This is a guide for those who wants to venture into baking for the first time. Every baker must begin somewhere. If you are just starting to bake, it would be better if you will follow the recipe verbatim and not improvise. Here are tips you should now before going into a recipe.
1. Read the recipe thoroughly so that way you will have an idea of what ingredients and tools to use.
2. Pull out all the ingredients and tools that you are going to use so that you will not miss any ingredient. And also check the expiry date of the ingredients that you will use. Use fresh ingredients.
3. Bring cold ingredients to room temperature and store them on a counter several hours prior to baking.
4. Grease baking pan or put parchment paper on it. This will save you also from burnt, sticky or broken confections. Cleaning will be a breeze too.
5. Preheat the oven before you put anything to it. It would be better if you have an oven thermometer for the exact temperature that a recipe calls for.
6. Use different measuring cups for liquid and dry ingredients.
7. Sift dry ingredients to get rid of any lumps and clumps.
8. Crack eggs in a separate bowl to avoid it from tainting with rotten egg.
9. Combine ingredients according to the recipe.
10. Before inserting the pan into the oven, set the timer first.
Once you follow all these it will be easier to make desserts. Happy Baking! :)
Friday, May 16, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Fall in love with Yourself
After getting hurt and heartbroken, I decided to keep myself away from loving someone. Because I believe I am not ready yet. I want to fall in love when I am ready, not when I am alone and lonely. I don't want to get into a rebound relationship that will turn out to be another heartbreak. I am not the kind of girl who would easily fall for anyone. I believe I need to take my time to get myself together before starting a new relationship.
I must learn to love myself first. I need to do this alone. The more I allow myself to be independent, the freer I become. I stopped seeing myself as the world told me I should be, instead saw myself in the light of who I was made to be. I began to feel whole. Why didn't I do this before? It should have been different.
I was so busy finding someone to love me, that I have forgotten about the person I need to love first - myself. Loving myself is the key to improve all the relationships in my life.
How to love yourself and follow your heart;
1. Learn to accept yourself.
Think of anything that you are grateful for. Focus on your positive qualities, your strengths, and your admirable traits. Let go of negative thoughts and hatred. Increase your self worth.
2. Spend more time focusing on self love
Nourish yourself with love. Pamper yourself or do what you love that makes you feel compassion and love toward yourself.
3. Give yourself a break
Be willing to embrace your imperfections and excuse your bad days. Love your strengths and weaknesses. It is important to own them for a perfect balance.
4. Be comfortable with yourself
Practice moments of alone time and be aware of how you treat yourself. Learn to embrace solitude. Have regular dates with yourself. Be contented being alone without any fear, anxiety and judgment.
5. Be grateful
Always find something to be thankful for each day and regularly count your blessings. When you are thankful for the things you have no matter how small it may be, you will see it increase. It will allow you to focus on all the good things in your life instead of the bad things.
6. Be inspired. Follow your heart.
When the going gets tough be sure to maintain the things in your life that makes you happy and fulfilled. It will help you running again.
You will realize you don't need someone to complete you. You are already complete. A relationship with someone will only make you shine brighter and bring more love into your life.
I must learn to love myself first. I need to do this alone. The more I allow myself to be independent, the freer I become. I stopped seeing myself as the world told me I should be, instead saw myself in the light of who I was made to be. I began to feel whole. Why didn't I do this before? It should have been different.
I was so busy finding someone to love me, that I have forgotten about the person I need to love first - myself. Loving myself is the key to improve all the relationships in my life.
How to love yourself and follow your heart;
1. Learn to accept yourself.
Think of anything that you are grateful for. Focus on your positive qualities, your strengths, and your admirable traits. Let go of negative thoughts and hatred. Increase your self worth.
2. Spend more time focusing on self love
Nourish yourself with love. Pamper yourself or do what you love that makes you feel compassion and love toward yourself.
3. Give yourself a break
Be willing to embrace your imperfections and excuse your bad days. Love your strengths and weaknesses. It is important to own them for a perfect balance.
4. Be comfortable with yourself
Practice moments of alone time and be aware of how you treat yourself. Learn to embrace solitude. Have regular dates with yourself. Be contented being alone without any fear, anxiety and judgment.
5. Be grateful
Always find something to be thankful for each day and regularly count your blessings. When you are thankful for the things you have no matter how small it may be, you will see it increase. It will allow you to focus on all the good things in your life instead of the bad things.
6. Be inspired. Follow your heart.
When the going gets tough be sure to maintain the things in your life that makes you happy and fulfilled. It will help you running again.
You will realize you don't need someone to complete you. You are already complete. A relationship with someone will only make you shine brighter and bring more love into your life.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The 18 Months
A new study says that it takes a typical person approximately 18 months to feel ready to move on after a break up or a lost loved one. Certain things need an expiration date, there is a time we need to be done with them and throw them away. But does grief have an expiration date?
I don't know yet if it's true or not. Well, let's see, If I can surpass this grief after 18 months. If it was only that simple. Hoping that there would be an expiration date for grief so that I would be able to move forward happily. What a wonderful world it would be.
Coz, I have lost a loved one way back January of 2013. So, it's been 16 months. I admit that until now, I can still feel pain whenever I remember the memories. It's not easy to get over someone you love and has been a big part of your life, right?
Surviving each passing day is like a battlefield. Trying to get my mind busy so that I won't feel bored or alone is not easy. I am really thankful for friends and family who uplifts my mood and makes me feel loved. It's been difficult for me to stand still and feel crack.
