Stephanie Bailey asked me for holiday package photos, so you’ll see some of those popping up today. This is the trade paperback cookbook + homemade curry powder combo.
Ground Pistachio and Cardamom Cake
Just pretty. Ground pistachio, about to be folded into Pooja Makhijani’s lovely cardamom cake.
Here’s the Wisconsin live radio segment from earlier today!
Recipes From Sri Lanka
Cooking traditional foods connects us to our roots. We talk to the author of a cookbook that celebrates her Sri Lankan heritage.
Winter Dragons and Knits
I spent a little time this morning putting together possibilities for individual treat boxes for sale. I don’t know yet if I’ll be able to offer these — I’m going to wait until the end of November, to be sure I have enough time to fulfill all the Patreon orders, and also to closer to the end of the semester. 
But if you think you might want to order a treat box for yourself or a gift, I think these will be $25 within the U.S. (Sorry, international folks! Someday I hope to scale up to be able to offer this sort of thing internationally. I have to figure out food regulations, plus international shipping is brutal.)
Locals doing porch pick-up, they’ll be $17.
Check back Dec 1 if interested. Quantities will be very limited, esp. if you want Christmas delivery!
*****
“Winter Dragons” treat box ($25):
– Lime & Charcoal soap bar
– Dragonfruit Nebulae chocolate bar
– Chocolate-Cayenne Gingerbread gilded dragon egg cookie
– a few homemade marshmallows (flavors to be finalized in the next few days)
“Winter Knits” treat box ($25)
– passionfruit, mango, and lime soap bar
– cashew milk toffee (fudge-like)
– golden sheepie sweater cardamom shortbread
– a few homemade marshmallows (flavors to be finalized in the next few days)
Diwali Bundt Cake
I didn’t make this in time for Diwali (had to wait for my new 5-cup bundt pan to arrive), but had a lot of fun making (and eating) it tonight. Pooja Makhijani’s celebration rose, cardamom, and pistachio cake for King Arthur Flour’s site, absolutely perfect with a cup of chai at teatime (or in my case tonight, right before bed). Thanks, Pooja!
(If you don’t have a 5-cup bundt pan, and don’t want an excuse to buy one, she notes that this fits nicely in a loaf pan.)
Interesting, or a Disaster?
Okay, here’s a cooking question. I was buying some Bakto extracts, and they had smoke extract, and I have this dragon theme going for my Patreon treat boxes, so I HAD to get some smoke extract, right?
But now I realize I have no idea how to use it. I’ve used liquid smoke in a curry, but I don’t think this is the same thing. I suspect people mostly use it for barbecue?
I smelled it, and it smells nice and interesting. I tasted a bit, and the extract is VERY strong, so it’s honestly a little hard to get a real sense of the flavor that way.
What I actually want to do is put it in a sweet of some kind — a marshmallow or cookie or truffle. Thoughts? Is this going to be interesting, or a disaster? I haven’t found any recipes online using it.
Is More Good?
You know what feels really great? When you imagine a thing, and you make it, and it actually comes out the way you intended. I LOVE how this pumpkin curry tea towel came out! Kavi did the pumpkin and vines and leaf; I did the recipe and overall design. I tried to pick a cheerful, slightly child-like font that was similar to Kavi’s handwriting, which is neat and rounded.
Sri Lankan peeps, I feel like this would be a nice gift for Amma, don’t you think? If you have a cooking Amma, that is.
I had thought it wouldn’t be affordable for me to sell tea towels in my own shop, with shipping multiple directions, etc., but it turns out that Spoonflower has a fill-a-yard option that works really well. I can fit 4 tea towels on a yard of fabric, which brings the per unit cost down considerably. So if you’re sewing yourself, this is a great thing to know about, and if you don’t sew, I can actually sell them.
They’re still not cheap, I’m afraid — I need to price them at $24 each to make it worthwhile. But you get a significant discount on them if you get them as part of a Patreon treat box (sign up by November 30th for the December boxes). (http://patreon.com/mohanraj)
I think we can offer some package options too, since that saves us on the shipping cost part — I’m thinking:
• 1 tea towel ($24)
• tea towel + curry powder ($28)
• 2 tea towels ($42)
• 2 tea towels + curry powder ($45)
• Feast paperback + tea towel ($50)
• Feast paperback + tea towel + curry powder ($55)
• Feast hardcover + tea towel ($60)
• Feast hardcover + 2 tea towels ($80)
• Feast hardcover + 2 tea towels + curry powder ($85)
Is it confusing, having so many options to choose from? I felt like more would be good, but maybe not…?
Pretty Pretty
Finished cutting the milk toffee. Pretty pretty.
Giving Up on Neatness
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sri Lankan cashew milk toffee (which is really closer to a fudge than a toffee, despite the name) with silver leaf applied to it, but I wanted to try for Diwali today, and I think it looks great!
Not at all easy to do neatly, even with the two sets of wooden tweezers that came with the silver leaf — it blows around wildly in the slightest breath of air. But if you give up on neatness, it works just fine.
These will be going in the December Patreon treat boxes — well, the ones Anand doesn’t eat will be going in the treat boxes. He adores milk toffee.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Jaggery, Balsamic, and Cayenne
(35 minutes, serves 2-4)
I love roasting brussels sprouts on a weeknight — five minutes of prep and the rest happens in the oven (or toaster oven, in my case), giving you plenty of time to cook a few more dishes.
These brussels sprouts are sweet, tangy, and a little spicy. A nice addition to the Thanksgiving table, or for dinner any night of the week.
1 lb. brussels sprouts
3 T jaggery or dark brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T balsamic vinegar
3 T olive oil
1/4 t. salt (plus more to sprinkle)
1/2 t. cayenne
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Trim and halve brussels sprouts, cutting large sprouts smaller, aiming to have them roughly the same size so they’ll cook evenly.
3. In a bowl, mix together jaggery, garlic, balsamic, oil, salt, and cayenne. Add sprouts and stir to coat them well.
4. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper; spread brussels sprouts in a single layer.
5. Roast for 25-30 minutes — taste and sprinkle on additional salt as desired to finish (I like another 1/4 t. or so).
