Category: Uncategorized

I was clearing out my phone photos, and realized that I never posted these photos, which I’d hoped to use to advertise upcoming book launch events at these Bay Area stores, sigh. That was such a nice day, walking around with Jed and having lunch and talking to bookstore people. (And later Alex in Sausalito…)

All three of these stores were enthusiastic about the possibility of carrying Feast and maybe doing an event with me. They may well have ordered copies in anticipation of that, so if you’re in the Bay Area and interested in my Sri Lankan cookbook, I definitely encourage you to call them up and see if they have (or want to get) a copy for you.

Oh, and Omnivore (cookbook store) definitely both ordered books and even scheduled an event, so even though I don’t have a photo of the store here, I’m including them in the list.

Some of these stores might be closed in person, but they’re likely doing online orders, like our local bookstore here in Oak Park. Shop small, shop local, support our bookstores!

Books Inc. in Mountain View
https://www.booksinc.net/MountainView

Kepler’s Books and Magazines, Menlo Park: https://www.keplers.com

Omnivore, San Francisco: https://omnivorebooks.myshopify.com

Sausalito Books by the Bay: https://www.sausalitobooksbythebay.com

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Rest of the standard Feast book info below:

Feast is now an Amazon bestseller! Woot! COOKBOOK DETAILS:

1) ORDERING: You can order A Feast of Serendib (signed / personalized, if you like) directly from me right now, at www.serendibkitchen.com, or from my publisher, Mascot Books: https://mascotbooks.com/…/coo…/regional/a-feast-of-serendib/. The limited release paperback can only be ordered directly from my website. If you’re in the U.S., you can also add on my hand-roasted Sri Lankan curry powder.

A Feast of Serendib launched officially March 6, 2020, and we hope it’ll be widely available in bookstores and libraries. You can request it from your local bookstore or library! Please do! It’ll also be available on Amazon US, UK, and Canada; you can order it online.

ORDERING INFO:
978-1-64543-275-3 Hardcover (distributed by Ingram)
978-1-64543-377-4 ebook (on Amazon, etc.)
2370000696366 (trade paperback; only available directly from me, at Serendib Kitchen site; you can also buy the hardcover or ebook there)

2) REVIEW OR BUY IT HERE (reviews are hugely helpful in boosting visibility!):
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/…/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_QmauEbJTRFD…

Books-a-Million
https://www.booksamillion.com/…/Mary-Anne-Mo…/9781645432753…

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-feast-of-ser…/1135510523…

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/…/sh…/51332647-a-feast-of-serendib

3) JOIN THE COOKBOOK CLUB: If you’d like to support the development of more mostly Sri Lankan recipes, I’d love to have you join the cookbook club — for $2 / month, you’ll get recipes delivered to your inbox (fairly) regularly: https://www.patreon.com/mohanraj. For $10 / month, you can subscribe for fabulous treats mailed to you! (US-only).

4) FOODIE SOCIAL MEDIA:
My personal FB page: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/mamohanraj
Serendib Kitchen blog: http://serendibkitchen.com
Serendib Kitchen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serendib_kitchen/
Serendib FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/132029834135500/
Serendib FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/mohanrajserendib/

5) PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY starred review: “Mohanraj (Bodies in Motion), a literature professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, introduces readers to the comforting cuisine of Sri Lanka in this illuminating collection of more than 100 recipes. Waves of immigration from China, England, the Netherlands, and Portugal influenced the unique cuisine of Sri Lanka, Mohanraj writes, as evidenced by such dishes as Chinese rolls (a take on classic egg rolls in the form of stuffed crepes that are breaded and fried); fish cutlets (a culinary cousin of Dutch bitterballen fried croquettes); and English tea sandwiches (filled here with beets, spinach, and carrots). With Sri Lanka’s proximity to India, curry figures heavily, with options for chicken, lamb, cuttlefish, or mackerel. A number of poriyal dishes, consisting of sautéed vegetables with a featured ingredient, such as asparagus or brussels sprouts, showcase a Tamil influence. Throughout, Mohanraj does a superb job of combining easily sourced ingredients with clear, instructive guidance and menu recommendations for all manner of events, including a Royal Feast for over 200 people. This is a terrific survey of an overlooked cuisine.”

*****

Thanks so much for your support! Indie publishing is absolutely reliant on word of mouth and the support of friends, family, and friendly internet acquaintances. 

— Mary Anne

Started harvesting daffodils from the cutting garden for the house, which makes me happy, but I clearly need to bake more scones…

I’ve mostly been pretty chill about pandemic cooking, since we were lucky enough to start out with a well-stocked chest freezer, pantry, etc., but then I ran out of coconut milk a week ago, and boom! I immediately went and placed an order to have 24 cans shipped to us. A relief when they arrived; we can survive a few more months now.

We’ve also been going through a lot more popcorn than usual, since we’ve taken to watching an episode of Dr. Who with the kids every night in our bed. Coconut milk and popcorn — who knew that these would be the essential staples?

Roasted curry powder = pretty. Also delicious. 

Heh. I went to go look up the new channel for my cooking videos — we’ll be putting another one up tomorrow, me and Kavi making Mango Fluff — and found that it only had one subscriber, which wasn’t even me. So I subscribed! Now there are two! 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsyMUej2ppby36zPmisRbQ

Why all the soaps, Mary Anne? Well, one reason is that I’m planning to give some to some healthcare folks as a little thank you. Another is that I’ll put some in the spring surprise packages shipping out with book orders next week.

But I admit a third, perhaps most powerful reason, is that I’ve been holding off on experimenting with making interesting cocktails until the last big batch of paper grades is done.

This is incredibly responsible of me, I’ll have you know. I didn’t know I had this much willpower in me.

Eating has gotten oddly random around here, in pandemic time, mostly dependent on my mood at any given moment. Sometimes I tell the kids, “Mommy’s busy, make yourself a sandwich or a bowl of cereal or something.” Sometimes Kevin cooks for them (like tonight, when I’m grading).

But sometimes, just randomly on a Tuesday afternoon, I decide to make them a beautiful cheese omelette with bacon, banana bread scones, and a bowl of sliced berries, just for the heck of it. But tomorrow, gruel!

ALLITERATIVE FLASH SALE! Serendib Spring Surprise Boxes (US-only for this one, sorry!):
a) Small: a random assortment of sweets, postcards, and a handmade soap, plus an ebook of Feast (if you have one already, feel free to gift this) – $19.99 + $8 shipping and handling
b) Medium: same as small, plus bath salts, a paperback of Feast & a 4 oz. bag of curry powder – $34.99 + $15 shipping and handling
c) Large: same as medium, plus body butter, a hardcover of Feast and an 8 oz. jar of curry powder – $54.99 + $20 shipping and handling
Comment on the *main post* to order; I’ll confirm in comments and give you info on payment options. I think I can do about 15-20 boxes, based on the supplies I have on hand; it’s a little hard to estimate, since I don’t know what size boxes people will go for.

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Go HERE to order:
https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10160683118589616
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We’re hoping to get the Shopify set up in the next few weeks, which will make it easier to ship internationally, etc. So if that’s you, hang in there — though I’ll have to do more research on what’s involved on shipping food internationally before I can offer that, so that bit might be quite a while.