Category: Uncategorized

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Treat boxes

Um, I feel like I end up stuffing more and more in the treat boxes every time I do them. I just want people to feel VERY SATISFIED that they’re getting value for their money. Is that so wrong? 🙂

Happy with the decision to move to doing them three times a year instead of four, though — they do take time. Stephanie and I took about three hours working together just to pack up the higher tier boxes on Monday.

Every time I have to reassess whether it’s worth my time to do them, but I really enjoy the process of coming up with the theme, figuring out what I’ll include, coming up with new recipes and home items. And it also gives my business some steadiness of income, which makes it easier to make sure I can make payroll. Writing pays me better, but it comes in fits and starts. Patreon is nice and steady.

Also happy that we’ve shifted everyone to larger boxes, so we can include ice packs in all of them going forward. Maybe not necessary for the winter box, but the rest of the year, I think it’ll make it much less likely that chocolate or marshmallows or lollipops will melt while sitting in a warehouse while shipping. We’ve had some disasters in the past. Live and learn!

*****

I *think* this is everything that went in this time around:

EARTH TIER ($10 / month, shipped 3 times / year):

• 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):

Picture: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162380511444616

Recipe: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/lime-rosewater-and…/

• 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 (lavender, mint, & basil): https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162446500464616

• Sunlight on the Water bookmarks: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10162446506084616

SOL SYSTEM TIER ($15 / month, shipped 3 times / year):

• all of the above, plus:

• Chive and Cheddar Scones

• Honey Pull Apart Bread

• Orange Spice Tea

• Lavender Wall o’Plants sachet

• Bee & Flower soap (sweet orange & lemongrass)

• a Serendib card and envelope

MILKY WAY TIER ($20 / month, shipped 3 times / year):

• all of the above, plus:

• more of various sweets

• Morningstar Sedge Tea Towel

INTERSTELLAR TIER ($30 / month, shipped 3 times / year):• all of the above, plus:• Sri Lankan Butter Cake (an entire cake!)• Fruit & Flower Tea (cornflower, calendula, mango, passionfruit, etc.)• Morningstar Sedge Scarf• homemade Sri Lankan curry powder & A Taste of Serendib

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Looking for test cooks

Quick note — we could use some more test cooks for Vegan Serendib. If you test 5 recipes, we will send you a digital copy of either Feast or Vegan Serendib, and if you test 10 recipes, we will send your choice of hardcover, too! If you’re interested, drop your preferred e-mail in the comments. Thanks!

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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.

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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!

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Milk toffee

I was cooking this batch of milk toffee in Jed’s unfamiliar pan on his unfamiliar stove, so it got a little burnt, but if that happens to you, don’t fret — it’s still delicious, it turns out. Just with more of a caramelized, complex flavor. I still like classic milk toffee best, but I think some people would likely prefer it this way!

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Lime-masala mushrooms

I don’t have a recipe for this yet — it’s a fusion dish I made up for the launch party I held at Alex and Christa‘s house last month, and I was doing feast cooking for a big crowd, so a little too frenetic to stop and write down measurements for recipes. But I wanted to post this, mostly to remind myself to make it again at some point and write it up, because it was VERY popular.

Essentially, it’s my lime-masala mushrooms (recipe in Feast), but with added cashews, and cooked down with heavy cream instead of coconut milk. If you’re looking for a decadent vegetarian dish that ALSO packs a decent amount of protein, here you go. 🙂
You could also do it with coconut milk, of course, and vegan butter, if you wanted to do a vegan version.

(Did you know that you can buy signed copies of Feast from me directly, now on sale, AND add on curry powder (or masks) if you’d like? If not, now you know: https://serendibshop.com/…/a-feast-of-serendib…)

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Yummy Goop

Made brownies yesterday. Fussy recipe, but they honestly came out as delicious as I’ve ever imagined a brownie, so I can’t complain.

Couldn’t find our 8″ square pan, so made one batch in the scone pan (use plenty of Baker’s Joy, because brownies tend to stick), and one batch (with cherries) in a pie plate. Both delicious, though I think we could’ve added some foil to protect the edge of the cherry one and baked it just a little longer; the cherries put off enough moisture that the center is a little goopy.

Yummy goop, though. 🙂

Recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/…/best-cocoa-brownies-108346