A Wonderfully Sweet 2013 in Review: Le Patisserie Princess

"...step into every moment and enjoy the fullness of it whether it is the beach, your family, your work, your baking and drink deep of all of it. If you can do that, you will be truly happy. Even the bad stuff....... Step into the middle of it, not running way, and occupy all the space surrounding it and you will overwhelm it.

All the great, really good things are ahead of you and you will love them. But they take time, like a good sauce to come to full flavor.

Don't be in a hurry, savor it all with those who you love. You will be older before you really can live what I am saying. I love that you are so full of life, but savor it and let it fully come to each thing in its time!"

Those would be my favorite lines from one of the most wonderful person that I’ve met so far in life. I cannot comprehend it at all when I first read it cause I was too busy thinking of what to do next, what to write about next in my blog, what to eat for dinner cause back then, I was too obsessed with losing the excess pounds that I gained after the holidays and a whole lot more different things that concerns work, my family, my friends…In short, my brain was all over the place, my mind wandering into faraway places while I was sitting behind my desk trying to finish what Captain was asking me to do for the day.

Tiring, isn’t it? :D Just reading that whole paragraph wherein I painfully squeezed a gazillion of thoughts and all I’m trying to say is that the confusion and struggle were a result of me not living life’s present moment.

Of just being present where you are…

It’s hard. With all the things in our lives, how can we seriously not think about them right? But it can be done, only if you will your mind and soul to be present..to be here and enjoy this moment…like what you’re doing right now. You’re reading my blog and you’re probably browsing other stuff as well which will just make the process way much longer than you’d like to. Haha. Well, I must admit I do that sometimes too. Oh well, who says we’re perfect human beings? ;)

Do they even exist? ;))

Going back, it did took me a long time to realize that and there are still times when I’d find myself wishing I were in a different place…but 2013 had been quite a tough teacher.

Thanks to a few cupcakes, rainbow sprinkles and even a few Thai desserts, I made it through with grace.

And I just find it really amazing, cause as I look back, every major decision or event that happened in my life was accompanied by a certain thing that I either baked, or pastries that a special person gave me.

Amaaaazebaaalls right? :DDD

So what are we waiting for? :DDD Let’s get the ball rollin’! :D

1. Gratitude Cupcakes: From LA to Pinas

Read my previous post on this!

Whenever you feel so grateful to a person, a situation or just the mere fact that you’re alive, what do you usually give or do? Are you the type that showers them with gifts or the type that would create something from your heart?

Well, in my case, I love giving personalized stuff to people , especially those who are dear to my heart. So, just in case you’ve received something that I made/baked, you’re pretty much an awesome person. HAHA. LOL.

Kidding aside, one of the ways I sincerely express my appreciation is through the things that I bake; thus, the birth of Gratitude Cupcakes, as I bid farewell to these wonderful people that I’ve met.

I THINK I PROBABLY BAKED MORE THAAAN 70 CUPCAAAKES THAT DAAAY!!! WAS A NEW THING FOR MEEEEEEE!!! :)))

TEE HEE!

I will forever be thankful to Ka Noel and Ka Arlene’s family for treating me like their own. I’ve never felt such warmth in my life. Thank you for all your love and guidance and I hope I could see all of you soon again one day.

And ofcourse, to Baby Nathan! The cutest baby boy in the Pasadena Locale! :D

Also, to Tita Len’s family, for sharing their home while I was in LA. Thank you for all the good memories especially to Pao & Aaron! I miss your big tummies guys! Haha! And to Tito Eric as well for sharing his wisdom on life.

I’m very lucky indeed to have spent my first ever White Christmas in your super sosyal cabin in the mountains. Haha.

Who says you have to fly out the West Coast to get your snow fix? ;)

Winter Wonderland Babyyy!!!

To Ka Brenda and Ka Conrad, for being my second parents who patiently picks and drops me off every single time there’s worship service.

Thank you po for all your kindness and generosity. I will forever thank the Lord that I’ve met you.

And who would ever forget my fellow Kadiwa churchmates?

Thank you for letting me in your circle and for making me feel like family. :D

Wenelie, Marc, Brother Jeremy, Sister Krystle, Ashley, Justin, Kevin and Matthew and all the others, thank you. I wish you all the best in everything guys and hopefully one day, we’ll cross paths again.

