a shift in priorities
shifting priorities and being at peace with it, cafe day comeback, and a peak into other projects i've been working on
At the start of the year, I was emboldened with a new, different sense of responsibility…
I tend to stretch myself pretty thin in an attempt to do literally every single thing I want to do and set out to do, and sometimes… things get put on the backburner as a result. Climbing is a hugeeeee part of my life! I watched Free Solo in theaters when it came out and committed to the sport when I was still living in San Diego. I climbed 3-4 times a week and climbed outdoors almost every week. It was my main thing for a couple years. We all took a break during quarantine, but I came back to climbing as soon as gyms opened up again after I moved to LA in 2021. I was pretty consistent for a while, but after the fires and the hospital fiasco, it’s been really hard to return. Partially cause my neck is kind of raw all the time and I don’t feel comfortable going into the gym with all the chalk floating around… but also because juggling the baking and boarding and seeing my friends has taken priority. And baking’s been a lot more tiring than I ever expected it to be. I used to decline plans in favor of climbing, and I kept my weekends open for climbing trips. But now! I’m spending a lot more time working on my skills and hoping all this hard work will eventually pay off. And spending a lot of time with people- which I’ll never ever regret. I’m planning on returning to my usual climbing routine once I’m fully employed again, but for now- I’m happy with how I’m spending my time. :-)
One of the things I worked on recently was this collaboration with The Washi Station! If you don’t know that the washi station is, they collaborate with a bunch of different artists to make washi tape and have a huuuuuge collection of them. I myself was originally a recurring customer well before I started collaborating with them (in case you didn’t know, I have over 400 washi on my desk). They come out with different collections throughout the year, and this was one of them! Please check out the riso zine and my washi tape for the stationery lovers collection! The washi tape I designed features a bunch of stuff that you can find on my desk. I also previously took part in the cookbook collection, the zine of which is now sold out. But you can find my coffee & tea tape here.
The bake section:
I made this custom 14inch two layer black sesame cake + dark chocolate whipped ganache + yuzu-raspberry compote + vanilla buttercream for Michael’s birthday, requested by Aprilyn. Always love doing custom cakes for people! Even more so when I get to make some whipped ganache. Thanks for having me do this and also inviting me to the party and letting me eat a slice. ^_^ I didn’t take the best photos during the process, but I wanted to share what the process of stacking and frosting the cake looked like. Hope it’s helpful if you’re curious how I fill the cakes.
Now this is a 6inch four layer earl grey cake layered with blackberry jam and held together with my usual vanilla buttercream for Cley’s mystery age birthday. The joke is that I tried making a flyer for Cley’s birthday party and messed up the age like 4 times. I couldn’t fit the 30 that was in the last flyer I made, but it’s ok because Cley did not turn 30 this year. Party was held at Stud Country which I LOVE! I did a 14inch cake for their christmas party last year- and I hope they’ll want me to do more hehe.
Antoine invited me over one day and put me to WORK but he fed me really well so how can I complain… He made us kaya toast for breakfast and then asked me to test a pandesal recipe he found on tiktok. I broke it down in my supernote because tiktok videos are hard as hell to follow and got started. I’m not really a bread baker, but now after making two whole batches of pandesal, I fear I am beginning my bread baking era… just kidding lol… I made two whole batches because Antoine wanted to try swapping the shortening for duck fat (he’s been cooking and rendering duck for daysssss like literally had duck broth on the stove for 3 days straight no joke) and the second batch used butter. We both decided that the butter pandesal was superior (while warm, anyway) but it was cool seeing friends react to the duckfat pandesal when I shared them in the next few days. One person said he could really taste the duck- but I fear it may have been the influence of my outright telling him that was in there. While I was waiting for the dough to proof and stuff, Antoine made some duck breast pho for us, and it was soooo good I was drinking the soup slowly the entire time I was baking- even though it got cold. We said fuck it and kept cooking as the sun went down and folded a bunch of duck dumplings with some extra duck meat he had on hand. I couldn’t tell you what everything was exactly because I’m not Antoine, but it was really impressive how he managed to make use of every part of the duck he got! Not pictured was more duck confit arroz caldo testing he did, but I posted a duck breast arroz caldo test he did a few newsletters back… so just try to imagine it.
I guess that day was mostly to test some stuff for our 4/19 dinner collab- which I think we are SO ready for. Funny enough, I knew we were going to test the pandesal recipe when I came in, but I didn’t know I was going to be making it for the dinner. After we finished baking (and eating) both batches, Antoine was like, “okay so this is going to be the exact setup for the dinner, you’re going to make the bread” and I was like OH! I thought it was funny and I have accepted my fate. I’ll be testing the pandesal again before the dinner just to make sure I got the hang of it. Cannot wait for that night!
Squeaking of popups- speaking of popups:
Thinking of Her Cafe is making a comeback this Sunday (4/6) with a stacked menu, a different location, and a lot of thinking and consideration. I was going to make way less than last time, but we have about 100 rsvps, which is CRAZY, so I squeezed in 7 different cheesecake flavors this time! Along with 2 cookies and blondies. The corn cheesecake will also be making its debut at this popup. I am a corn hater, so if you try it you’ll have to tell me how you like it because I have no opinion. We’ve deliberated a lot about the drinks and changed the drink portion of the menu a bit from last time. Antoine did a big hojicha tasting in preparation for it! And of course, the shakshouka is so back. I think you have no choice but to accept the onsen egg this time.
I’m actually in the middle of baking right now! Been multitasking 10 cheesecakes today and trying to finish the newsletter comic and uhhh write this newsletter lol. I’ve got 2 more cakes tonight, then I can sleep… someone told me this today and it krilled me so bad (positive):
I’m gonna wake up early tomorrow to finish frosting a caking and also finish the last 4 cheesecakes and also bake off all the cookies and also make the blondies— this is kinda just how it is before the bakesales. I try to make everything as close to the date as possible so they’re fresh so I have no choice but to cram it all in! I am very excited for Sunday, though. I hope we sell out of everything (manifesting)!!!
April popup schedule:
4/6 thinking of her cafe day
4/12 kubo & future is color popup (san diego)
4/19 thinking of her french-filipino fusion dinner
4/26 kubo’s 1st anniversary!! popup (san diego)
LAST THING because I’m super proud of this:
This is the first time I’ve got a popup scheduled for every week of the month back to back! I’m already feeling exhausted by it… but I’m excited and I’ve got a few more new cheesecakes that I wanna test out soon and will probably be making its debut later this month… Hope you’re able to find joy as we continue to attempt to survive this month… See you in the next one! :-)
-nicey