How many octopus cakes does one woman need?
Sri Lankan butter cake, with mango and ginger
Sri Lankan butter cake, with mango and ginger. So nice with a cup of tea.
Want ALL the Recipes?
Here you go — final count for the summer Earth Patreon box:
• Cardamom & Honey Snickerdoodles: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162385722949616
• Chocolate-Tamarind Pinwheels: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162460018314616
• Jaggery & Treacle Gingersnaps: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162460018314616
• Lime & Rosewater Shortbread (with Ocean Creatures):
• Milk Toffee with Raisins: https://serendibkitchen.com/2017/12/12/milk-toffee/
• Pistachio & Pandan Elephant Shortbread: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162431047744616
• Salted Honey & Lavender Shortbread: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162444017369616
– Salted Cherry Cookies: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162447261339616
• Honeybee soap: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162446500464616
• Sunlight on the Water bookmarks: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162446506084616
Brought the Team Over
All masked for interior work, per new CDC guidelines — to help me pack up the Earth treat boxes. Previously I’d done this all myself, but it’s so nice having help with it.
Five people, three hours or so, although I think we could be a little more efficient if everyone had done it before and knew where things were, etc. — there was a fair bit of training time in here. And we were learning how to shrink wrap soaps for the first time, so that was new for everyone, and a bit slow.
But regardless, much more fun to do with the team, much less tiring. I do like working with people. 
Rolling Is a Little Nerve-Wracking
But using the parchment paper and going slow helps avoid cracking. And if it does crack, it’s not so hard to fix it with the heat of your hands.
First Time Making Pinwheel Cookies
I’m not sure I actually cut these in the right direction. This is going to result in fairly small pinwheels. Oh well. Will be tasty regardless.
Making Cookies
Jaggery & Treacle Gingersnaps
Jaggery & Treacle Gingersnaps
(30-45 minutes, makes 36 cookies)
Take a classic gingersnap, but use jaggery and kithul treacle for complex & subtle flavor. For an interesting variation, a little flake salt beautifully plays with the sweetness and spice.
3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. plus 2 tablespoons jaggery (or dark brown sugar), divided
1 large egg
1/4 c. kithul treacle (or molasses)
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 T small-grain flake salt, optional
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and 1 c. jaggery until light and fluffy; beat in egg and treacle.
2. In another bowl, combine next five ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well to combine.
3. Shape spoonfuls of dough into balls. (If desired, mix 1 T flake salt into remaining jaggery.) Dip one side into jaggery (or jaggery-salt); place 2 inches apart, sugar side up, on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake until medium brown and crinkly, 10-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Sunday sit-down dinner
Did Sunday sit-down dinner again, first time in a while. With school starting, seems like a good time to reinstitute the practice.
Have sort of forgotten how to do it — didn’t have the energy to get the kids to help, easier to just cook on my own, and didn’t plan it out well either — my ginger-garlic chicken and cauliflower poriyal aren’t a great pairing; too similar in flavor. Still, everything was tasty, and we chatted and laughed quite a bit, and everyone else took care of clearing the table and doing the dishes, so we’ll call it a win.
Patreon treat boxes update
Folks, I’m making a change to my Patreon treat boxes going forward. I realized that it was really stressing me out, trying to find food items that were safe to ship in summer, and the small boxes are too small for me to include ice packs. I also need to spend a *little* less time on them overall.
So I’m going to fix all three issues by making two changes:
– I’m going to change the treats to go out 3 times a year instead of 4 (aiming for fall, winter, spring)
– I’m going to bump all current subscribers effectively up a tier (which means all boxes will be big enough to fit ice packs)
So for example, previously, if you got the Earth box, it was $10 / month, so you’d spend $30 every quarter for a small box (4 small boxes over the course of a year).
Going forward, it’ll still be $10 / month, and you’ll be spending $40 every three months (3 medium boxes over the course of a year).
It should be the same value & amount of stuff over the course of a year, but less stress to me on multiple fronts, and hopefully your packages will arrive in better shape.
I hope this works for everyone. I think mostly people subscribe to these for the food treats, rather than my random other items (but look at the pretty bookmarks! I was aiming for ‘sunlight on water,’ one of my favorite things, and I think they manage that just fine…), and this will help a lot in ensuring that the food treats actually arrive in good condition. Ice packs for everyone!
If you’re currently a subscriber and this doesn’t work for you, do let me know — we can refund you for the amount you’ve paid so far towards the fall treat box. The last summer boxes will be going out this week, fingers crossed.
Thanks as always for your support!
