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Had an interesting conversation just now about possibly doing a Sri Lankan cooking class as part of a corporate diversity event (tied to Asian American heritage month in May). I think it’s likely to happen, which is great — corporations pay rather nicely for this kind of thing.

I gave them several options; it looks like I’ll probably teach how to roast and grind spices, and then how to make a vegan jackfruit curry with them, while talking about the spices and the colonial history influences on the cuisine. Some of the staff may cook along at home.

All of which reminds me that I probably should be signed up with a Speaker’s Bureau, and have sections on my website about how to book me for speaking engagements and cooking classes. Anyone with experience with this kind of thing, would love to hear any advice you have!

I am here to report that egg whites from a carton do not whip up beautifully into meringues — at least, mine didn’t. I should’ve known better, given how egg freshness is key to getting good meringue beating, and those egg whites have probably been sitting in that carton for a while. I was seduced by the convenience.

Now, is there anything to do with liquid egg whites + sugar + chai spices that refuse to whip up into meringues? Do I just have to pour them down the drain? (I HATE HATE HATE wasting food.)

This was just fun. I got me and Kavi a present for Christmas — a little seal with the Serendib Press logo (that she drew) on it, a little cooking pot with stars floating up.

We’re giving people the option of ordering one of our Valentine’s cards to go with their orders (we’d write whatever message they wanted in the card), and I think it’s silly fun to seal those with our emblem, and then highlight the design in silver leaf.

If I were doing it again, the one thing I’d do is add a circle around the edge of the design, because the little stars are so small that they kind of disappear as an element — I think this effect works better with an intricate design with a lot of raised elements. But still, v. cute. When I was around her age, I was a little obsessed with seals and sealing wax. I think I mostly liked playing with fire.

Anand came over to help me do this, and had many questions about why we don’t use seals anymore as proof that something is really from someone else. I think the answer is that it eventually got cheap enough to create and engrave seals that they became too easy to forge, but I’m not positive that’s right?

Good morning, folks! BIG pre-order sale this weekend! Maybe you’re vegan or vegetarian yourself, maybe you have a vegan friend or relative, or maybe you’re just looking to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet. This deal is for you!

I’ve started working on the recipes for Vegan Serendib again (pineapple curry & pineapple pickle this weekend, I think), and am hoping to have the full set of recipes done by the end of February.

We’ll shift into high gear with production at that point, which means it’d be super-helpful to collect funds in advance to pay our cover artist Jeremy John Parker & our editor, Stephanie Bailey
So I’m planning to run a Kickstarter for Vegan Serendib starting on February 1st! Kickstarter is great for improving visibility of fundraising.

That said, Kickstarter does take a percentage, so if you’re planning to buy the book, and you’re in a position to pre-order directly from us, that is even better. I was thinking about what I can offer in exchange, to sweeten the deal a bit, and I came up with something pretty spectacular, I think.

Vegan Serendib will have about 40 new recipes added to the vegan recipes already in Feast (which is quite a few).

If you pre-order Vegan Serendib (any edition, $25 – $40) before the Kickstarter launches on 2/1, I will send you a copy of our Vegan Serendib sampler ebook AND a digital copy of Feast.

The digital edition of Feast retails for $25, so that is a VERY SWEET DEAL. (If you are vegan and wouldn’t use Feast yourself, you are free to pass it on to a non-vegan friend.) It’s essentially 2 books for the price of 1, PLUS the Vegan Serendib sampler. (If you’d like the Marshmallow sampler cookbook instead, just ask, though the marshmallows are not vegan, alas.)

Ordering link here! Please like / comments / share to increase visibility! Thanks!

Serendib House Valentine’s Day sale is live. Quantities limited — when we hit the point where I think I won’t be able to make them in time, we’ll close orders. Will post in more detail in the morning, but if you’re seeing this tonight, have fun.

https://serendib-kitchen.myshopify.com/…/valentines-day…

Reminder note about two cook-alongs this week — Wednesday Jan 27 & Friday January 29! For Friday’s class, I’m tentatively planning to do both a meat and vegetarian (in fact, vegan) option (probably eggplant curry). Classes start at 5:30 CST, and people are welcome to just watch, chat, (and knit or crochet if they like) if they don’t feel like cooking along.

“Join us and special guest Mary Anne Mohanraj (2020 Fiberworld host!) to create the perfect Ceylon Curry mix! Mary Anne will take us through creating this delectable mix and then follow up with a hands-on make-along on January 29th to make the dish (YUM!). Join us for one or both events to put some spice in your new year!”

You can also buy a ‘spice bundle’ on the Fiberworld site, but it would arrive after the class. So if you’re signing up and want to make curry powder along with me, you might want to pick up the ingredients and supplies yourself in advance. You’ll need:

2 rounded t. cayenne (optional)

+ a mortar and pestle or dedicated spice grinder (I use a coffee grinder)

Sign up here: https://fiberworldshow.com

Folks, I am contemplating whether it makes sense to run a little Kickstarter for the Vegan Serendib cookbook. Originally, I hoped the profits from Feast would just cover the production costs, but the pandemic kind of shattered that hope — not anytime soon, anyway.

We’re not doing a print run, just POD, so I don’t need to raise a large amount of money in advance, thankfully. But there ARE some costs — aside from my time (ha ha), there’s Stephanie Bailey’s time editing and producing the book, the cover artist’s cost, etc. I feel like I JUST ran a Kickstarter for the podcast, and maybe my readers have Kickstarter fatigue from me? But maybe this is a completely different set of readers, and I shouldn’t worry about it?

I think we’d keep it very simple — essentially, Kickstarting it would be letting you pre-order it at a small discount — probably free shipping (plus possibly getting it a few months early).

Production costs are something like $3000 or so, so at $40 for a hardcover, 75 people pre-ordering through Kickstarter would cover it. Thoughts?

Cute, hm? Not quite my usual style, but very sweet. Passionfruit-rose soap in a knitted heart for Valentine’s Day.

I’m thinking we can probably put together some kind of Valentine’s Day treat package, but quantities will be very limited — I can maybe do 15 of them? I’m thinking these kinds of things:

– knitted vanilla candle

Pick 7: $30 + shipping

No shipping for local porch pick-up?

And then the option to add on cookbooks, tea towels, gift cards, etc. Comment here if you’d like to be tagged in…