Month: August 2019

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Kickstarter timeline

UPDATE: Eep, the official launch date is going to be MUCH later, due to…well, I think it must have been a misunderstanding. It’ll be March 6th; we’ll be officially launching at FogCon, where I’m an honored guest. There will probably be some kind of party. The rest of the above still holds, though — Kickstarter editions will be available VERY shortly; we’re hoping to start shipping those out in about two weeks.

ORIGINAL POST: I think we’re finalizing the Feast timeline a little bit more. (Oh the tiny little delays all along the pipeline that add up to weeks and weeks….) This is what I have right now:

– September 15: soft launch for Kickstarter edition hardcover and paperback

– by October 15: e-book ready (hopefully) and sent out to Kickstarter backers

– between Sept 15 & Dec 15, I’ll have copies with me for local events, and when I’m visiting various places (Bay Area, possibly Farmington, CT, Montreal, possibly Madison, Los Angeles, Columbus)

– December 15: actual launch

– after Dec 15, more events, mostly TBD, but definitely including Seattle, Bay Area, Orlando, Madison — any media push will be aimed for after this point.

The main difference is that the Kickstarter edition costs more to print (POD instead of through an offset printer), so it’s a higher unit cost for me. But we can’t get the offset version faster, and in fact, if you want copies for holiday gifting, I strongly encourage you to get the Kickstarter edition! Don’t worry about a few dollars one way or another for me, please. 

If you are moved to leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere, that would be very much appreciated; I’m hoping some early reviews from the soft launch will build excitement for the actual launch.

Questions?

#serendibkitchen

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Leveled up!

Yesterday, I felt like I leveled up in cooking — I made a batch of passion fruit marshmallows AND a batch of cashew milk toffee AT THE SAME TIME, and they both came out perfectly and nothing burned. Woot! (Yay for timers and exact measurements on candy thermometers.)

Making sweets for Cee Gee‘s art gallery show tonight — at least that’s the hope, if I can get the address to drop them off at!

   

#serendibkitchen

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Gluten free cookbook question!

Gluten-free cookbook question! So, I promised a gluten-free e-book of Sri Lankan recipes as part of the Feast Kickstarter. I thought I’d work on it over the summer, but no. That’s okay, I think, but I’m going to start working on it now, and expect to have it done by end of October. It won’t be a copy of everything in Feast, made gluten-free — more of a sampler.

Now, much of Feast already is gluten-free! Since Sri Lankan cuisine is more rice-based than wheat-based, that helps a lot. Wheat has crept into some traditional rice-based recipes, mostly because it makes dough softer, but we can just take it out again and go more traditional, so that’s easy.

So mostly, I think what I should do is:

a) choose the best of what’s already there and already gluten-free (in each section — appetizers, entrees, etc.)

b) take the wheat-infused recipes back to the rice-based versions, and then

c) come up with some extra recipes which will be exciting to gluten-free people — and that last step is where I get stuck.

What is exciting to gluten-free people? What kinds of things do you crave, that are then hard to find recipes for? I am looking forward to experimenting in the kitchen this fall, but pointers to the right kinds of things to develop would be very helpful!

#blog
#serendibkitchen

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A memoir, in its own way

Jeremy has delivered the final, indexed and fully designed, text of Feast of Serendib. I am feeling weirdly emotional about the whole thing. My cookbook makes me want to cry. I’m not sure that’s normal.

It’s a memoir, you know. In its own way, though not exactly the sort of memoir I learned to write in my creative nonfiction class. But I think I’ll send my professor a copy anyway…

#serendibkitchen