Coconut Crème Brûlée

Ingredients:

10 large egg yolks
4 large eggs
1 cup of white sugar
2 cup full-fat coconut milk
4 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, scraped) 

Equipment:
6 7.5oz ramekins
1 large ceramic bowl
1 kitchen torch

Garnish
1 box of fresh strawberries.

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Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300° F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix in eggs, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla until it becomes a creamy mixture.
3. Add coconut milk and mix it until smooth. 
4. Pour into ramekins.
5. Place the ramekins in the large ceramic bowl and fill hot water into the ceramic bowl until it covers the ramekins half-way. 
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until the middle is jiggles slightly. 
7. Cool until ready to serve or chill until cold. 

Serve: When ready to serve, sprinkle two teaspoons of sugar on top of each ramekin and torch until golden brown. 

Enjoy!

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"Better on your hips than ours!"
❤ The Midnight Bakers  ❤

Korean Style Summer Rolls w. Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
16 round rice paper wrappers
24 medium shrimp (peeled)
4   ounces dried rice vermicelli/rice noodles
1   box alfafa 
1   medium cucumber, peeled and cut into strips
2   large carrots, cut into strips
1   red pepper, cut into strips
1   yellow pepper, cut into strips
1   green pepper, cut into strips
1   small package of hot dogs
1   box of spinach
1   box of lettuce, shredded

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup water
1    tablespoon sugar
3    tablespoons Hoisin sauce
2    tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (1.5 limes)
4.5 teaspoons soy sauce
0.5 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 1/4 teaspoons chile-garlic sauce

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Peanut Sauce
Whisk together all of the ingredients and store in the fridge before using. Whisk again just before use. 

Summer Rolls
1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add shrimp and cook until bright pink and opaque. Run the shrimp under cold water, drain and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut into horizontal halves. 

2. Empty the saucepan and bring another batch of water to a boil. Add hot dogs until cooked. Cut the hot dogs into horizontal halves and set asides. 

3. Cook the rice noodles as per the directions on the packaging. Drain and set asides in a bowl. 

4. Set aside the chopped vegetables on various plates and place on the table. 

5. Fill a large flat bowl or saucepan with boiling hot water. Let water cool just enough to be able to stick your fingers in without burning yourself. Take a sheet of rice paper and gently dip it into the water until it is submerged enough to soak in some water. Once the paper is soft enough, lay it on a plate to prepare adding ingredients. 

6. Working very quickly with rice paper, line 2 tablespoons of peanut sauce down the middle of the rice paper. Add in the ingredients you would like in the roll, distributing evenly. 

7. Roll the wrap over once and fold in on the outside edges. Set on a plate and enjoy!

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This recipe was learned from a very talented friend who surprised us with this, this past weekend. Thank you Moa! I will now forever record this in my blog so our familia can refer back to it when we can't make it together. :) 

Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake

Cake Crust Ingredients:

Add Matcha to Cheesecake Mixture

1 cup vanilla Nilla cookies (crushed)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)

Cake Ingredients:
2 packages of cream cheese (8 oz packs)
1 tub of sour cream
3/4 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
5 tablespoons green tea powder/matcha powder
3 tablespoon of honey

Garnish
1 box of fresh red raspberries
1 box of fresh gooseberries

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Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Crust. Crush Nilla cookies into crumbs and mix 3 tablespoons of melted butter to allow crumbs to hold together. Press the crumb and butter mixture firmly onto the bottom of the 18 paper-lined muffin cup baking pan or a 9" round pan. 

Cake: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sugar until smooth. Add eggs one (1) at a time, beating it into the mixture until smooth before adding the next. Add in green tea powder and beat the mixture until smooth. Pour the batter evenly over the prepared crusts in each of the paper-lined muffin cups. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until cake is set but the center moves slightly when shaken. Remove the cake from oven and let cool at room temperature for 60 minutes. 

Refrigerate uncovered overnight before adding garnish. Enjoy!

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"Better on your hips than ours!"
❤ The Midnight Bakers  ❤

   7 weekends left. One more round of rotating weekend chef-ing which means there will only be 7 more dessert recipes to be posted before I go on a hiatus from baking. 

Indira brought over some matcha-powder but since my kitchen has been down-sized, I no longer have all the baking needs stocked in the cupboards, we ran out to grab a baking pan to prepare tonight's dessert ... Mini Green Tea Cheesecakes to go with whatever meal Moa had prepared for us tonight. All we knew was it was going to be something Japanese or Korean. 

