and toss. Set aside for 10 minutes.
    2 In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, chile, coriander, cumin and garam masala, and sauté until the onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, and sauté until well-cooked, about 5–10 minutes.
    3 Add the cubed eggplant. Cover pan and simmer until eggplant is fully cooked, 10–20 minutes. As the eggplant softens, remove cover, turn heat to low and cook until any liquid dries up (it should not be watery when finished). Mash the entire mix together (it should be fairly thick).
    4 Serve with hot rice or roti.
A S ISTER O F M Y H EART S PECIAL : P AYESH (B ENGALI R ICE P UDDING )
    Makes 4–6 servings
    When Anju and Sudha, the cousins who are the protagonists in my novel Sister of My Heart , are little girls, their aunt, Pishi, cooks several special desserts for them. This one, payesh, is very traditional in Bengal, the part of India where I come from and where Sister of My Heart is set. It is also a dish that my mother was famous for. But whereas hers used to take a half-day to make, I've given you a shortcut recipe.
    Note: The payesh consistency should be fairly thick, and it may take a little longer than indicated to achieve this thickness. Keep in mind that the payesh also thickens as it cools. The almonds in the payesh give it a crunchy texture.
    3 cups half-and-half (nonfat or whole)
    1 cup whole milk
    ¾ cup basmati rice, washed
    1 2–2½ inch stick cinnamon
    ¾–1 cup granulated sugar or brown sugar, according to your taste
    ½ cup raisins
    ½ cup blanched almonds
    Rose petals (if desired)
    1 In a heavy bottomed pot, bring half-and-half and milk to a boil over high heat.
    2 Add rice and cinnamon stick. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until rice is soft and milk thickened, 20–30 minutes.
    3 Add sugar, raisins, and almonds. Cook on low heat another 15–20 minutes until the mixture is thick (see note). Remove cinnamon stick.
    4 Payesh can be eaten warm or chilled. Sometimes we sprinkle rose petals on the chilled version just before serving. If refrigerated, it keeps for 5–6 days.

Heidi Durrow

    Timothi Jane Graham
    SELECTED WOEKS
    The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (2010)
    Inspiration I was inspired to write The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by a newspaper article I read around fifteen years ago about a girl who survived a terrible accident that killed her family. I became obsessed with the girl: what would her survival look like? How would she grow up with her grief? The Girl Who Fell From the Sky was my attempt to give that girl a voice and a future.
    Readers Should Know Nothing inspires me to write more than my morning coffee, which I drink with a bendy straw. I write first thing in the morning in longhand in my Moleskine journal. It's raw, wild writing; no rules or forms. It's the only time I'm not afraid of the blank page.
    Readers Frequently Ask People often ask me whether the story of Rachel, my young, biracial, and bicultural character in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky , is autobiographical. And the answer is yes and no. What happens to Rachel did not happen to me, but the emotional center of her struggle is something that I can relate to.
    Poetic Influence I have a lot of favorite writers, but I turn to poetry when I am looking for