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Signed and personalized at request!

We just made the decision to ship the remaining copies of Feast to us. There are about 800 left, out of the original 2000 copy print run. Which is a lot of copies, but given that we were originally scheduled to launch March 2020, and had to cancel an entire summer’s worth of scheduled bookstore and library appearances, I’m reasonably happy that we’ve managed to sell 1200 copies so far. I do still have a lot of funds tied up in the copies that are left (if I sold all of them at a 25% discount to booksellers, it’d be $24,000), so if you’re thinking someone you know would like a Sri Lankan cookbook for Christmas, now would be an awesome time to order one directly from me. Signed and personalized at request! Link below. You can also order Vegan Serendib at the link below. And homemade curry powder. 🙂 Now to figure out where I can store 800 hardcover books. Assume something like 14 copies / box, that’s about 58 boxes, and I do have a garage that I think has sufficient space, but I want to make sure they’re raised up enough so that if it floods, they aren’t destroyed…hmm…maybe I need to find somewhere else to store the Halloween skeletons…
“Mohanraj does a superb job of combining easily sourced ingredients with clear, instructive guidance and menu recommendations for all manner of events…a terrific survey of an overlooked cuisine.” – Publisher’s Weekly “Mohanraj’s research driven approach to recipe development makes Feast a reliable introduction to Sri Lankan cooking for adventurous home-cooks and a sound resource for Sri Lankan families hoping to reclaim their culinary traditions at home.” – Melissa Elsmo, Oak Park Eats www.serendibshop.com
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The end result was pretty tasty

I had a really harried day yesterday (and I think I was getting sick, but didn’t realize that was why I was so exhausted), so when Eliana came over to help with shipping things, I also asked her to bake a cake for me that I wanted to test for the Patreon boxes.

She did great — I think I took it out a little early, it could have used more browning. But mostly, I’m confused because you’re supposed to soak it in honey syrup, and I only used half the amount the recipe called for and it was THOROUGHLY soaked. I’m not sure if I did something wrong, but the end result was pretty tasty, so that’s something.

This batch was a practice batch (that I put out at Kavi’s Halloween party) — I think I’ll modify it some for the Patreon boxes. So I’d really like to know what was going on with the honey before I attempt it again — none of the comments on the recipe mention too much honey syrup as an issue.

It’s all a little mild for me too — when I make it next, I think it’s getting a kick of ginger, more cardamom, a touch of black pepper — and probably less sugar in the cake. Original recipe in comments.

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Still a little too harried to bake from scratch

Still a little too harried to bake from scratch (Kev comes back today, yay!), but I’ve found a banana bread mix I really like (yes, I know those are pumpkins, but I have multiple pretty pumpkin molds, no banana molds (haven’t found any pretty ones), and a habitual excess of bananas in our freezer), and that makes it easy. Miss Jones mix (link in comments). Zinnias by neighbor Sera Sera.

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I had a lot of leftovers to use up

Impromptu Labor Day brunch with girlfriends. Carollina brought peach cake and Nara Nayar brought some of her amazing dahlias. Going to try to dry them today.

I did omelette bar, mostly because I had a lot of leftovers to use up.

Options:

  • Mexican (grilled corn, chicken, sautéed avocado, cherry tomatoes, spiced pork (al pastor), grilled green mango, Mexican cheese blend, spicy tomatillo sauce)
  • smoked salmon, chive & onion cream cheese, red onion, sliced tomato, capers
  • sautéed mushroms and onions with Swiss

Worked pretty well — I just made them one at a time, and since there were just a few of us, no one had to wait very long.

Also feeling autumnal enough that I made some of the apple-cheddar crescent rolls I usually make in the fall. Those aren’t fancy — just Pillsbury crescent, with an apple sliced in eighths, and a little cheese, bake 15 minutes. I’m entering the season of autumn baking — next week, I’m going to start cooking for the fall Patreon boxes.

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Trying to hang on to that lazy summer vibe

Stopped at Carnivore Oak Park on Sunday because I didn’t know what I wanted for dinner. PIcked up a few pounds of pork shoulder (which they kindly cubed for me) — I’ll make a curry with that later today. But that takes a few hours of simmering — on Sunday, I wanted something fast, so turned to the grill. Two delectable crab cakes & just-picked corn from Carnivore joined some underripe peaches (so good brushed with a bit of oil and grilled!) and purple bell peppers from my garden. The bell peppers sadly turned an unappetizing grey on the grill, so they are not pictured, but they did taste good. 🙂 I might stick to using them raw in the future, though! Crab cakes grilled in a few minutes and then were served on a bed of spinach, graced with remoulade and some peppery young nasturtium leaves and flower from the garden. And then when I got the Hugo award news later in the day, I chopped up another peach and added it to some Ben & Jerry’s caramel ice cream, which was DELICIOUS straight out of the container… Nice to have a little more time right now for summertime cooking. Two weeks ’til the semester starts. Trying to hang on to that lazy summer vibe for as long as I can…
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Sadly, I can’t share the food with you!

I mostly had a grounding-myself day today — spent some time straightening the basement studio (lots more to do, alas), finished some jewelry pieces (I like the new rectangle-in-rectangle style!). Also made a nice pasta salad for dinner, with a white-balsamic, garlic, basil, and thyme dressing, with salami, fresh mozzarella, and grilled peppers and red onion (including one orange pepper from our garden). Plus some roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic. Sadly, I can’t share the food with you! But the jewelry will be down at Berwyn Sprout by the end of the week, unless someone claims it here first.