Sou-chef Indira.

Since the cheesecakes were in it's batter form, I was already chasing Indira out of more than just taste-testing the flavour for the right amount of ingredients. Everyone else dropped by the kitchen just as the cakes were coming out of the oven and I had to chase them out of the kitchen ... the cheesecakes still needed to be refrigerated overnight!! 

Seriously, this is one of the most difficult desserts to keep from being devoured before they're even ready. 

 

Dessert Monsters.

Crossroad: Time is Frozen

Sometimes, a paddle on flat water is therapeutic to the soul.

Frozen. It's been ...

38 days since my decision to move;

22 days since I verbally quit my job;

10 days since I quit my job on paper;

9 days since I sold my house.

I am now sitting at the crossroad.

Standing at a crossroad, frozen in time and watching my past and present life move around me. It's too early to move forward but too far to go back. This is the second time I've felt a mind and body disconnect. Mentally, I have already moved on, but physically I'm still here. I arrived a little too early standing in front of a closed door that won't open till May 11. The road beside it is completely wide-open; the path calls out to me with attempts to convince me to stay in Toronto. There's no turning back. I made up my mind and will wait by this door.

Everything feels different. It's a strange feeling that closely resembles depression but not quite. It feels like many of the people I used to know, have been left behind since I took my first step off the beaten path. Only a select few are still walking by my side, holding my hand physically and emotionally until the very last minute of when I take on my lone wolf journey. It's as if time has been frozen only for me and I watch everything around me move as if I didn't exist in this time and space.

I've tried holding on to what is now my life in the past, but there's no use trying. The harder I try to hold on, the more unnatural it seems. I have come to just accept the fact that it's time to move on and look closely at the friends that are still walking beside me. Some are new, some I've reconnected from the past and some I've grown closer to because they have gone through similar situations. These friends have been guiding me through the emotional roller coasters I have been experiencing. They comfort me that it's normal to feel the way I do.

2 weeks of excitement;

3 weeks of stress;

1 week of confusion.

8 weeks left. 

Has it already been 6 weeks? In these past 6 weeks, I've managed to suppress and turn off any and all emotions for everything; the move, sibling rivalries, family and friend arguments, stress at work, everything. It was the only way to get things done, auto-pilot with no emotions. 6 weeks in, 39 days, I can't do it. I'm exhausted. The emotions from every argument, every stress related issue, the lack of sleep, and the energy required to suppress them all together have bottled up to a point where I can no longer hold it in and I want to cry. But I can't. I've suppressed so much emotion inside that even thought I feel and want to cry to release the stress ... it just won't happen. Every feeling from happy, sad, angry, frustrated and stress has just been dumped into one mixed bag of emotions and I don't know how to release it, nor do I know how to further suppress it. I'm so tired. What do I do? I can't sleep ... how do I center myself again?

I need to find my center.

Chilled Coconut Squares

Ingredients:
2 cans of coconut milk
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
2/3 cup sugar
12 tablespoons cornstarch 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (for greasing pan)

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Toasted Coconut Garnish:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. 
3. Spread shredded coconut on parchment paper evenly and bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Remove toasted coconut and let cool. 

Coconut Squares:
1. Shake can of coconut milk before opening. 
2. In a small bowl, mix in 1 cup (1/2 can) of coconut milk with 12 tablespoons of cornstarch.
3. In a medium non-stick saucepan, pour in 3 cups of coconut milk add in water if not enough to top-up (approximately 1.5 cans plus water). 
4. Place medium non-stick saucepan on medium heat and mix in sugar until melted. Do not let boil. 
5. Drizzle in the small bowl of cornstarch mixture while mixing at the same time. Add in salt and vanilla. 
6. Stir vigorously over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until the coconut milk becomes a thick pudding-like consistency but do not let boil. 
7. Grease a 9 inch baking pan with vegetable oil. 
8. Pour the cooked coconut mixture into the baking pan and let cool for 10 minutes. 
9. Seal with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1 hour. 
10. Sprinkle toasted coconut to garnish. Cut into squares.
11. Creepily bring the sweets to the office and leave in the kitchen with a sign saying "Eat me" and enjoy your coworkers indulge ... better on their hips than mine. 

How the consistency of mixture should look.

