Getting Ready for the Pop-up Holiday Shop

Getting ready for the little pop-up holiday shop we’re hosting at Serendib House this Sunday, along with SLOWFIRE and Alix Mikesell Design.

Kevin and I had a discussion about our comfort with having people eating / drinking — it’s such a huge part of my holidays, feeding people, it makes me super sad not to do so.

We ended up on a compromise between his safety concerns and mine — I would have been okay with vaccinated people eating indoors, but he just wasn’t comfortable, esp. given case numbers spiking this past week.

So I’m going to set up outdoor heaters on the front porch and the back deck (I invested in them a few months ago), and since it’s supposed to be about 45 degrees on Sunday afternoon, I think people will be reasonably comfortable out there. I’ll put out some nibbles (like these cookies) and hot beverages, and hoping friends will be able to stop by — whether they shop or not, it’d be great to see people and get a chance to chat. No need to buy, folks — just come and say hi!

Cookies decorated by Serendib House staff Ethan Yeung and Darius Vinesar — they’ve never decorated iced cookies before, and I have to admit, it was weirdly pleasing to me introducing them to it.

They’re both grown young men, of course, not little kids, but hey, they’re in their early 20s, I’m 50, I’m certainly old enough to be their mom, and what can I say? I think kids decorating cookies is one of the joys of the holiday season. (I am lucky that my staff tolerates me treating them like my kids once in a while.)

It was a lovely break from talking about publishing schedules and social media postings, pausing to show them how to dilute a royal icing with hot water to dipping consistency, and then giving them a bunch of assorted white and silver decorating bits to play with. 🙂

Simple Variation on Sri Lankan Butter Cake

Just added some shredded carrots. Kavi and I agree that this makes the cake very healthy, and thereby a suitable lunch option. The carrots also add a nice amount of moisture — a typical butter cake you’d want with frosting and maybe a bit of jam or curd, but this is very nice as is, or accompanying a cup of tea.

Not Ideal

I tried mixing the pistachio, carrot, and candied orange separately into the three different colors of batter, and in retrospect, that wasn’t ideal. It meant that some parts of the cake ended up more moist, some more crunchy. I think this would be really good if you just mixed all those into the batter first, then, if you want to color it like this, divide and color.

Might As Well Go With It

See, the plan was to see whether I could make a more autumnal variation on a Sri Lankan butter cake, while still staying with Sri Lankan flavors. Why? No reason. This is just how my brain works, people. You might as well go with it…

Candied orange, pistachio, and carrot.