It's January of 2021. 2020 has been something else! Living through a pandemic has been unreal! But one silver lining from it is how much time it gave back to me since working from home and just the world practically closed in general. The holiday season just past and I actually had time to get into the spirit and decorate the house, even though it was only my family and me who got to see it. But one thing I had time for that I've always wanted to do was build a gingerbread house completely from scratch. NO KITS! Just baking from a recipe and constructing it myself. Of course I didn't want to just do a simple house. I wanted to do a version of OUR house. Lucky for me my husband is an engineer/drafter and was able to create templates for me. I was so happy on how it turned out. The worst part was having to toss it in the end. Check out my creation, all completely edible and made by me, minus that candies that I used (and the Lego characters of us that my daughter added).

Usually I make my cakes and have clients pick them up or I send them off somewhere and I don't really get to see the finished product all the time. That's why I enjoy receiving customer pics especially when I can see how they displayed them or most importantly how much the celebrant enjoyed it. Well, I had the best pics shared to me for a 1 year old photo shoot that I made a smash cake for. First they sent me this BEAUTIFUL before pic of the cake by itself:

Then the after pics rolled in. Oh.Em.Gee!!! This is why I do what I do...for moments like these. Although my heart broke a little to see my work DEMOLISHED, I mostly smiled because these after pics are just everything!

I want to thank my friend Nai for allowing me to be a part of and providing me pictures of such a beautiful moment in her adorable baby girl's life. I'm so glad my cake was Maddy approved!

Long before I ever tried my first macaron, I enjoyed many Silvanas.  Some say they are the Filipino version of a macaron yet they have many differences. I had a craving for them and there is no where near me that sells them anymore so I decided to make some of my own. This is why DIY is dangerous; I can whip up any of my cravings whenever I feel like it since I have all the ingredients waiting for me in my kitchen. I had this same problem with macarons.  Now look at me!

Here are some of the differences between Silvanas and Macarons:

1. They are made with ground cashews instead of almonds.

2. The base is a meringue, not a macaronage.

3. They have no feet.

4. They are filled with the flat sides out and also covered with buttercream.

5. They are rolled in ground cashews (or cake crumbs) and can be flavored.

I've been going back and forth whether or not to even start a business on my own.  But it was the support of my friends and family that pushed me to finally go for it.  I never knew that my desire to figure things out for myself would ever lead to this. All I wanted to do was make myself some macarons because there was none near enough and then also share with those close to me.  Little did I know that there would be such a demand for them. The journey to get here was stressful but so fun!  During the whole process, I valued the opinions of my sisters and my 3 BFFs with the business side of things and I want to thank them ever so greatly for their help.  But a lot of my motivation came from those friends and family that had such great praises for me or just kept ordering continuously--you all know who you are.  This business is for you!  But the best thing that was ever said to me since starting all of this--"I'm so proud of you."  This came out of no where from my very own husband.  If I ever had a doubt about starting this business, those words alone just made everything feel just right.

Thank you all! Stay tuned for more...