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"Better on your hips than ours!"
❤ The Midnight Bakers  ❤

Coffee Banana Bread w. Chocolate Chips

Coffee Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)

1/2 cup almond milk
3 1/2 tbsp Maxwell House Instant coffee

2 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 bag of chocolate chips (270 gram)

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Instructions:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix wet ingredients:
1.In a medium sized bowl, mash bananas. 
2. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and chocolate chips. 
3. In another small cup, gently warm almond milk and mix in instant coffee until dissolved. 

Mix dry ingredients:
4. In a large bowl, combine flour and baking powder. 
5. Add in the wet ingredients and mix until a smooth consistency. 
6. Add in chocolate chips.
7. Bake in the oven for 32 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool before serving.

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"Better on your hips than ours!"
❤ The Midnight Bakers  ❤

8. The number of weekends left to spend time with TheGirls. The only thing that keeps me in the kitchen for hours, chatting up a storm catching up on our daily lives as if we don't see each other ever.

Had some overly ripe bananas that were in dying need of a recipe so we decided to make Coffee flavored banana bread ... with chocolate chips of course! Indira brought over a can of coconut milk and I had also bought two cans of coconut milk for no reason earlier today. Clearly we both had something coconut in mind whether it was intentional or not ... so ... we had to do something with it ... Chilled coconut squares it is!

We made 3 recipes in 3 hours tonight. In between baking two desserts, we made dinner. Somehow, weekend or weekday, we always end up baking until way past midnight ... so we got the name "Midnight Bakers". But, what does one do with all these sweets? We'd surely get fat if we ate it all ourselves! So ... we took in volunteers to eat them, give us your passcodes and/or house key and we'll leave them at your place! Delivered our first surprise baked goods at a friends' place and cleaned out his fridge from expired foods while we were at it ... it's kinda creepy to be sneaking into your friends' homes to leave sweets in their fridge while they're at work and a note saying:

"Dear Neighbor, Better on your hips than ours! xoxo the Mightnight Bakers" 

... so Indira came up with our new logo; the chef with a moustache. :) I'm so going to miss you Indira! :)

Emotions: The Parents

Showering out of a well in Buena Vista, Costa Rica
August 2006

February 3, 2014. It was decided. I'm moving to Costa Rica. There was no talking me out of it at this point.Was it crazy? Hell yeah. I was so excited, I wanted my family to be the first to know. But having looked back, I probably should have waited to tell them in person - I'm not good with expressing emotions. I'm only good at suppressing them. The message I sent was also not the greatest. My excitement over text sounded something like this:

 "Mom, Dad, I'm getting a one-way ticket back to Costa Rica in May. I'm quitting my job in April." 

Imagine the shock they must have felt at that time. Probably worse than a jolt of whiplash from a bad car crash. Their daughter just announced that she's moving to an LDC (less-developed country), a country they have never visited and zero comprehension of, let alone the culture and language barrier. They have only heard stories of my travels to Costa Rica since 2006 and, to my mom, those were nightmares. Staying at home stays, hostels, living in a shack off the beach, showering out of a well, and even coming home with an extremely bad eye infection back in 2010 where I almost lost an eye ... and still went surfing.

The first to respond to my proclamation was obviously my sister with "So it's official?" followed with her immediate claims to my furniture for her new apartment. Dad's immediate reaction was not what I had expected; a giant text of what I needed to get done, what needed to be sold, responsibilities between renting and selling my home, my car, and a friendly reminder of how little time two months is to get everything done. Nothing's im.possible. Mom stayed completely quiet; her silence was loud enough to me as it was on how she felt. 

At the time, I wanted to cry. I did cry. I felt unsupported, pushed away, and of all the people that I wanted to share the news with, I felt they were angry with me. In my mind, I felt that Dad was trying to make it difficult for me to make this dream a reality; with the long laundry list of items he summarized over a text message. I felt shoved into a corner of negative emotions but at the same time, I knew this was the right decision for me. I had already questioned my own sanity about making this dream a reality each time I came down. If I didn't at least try to make this dream a reality, I would regret it for the rest of my life. Nothing worth having ever comes easy. 

Sister. I poured my heart out to my sister. 6 years younger than me, sometimes I feel she's the older one. We ended up fighting. I couldn't comprehend her explanation of how mom and dad felt about my decision to move. We weren't seeing eye-to-eye. More so I wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with her. I was trapped in a negative emotional state where I suddenly felt like the blackest sheep in the family. How do I get myself out of this state? This is supposed to be a happy moment!

After a few days of reflection, I attempted conversation with my sister again. I am so thankful to have a sister like her, who can always put things into perspective when it comes to misunderstandings or mis-communications between Dad and I. A bridge.