This is what I know to be true...
Grief is a life long journey. An emotional handicap I get up and live everyday. It does not mean I can't lead a happy life, it is a choice and it takes work. The intensity of grief should lessen over time, but the reality still is every now and then, I feel those pangs.
There is no expiration date for grief. Sadly, it never goes away. But it does not mean that I can't live a happy and productive life. It just means that the love I have shared with a lost loved one, doesn't have an expiration date.
In order to surpass grief, I must go through it, not around it. No matter how painful it is, that is exactly what I must do. I don't have any choice at all. Because no shortcut is without it's share of obstruction.
By going through the intense pain. I will surface as a strong person ready to tackle problem heads on.
I don't know yet if it's true or not. Well, let's see, If I can surpass this grief after 18 months. If it was only that simple. Hoping that there would be an expiration date for grief so that I would be able to move forward happily. What a wonderful world it would be.
Coz, I have lost a loved one way back January of 2013. So, it's been 16 months. I admit that until now, I can still feel pain whenever I remember the memories. It's not easy to get over someone you love and has been a big part of your life, right?
Surviving each passing day is like a battlefield. Trying to get my mind busy so that I won't feel bored or alone is not easy. I am really thankful for friends and family who uplifts my mood and makes me feel loved. It's been difficult for me to stand still and feel crack.
This is what I know to be true...
Grief is a life long journey. An emotional handicap I get up and live everyday. It does not mean I can't lead a happy life, it is a choice and it takes work. The intensity of grief should lessen over time, but the reality still is every now and then, I feel those pangs.
There is no expiration date for grief. Sadly, it never goes away. But it does not mean that I can't live a happy and productive life. It just means that the love I have shared with a lost loved one, doesn't have an expiration date.
In order to surpass grief, I must go through it, not around it. No matter how painful it is, that is exactly what I must do. I don't have any choice at all. Because no shortcut is without it's share of obstruction.
By going through the intense pain. I will surface as a strong person ready to tackle problem heads on.
Forever Blue
When I was searching over the internet, I came across this; "The reality is you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same again. Nor should be the same again. Nor should you want to." Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. And it struck me really hard. It felt like my heart skipped and my chest tightened. It still hurts when I remember what happened to him.
Last year, the worst day in my life happened. It was the 18th of January 2013 at around 1 a.m., when my life suddenly turned upside down. At first, It felt like it didn't happened or maybe I didn't want to accept it. I might have been numb. I just want to escape the pain.
We mourned the death of a loved one. During those time, I felt the love and support of many as I moved forward into the following days and weeks. And I am very thankful to all those who helped and mourned with me and his family. But the truth is that he was really and truly gone. His presence, his sweet voice, his warm hugs and silly noises, his joyful smile and giggles, all were no longer accessible in a real and physical sense. And it was difficult for us to accept it.
After a few weeks, the uplifting support receded, and I began to feel some strong and surprising feelings; Despair, Anger and Desertion. Sometimes, I am still angry. I don't remember when grief first washed over me and knocked me down. So many questions then came running through my mind; What could I do now? How could I go forward and surmount this tragedy? But through the overwhelming support of our family, friends and relatives, I was able to surpass it. I didn't let negative feelings succumb me for the sake of my baby and family. I fought daily to be happy.
He is no longer here and I can't change that fact. Just thinking about it makes me weep. It's amazing for me that I survived that day. It's amazing for me that I've survived more than a year of grief. And still coping with it at times. Through this, I was able to release what I feel and it makes me feel better.
What I can do is choose to walk with grief and live my life to the fullest and with a purpose. No matter how good or bad it is, I must wake up each day thankful for my life, because someone somewhere else is desperately fighting to live and be brave.
Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them. It's not what the world takes away from you that counts; it's what you do with what you have left.
Last year, the worst day in my life happened. It was the 18th of January 2013 at around 1 a.m., when my life suddenly turned upside down. At first, It felt like it didn't happened or maybe I didn't want to accept it. I might have been numb. I just want to escape the pain.
We mourned the death of a loved one. During those time, I felt the love and support of many as I moved forward into the following days and weeks. And I am very thankful to all those who helped and mourned with me and his family. But the truth is that he was really and truly gone. His presence, his sweet voice, his warm hugs and silly noises, his joyful smile and giggles, all were no longer accessible in a real and physical sense. And it was difficult for us to accept it.
After a few weeks, the uplifting support receded, and I began to feel some strong and surprising feelings; Despair, Anger and Desertion. Sometimes, I am still angry. I don't remember when grief first washed over me and knocked me down. So many questions then came running through my mind; What could I do now? How could I go forward and surmount this tragedy? But through the overwhelming support of our family, friends and relatives, I was able to surpass it. I didn't let negative feelings succumb me for the sake of my baby and family. I fought daily to be happy.
He is no longer here and I can't change that fact. Just thinking about it makes me weep. It's amazing for me that I survived that day. It's amazing for me that I've survived more than a year of grief. And still coping with it at times. Through this, I was able to release what I feel and it makes me feel better.
What I can do is choose to walk with grief and live my life to the fullest and with a purpose. No matter how good or bad it is, I must wake up each day thankful for my life, because someone somewhere else is desperately fighting to live and be brave.
Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them. It's not what the world takes away from you that counts; it's what you do with what you have left.
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