My ♥ is full..

..and so is my tummy 🙂

Today, one of my greatest dreams got fulfilled, one of the things in my bucket list got ticked – that is to learn how to bake. 🙂

I grew up in a very simple family. My mom cooks but she never bakes, so I had nil idea how to bake pastries. I think, if my memory serves me right, I was in my high school or probably in my college years when I first wanted to learn how to bake. Mi amiga Rocel, one of my bestfriends in highschool, wanted to bake strawberry shortcake, she gave me a recipe of it with a promise that we should both learn to bake. Fast forward to many years, Rocel learned how to bake, she’s now in the US with her husband and son, but I remained clueless when it comes to baking. The dream lives on in my heart, though I didn’t get to do it because I don’t have an oven and the basic equipment, there are more important things to purchase so buying an oven and other utensils is always pushed back.

I have this friend/carpoolmate/colleague who recently retired. We all know that she bakes and cooks real well. When she retired I told her that I’ll visit her one of these days and will request her to teach me how to bake. Little did I know that my other carpoolmates want to learn how to bake, too! So we decided to visit Ms. Millen and do the baking session one Saturday morning. 🙂 We called our baking session, Millen101. 😉

Ms. Millen shared a list of pastries that she knows how to bake. From the list of six, we decided to bake: 1. Moist Chocolate Cake and 2. Lemon/Calamansi Squares. Here are the recipes shared by Ms. Millen:

We’re all really happy to learn how to bake. Much more than having a full tummy because of the uber yummy chocolate cake and calamansi squares, my heart is full, I am exceedingly happy because I finally get to bake, and the experience is made more special because I did it with friends, with one of my treasures in life. I am wonderfully blessed with wonderful people around me. 😀 Thank you so much, Lord, I know this is another answered prayer. 🙂 Indeed, your timing is perfect, always! 🙂

The Moist Chocolate Cake 🙂

The Calamansi Squares

Ms. Millen did all the teaching and sharing, prepared breakfast, provided all the ingredients, the utensils, equipment, her time, lovely kitchen, lots of love, ALL for FREE, so as a simple thank you gift, we gave her what she loves. 🙂

She loves to drink Coke, she collects Coke cans and other “Coke items”

After our baking session, I had lunch with momsy and daddy, it’s daddy’s 62nd birthday today. We had lunch in our of our fave restos, Simply Thai, because we simply love Thai cuisine. 😀