Isn’t this lovely? One of the people we gave away a cookbook to left me a bouquet of flowers on the porch!
Totally unnecessary — that book was paid for by another generous soul. But that’s not going to keep me from enjoying the flowers. I think I’m going to take them up to Kavi’s school-at-home desk tomorrow, so she can enjoy them for this week of e-learning.
(I would give Anand a bouquet for his school desk too, but the odds are very high that he would knock it over and spill water everywhere. He has a nice succulent, though, in a Pokemon-themed Bulbusaur planter.)
So much toasted coriander. So much toasted cumin. (I’m out of cumin now, need to make a run to Pete’s sometime soon. Can I bike that far? I think so. The real question is, when is the store nice and empty….?)
Toasting a big batch of spices for homemade Sri Lankan curry powder tonight. (We dark-roast our spices before grinding.) I think my favorite part is when the fennel starts to toast up, that nutty licorice scent is divine.
I think it looks pretty good! I could put this on a sticker that I’d use to seal a marshmallow package, or on a business card.
The colors are taken from Feast — we’re not wedded to them, but will probably go with something along these lines. Though could be convinced otherwise, maybe.
We’ve taken design as far as we can go, so keeping these basic elements, what might we do to improve it?
(Kavi says you should be nice to her in your critique. Feel free to be mean to me, though. Right now we are debating whether it’s tilted a little to the right or not. I think it is. :-))
Kavi and I spent a while this evening working on logo design for Serendib Press. It was a collaboration, but she did most of the actual work!
the first sketch is hers, based on me talking about what I wanted to be in the image
the second is mine — I wanted to try filling out the scene a little, straighten the edges, etc.
the third is where Kavi took over, and I just served as the client, giving her suggestions — I can do some of the things she can do in Procreate, but not a lot of it, and she’s much much faster
the fourth is after we took out the outside border so we could straighten it, and added a window for balance, and gave the stars more presence, like steam rising out of the kettle
the fifth is we started playing with color, using the colors on the cover of Feast as a jumping off point, for cohesion
I’m going to ask for critique in the next post, so we can iterate a little further, but for this post, I wanted to show the collaboration process. And also brag on my kid a bit.
I told Kavi she’s getting paid for her work on this. What do you think a 13-year-old logo designer should get — same as adult? A percentage? Inquiring minds want to know!
a) If you order any print book (paperback or hardcover) today or tomorrow, you’ll get:
– a free handmade soap or set of bath salts (indicate your choice in comments below first, so I can make sure it’s still available)
– 3 delicious handmade mulled apple cider marshmallows
– 3 Serendib postcards
– total value $15
b) LOCALS-ONLY (because it’s too expensive / complicated to deal with shipping otherwise):
– individual soaps, bath salts, or set of 3 marshmallows ($5) — comment below to order these for porch pick-up, and I’ll confirm here.
*****
Just comment here on which soap / salts you want, so I can track and confirm I still have enough, and then I’ll send you to the Shopify site to place the order, or arrange local payment / pickup.
Order two books, you get to pick out two bath treats, etc.
Until Sunday night, or while supplies last.
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Books available:
-A Feast of Serendib (hardcover or paperback)
– Bodies in Motion (literary fiction, immigrant stories, hardcover)
– The Stars Change (SF novella)
– Perennial (a little garden romance)
(please note if you’d like books signed and/or dedicated to someone)
Shipped out a half-dozen books from last weekend’s sale, with bonus bath products. This is really about the pace I can manage — if I were shipping a lot more, I think I’d need to enlist help for it. Which would be fine, just to be clear! More book sales = good. But for now, sending out a half-dozen books a week does still feel like I’m wrapping up presents for people myself.
I’m think a Labor Day sale tomorrow, with a choice of bath products or some sweets? We’ll see if I get through today’s laundry first…
Mary Anne Mohanraj missed a lot of things when she went off to college, but the thing she was most homesick for was her mother’s cooking. When her parents immigrated to Connecticut from Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1973, they brought with them their fiery curries, coconut sambols and countless rice dishes.
I’m finding myself totally curious about how newspaper articles work, because Gretchen McKay’s terrific piece on A Feast of Serendib has made its way from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to Sri Lanka’s Daily News! Would she have pitched them this piece? Do newspapers keep an eye out for pieces of interest and then buy reprint rights? Inquiring writer minds want to know.
But regardless, delighted to have such a lovely piece in the homeland major paper!
Mary Anne Mohanraj missed a lot of things when she went off to college, but the thing she was most homesick for was her mother’s cooking. When her parents immigrated to Connecticut from Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1973, they brought with them their fiery curries, coconut sambols and countless rice dishes.
“Mary Anne Mohanraj missed a lot of things when she went off to college, but the thing she was most homesick for was her mother’s cooking.
When her parents immigrated to Connecticut from Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1973, they brought with them their fiery curries, coconut sambols and countless rice dishes.
Many of the recipes were adapted to accommodate American ingredients. Her mother, Jacintha, for instance, used ketchup instead of tomatoes because coconut milk was hard to find. But even adulterated, the foods offered a comforting and familiar taste of their Tamil culture.”
This Sri Lankan stir-fry is made with roti, fresh veggies and leftover beef curry. It’s a popular street food. (Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS) Mary Anne Mohanraj missed a lot of things when she went off to college, but the thing she was most homesick for was her mother’s cooking.
