Thursday, October 18, 2012

Royally mine...




      I have a princess in my house... she doesn't wear a tiara, glass slippers or fancy dresses but she is my princess none the less.

      Alana has been sick all week and Ive been sick worried for her. She has asthma and bronchitis which it's not a good combination. Today she woke up feeling better and when she saw me frosting some cakes in the kitchen she asked where were her cakes. I make cakes for everybody and for the most important person in my life I always make something special.



      Alana is one of those kids that has a stool so she can "help" me when I'm cooking, she makes sure everything I do it's up to her quality and flavor and she even has her own cookie cutters, rolling pin, set of spatulas, whisk and spoon (the whisk, spoon and spatulas are pink and have piggies on them). She loves rolling dough to make sugar cookies, loves pouring sugar on them and opening the door of the oven to check if they are done. She eats the frosting on top of the cupcakes, eats frosting alone with a spoon or finger and eats the cupcake alone, without frosting. I love everything about her, she's 46 pounds of deliciousness and like everything I bake I made her from scratch.

      So to my little princess I made this cupcakes, she loves the Disney Princesses and already decided she wants her birthday next year to be about them, castle cake and all. It's a good thing she has a mom that loves to bake. These cupcakes are simple vanilla cake but it's important that when you bake cupcakes you don't over bake them so they end up being rich and moist.



      The other day someone on the street told me how cute my daughter was and I answered she absolutely is. She heard me talking to that person and everyday she asks me if she is cute and everyday I answer her the same thing... You're the cutest girl in the entire world. Does it sound like I'm in love with my daughter? It must be because I am...

Luz

Friday, October 5, 2012

The lesson...

     

      For the past few weeks I've been thinking a lot of the things I should say on this post. It's an important post and one that has changed my life in a very unique way.


      A few weeks ago I heard about a bake sale being organized to support the Go Bo! Foundation and even when my cookies are not the best out there or the prettiest or super mega fancy I wanted to help, I knew I wanted to do it and I knew they would be my most beautiful cookies to date.


      Bo Johnson was a remarkable young boy, full of love and hope and wisdom, even at the short age of 13. He suffered from a very aggressive form of leukemia and unfortunately passed away last Friday but not before changing the lives of his family and the people of his community. His message was clear- "Love each other, help each other, have your neighbor's back. If you see someone in need, even a stranger, reach out and help. This world can be a better place if we care and help each other". So much wisdom and strength in that little boy, he was definitely a hero.


      When I heard about Bo's passing I had a wave of emotions like I've never experienced before. I cried a lot, then I was calm knowing he was no longer suffering or in pain and then I asked myself, why do kids suffer from these kind of diseases? I talked to my sister about these feelings I was having and she told me something that stuck with me: "We as humans learn to value life through loss". Even in death we learn, we come together and we grow. It's all part of living.


      Last night I started packing the cookies, one by one with so much love, arranged them in the plastic containers with care and the put them inside the box. I woke up this morning, took my daughter to school and the waited patiently for the post office to open so I could send those cookies to Wisconsin. I felt at peace. Even when I am out of a job and don't have big luxuries I was able to help and as long as I have flour, sugar and butter I will continue to do so. My mother taught me something I follow by heart, share what you have not what you have to spare, give with your heart. I'm so honored to have been a part of this and so grateful of the chance Jill Wettstein gave me to help.



      Love those close to you, share what you have, be involved in your community... these are rules to live by. All you need is LOVE...

Luz