Fresh Start Daily

Pizza #1 toppings: tomato sauce mixture, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese

Pizza #2 toppings: tomato sauce mixture, mushroom, tuna, onion, cheddar cheese

Pizza #3 toppings: garlic, mushroom, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese

I saw a succulent plant on my table when I came back to work yesterday. When my co-worker and friend told me last year that she would give me a succulent, I told her not to bother because I don’t know if I can make it live long. I’m not sure if I have a green thumb because I haven’t really taken care of a lot plants in the past. However, seeing how beautiful this rose cabbage is, I can’t help but adore and adopt it. Hehe.

Many of us associate blessings only with material things. When we don’t have the things we want, we feel God has forgotten us but nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s easier to praise God when we live in abundance and it’s hard to worship Him when we live in scarcity. With all that’s happening in the world right now, I know many of us find it hard to see our blessings. I know it’s normal to be scared during this time but I realized, this is also the best time to exercise gratefulness. Our situation is not easy but there are so many things to be thankful for. I’m also still growing in this area.

Gratefulness does not rest on what we have. Gratefulness is a condition of the heart. It is thanking the Lord because we know that no matter what happens, He is good. When I read and watch the news, it seems that there is something new every day that threatens people’s lives. We may not understand what’s happening but we must continuously trust God. He sees the bigger picture and He is in control. No man or disease can change God’s plan.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I greased the pan with butter and added some minced garlic. I couldn’t find a rectangular pan so I used the cake pan instead. I added a layer of sliced potatoes then poured the full cream milk and heavy cream mixture then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I added the mushrooms and the shrimps (I did my research and apparently, gratin dauphonois only has potatoes but I wanted to tweak the recipe a little bit so I added some mushrooms and shrimp.) Then I added another layer of potatoes. I just repeated the process for the first layer. I just eyeballed everything and then baked it at 150 degrees C.

It took soooo long for this to bake. I finished at around 3 in the morning. It’s my fault. I put too much of the milk and cream mixture. My family said it tastes good. It really just took toooooo long to finish. 🤪

Thank You for sustaining me for 35 years, Abba. I wouldn’t have survived 35 years without You. Thank You for the people You put in my life to love me, believe in me, and not give up on me. Thank You for reminding me that I am loved by You and the people You allow to stay in my life. I am grateful to and for them but I am most grateful to and for You, Lord.

Zacchaeus had such a humble heart. There were so many people wanting to meet Jesus but since he could not see Him amidst the crowd because he was short, he climbed a tree. He recognized Jesus’ authority. He sinned but his repentance led him to return the money that he embezzled fourfold (he was a tax collector) and give half of his possessions to the poor.

When Jesus told him that He will go to his house, he immediately climbed down the tree and welcomed Jesus with joy. This resulted in the salvation of his household.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’” v. 9-10

When I got home around 1:30 a.m. yesterday from work and opened my Messenger, I saw the groom’s message that said “collapsed”. My heart sank when I read it and saw the photos (below). Apparently, the icing melted and they didn’t have a fridge in the wedding venue to save it.

Questions like, “Did the best man drive carefully?”, “What was the temperature inside the car?”, etc. flooded my mind. The wedding was in Antipolo and the cake came all the way from Quezon City. I thought maybe it was the hilly roads that caused the icing to melt and the big flower on the first tier to fall.

To be honest, the worst thing I thought could happen was for the cake to fall. I didn’t think the buttercream would melt because the recipe I used was really sturdy. I used buttercream before and we had no problem with it. I am completely embarrassed by the whole thing! I don’t know if they even put it on the table.

Suddenly, I remembered the groom’s excited face when I presented to make their wedding cake months ago. In a split second, I imagined the frustrated and disappointed look on their faces when they saw it. It wasn’t just any cake… It was their WEDDING CAKE!!!

Thoughts like, “I shouldn’t have presented to make their cake”, “Why did I even volunteer?”, “Did I hear wrong from you, Lord?”, “I won’t serve in Sunday school anymore (because the bride and groom also serve in Sunday school)”, etc. ran through my mind. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it up to them. It’s something they will remember for the rest of their life. Que horror! I sent my apologies to the groom.

I picked up the gum paste flowers (from Gum Paste Philippines) yesterday before going to work. The 2 pieces in the middle were given to me for free because of some misunderstanding. My instruction was to color only the center of the flower but they included the rest of it. They decided to give them to me for free because they didn’t want to throw them away. It was a good thing because I was able to use them. 😊

The cake board I used for the top tier was 9 inches. It was supposed to be 8 inches but I realized it late so I just covered it with buttercream. 😔

The bride and groom wanted a textured frosting so I did my best to do just that. It’s my first time to do a textured buttercream frosting. I had a hard time crumb-coating it because it’s chocolate cake. The brown crumbs kept showing on the surface. 😞

I volunteered to make the wedding cake of one of our level coordinators in Sunday school. The cake was picked up by the groom’s best man around 5:30 this morning. I worked on it right after I got home from work last night. I haven’t slept yet but it’s okay. Thank God the cake turned out well somehow. I wanted to stack the other tier but I didn’t have enough time. I was praying the whole time that I would be able to deliver. I hope it would make it to the wedding in one piece. 🙏🏻