Oh, thank you for eating the cupcakes as well everyone. :D Hope I could bake again for you guys someday! :*

2.Coconut Wafer Rolls: A Thai – tastic Journey

Fast forwarding to January 20^th of 2013 – the exact date when I arrived back here in the Philippines…

Main goal? Start from here and get a job that’s in line with my course – Consular and Diplomatic Affairs. And I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to work with The Royal Thai Navy’s Defense Attache’, my one and only favorite Captain of all time:

Captain Boonruang Homkachorn :D

Never in my entire stay had he made me feel that we were of different nationality for he treated me with such patience and strictness enough to make myself learn from my oh so many mistakes. He was not just my boss, he was, above all, my mentor. He taught me things beyond its technical value and made me realize how important it is to love whatever it is that you do in life. That’s one of the many things that he constantly reminded me of, “You have to love your job”, I remember him telling me whenever I seem to lose enthusiasm and it shows on my performance at work.

Captain, if you’re reading this, I just want to let you know how eternally grateful I am to have cross paths with you and I completely agree with you that there are things in life that we just don’t understand, that we just have to trust in a Higher being, in His plan for us…

How I miss your stories of your adventures working for the Navy Captain! :DDD

And how will I ever, ever forget…

Your first ever pasalubong from your Thailand trip!!!!

You have no idea how happy I was when you arrived at the office and handed this to me. Thus, the name of this phase in my life was defined: The Coconut Wafer Roll Stage, which was the period of time that I spent working for Captain Boon until he finished his tour of duty here in the Philippines and eventually went back to Thailand.

3. Decisions and Chocolate: A Piece of Cake

And so I made a major life decision. Well, actually it’s not that much of a big thing cause I’ve been thinking about it ever since and I really wanted to pursue a different path, for me that is. Though it was definitely a shock to other people, especially those who are closest to me, I’m thankful that they still accepted it at the least. Haha.

Hm.

Do I really need to say what that is? Haha.

Here's a recent Instagram picture of my mother visiting me at Shine Bakery Cafe where I'm currently staging in the Pastry Kitchen. :D

See more here! :DDD

You got that right.

I resigned from my job at the Embassy with NO CONCRETE PLAN. AT ALL. Well, I wanted to continue my home based business as I was really inspired by my participation in the Young Women Entrepreneur’s Bootcamp that was held last September, we even joined bazaars and all that. I know. It’s crazy. Well yeah, I think I’m crazy enough to do that.

Though in the process, I realized that I still have SO MUCH TO LEARN.

SOOOOOO MUCH.

I badly wanted to improve my craft, though it’s something that I didn’t formally study in school. I badly wanted to be better at it, to make and bake scrumptiously delicious cakes and pastries that taste good as they look. I swear, the admiration that I have for pastry chefs who take their craft seriously is just overwhelmingly unexplainable.

I dunno. I’m the type of person who easily changes her mind…but this has been something that I wanted to pursue ever since..I even wrote about my experience in LA wherein I went to every single home bakery that I could go to and ask if I could volunteer my time as an apprentice. And I was never given that chance, EVER.

Not until I met Foodlab’s Chef Kevin Mize who makes those famous dark beer cheesecakes. It may be quite a brief stint but I’m still thankful to be able to know and work for him. He’s such an amazing chef and I will forever remember one thing he told me, “You have the basic skills to be successful in whatever thing that you choose to do, you just have to make that decision with yourself that you want to be successful.”

And that applies to EVERYONE as well. We all have the potential to be successful, we just have to want it so BAD and work for it as HARD as we want it.

Thank you for these words Chef! Hope to see you soon!

And let’s just say that I woke up one day, wanting to try my luck yet again…with just my resumes in hand, I went to every single bakery & independent cafes that I wanted to work for…and the REST, as they say, is HISTORY.

Hi Faiiiith!!! :DDD

I’m currently a Stage at Chef Rob Pengson’s Shine Bakery & Café, in the Pastry section to be exact.

And it’s one of the best decisions that I’ve made so far in my entire life!!!

I have to thank a lot of people for helping me go through with the experience, first ofcourse to Chef Myles, for trusting me and allowing me to work there. Also, to mi familia, Like what I told them, I have never met such passionate people in my life..it’s quite a different world from the diplomatic community where I previously worked for and I can say that both offers its own pros and cons but what I love in the kitchen is that every day is just different. Every day offers new challenges, which makes you want to learn more and more. and Yes,

make more and more mistakes until you progress. :D

You over baked the cupcakes, the brownies, or even the choux pastry for the éclair.

Well, learn to adjust whatever needs to be adjusted next time.

Can’t properly freaking pipe the frosting?

Well then observe and ask help from your colleagues who have been in the industry long enough to do it properly.

You make mistakes.

And the least you can do is to learn from them.

Lotsa love,

Le Patisserie Princess <3

Princess Loirenne Adao

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