Mom. Having spent a few weeks trying to sit in mom's shoes, as much as she wants to be happy for me in chasing my dreams ... as a mother, she probably wishes that it was someone else's daughter that she could have been happy for, just anyone else but her own. Her own flesh and blood leaving the nest to a land so foreign and far away (even though it's only a 5.5hour direct flight). I can see where she is coming from. Even in her sadness on my decision, I know she is happy for me, but the worrisome side of her will take the better of her and I know she will be crying her eyes out at the airport on May 11, 2014. It makes me teary eyed thinking of it - I know exactly how she will be that morning ... but I can't cry. I won't. I will hold it back until I walk past the gates and out of sight. This is why I learned to suppress my emotions, it doesn't help with everyone crying ... it will be a bittersweet moment.

Dad. With both of our strong personalities, it's really difficult to get along when it comes to decision making at times. At the time I announced my decision, I felt that he wasn't being a 'father' in terms of providing me with the emotional support I needed. But looking back, he was being a 'father' in his own way ... watching out for me, forcing me to be even more independent as he always has for me growing up. We just don't see eye to eye right away. It will always take me days, weeks, months to reflect on his actions before I come to understand them ... and I always feel like he's angry at me, but with my sister's constant reminders and reassurance, he's not. He just cares about me in his own way.

Sharing this decision to move to the country where noone wants to leave has been one emotional rollercoaster of a ride. It has not been easy with the parents. How I see it is, my parents fled from Hong Kong to escape 1997 for the freedom and better life in Toronto. I'm doing the same thing, I am 'fleeing' from Toronto for a 'better life' ... a lifestyle change that is better for me ... in an LDC ...

Toronto: Hobo living out of a bag

Literally. Living out of this bag for 4 days.

Since my house got listed this past Friday, the appointments for private showings have been going through the roof, with notifications coming through my phone endlessly. Counting just Saturday and Sunday alone, there were almost 30 showings. Most of the families that came to view the house were mostly Asian ... well, that only means three things ... money money money!!! 

Strategically we listed the house at a very attractive price range, lured in our buyers like fish with bait and casting our fish net on the final day. It's apparently the new thing with real estate agents now, a tactic to create a bidding war. I'm no big fan of wars or anything but in this case ... Let the bidding war begin!

While we create the scene for this bidding war, I've been kicked out of the battle field for five days so that the fish, I mean, our buyers, could visit the house with their agents throughout the day. My house is to be left in an absolutely pristine showroom state for this whole time which means, I don't even know where my shit is when I get home by midnight. Everything has been tucked away in every nook and cranny around the house.

I've been a homeless hobo for 3 days now, literally living out of a bag that consisted of my Choco Krispis, laptop, phone charger, hairbrush, beach towel and my Jasmine green tea bags. It surprises me that this is all I needed in the past few days, hopping from one friends' house to another and literally living out of my car with my dogs. With the busy schedule I have had, I have skipped so many meals that I can't be more thankful and appreciative to the friends who have fed me this past weekend.

Nick/Karen who not only let me crash on their couch after work and housing my furry kids during the day, but also feeding me Indian food like I can handle spices - I just look brown cause of my tan I'm not really brown!! :) Dave for feeding me with his homemade Italian style pasta dishes knowing that I skipped many meals. Derek/Flora who kept me company and in helping me get sick of bubbletea before I leave for Costa Rica. Indira for offering me her place to crash at first thing on Sunday morning. And, of course my family and especially my mom, who literally fed me from the moment I opened my eyes for breakfast straight through to dinner. Moms always feed you like you've never eaten before. Thank you mom. ❤

3 more days of hobo life to go! I can do this ... 

Toronto: It's official, May 11, 2014

So, it's official ... May 11, 2014. 

Spent just over an hour on the phone with Air Canada on Wednesday evening to book our one-way ticket to Liberia, Costa Rica. One-way ticket. Somehow those words are just starting to sink in. Patiently, I sat on hold for most of the duration of the call because the booking agent had to speak with the animals department to ensure that Niko and I will be on the same flight before I shell out $517.25 CDN. This is probably the most expensive I have ever paid to fly out to Costa Rica. WestJet is flying out two days earlier at $320! But I have no choice, Air Canada is the only airline that will fly animals into Liberia and on a direct flight. I wish I had booked a week earlier when it was $460. Too late now. It is what it is, better now than later anyways. But this really makes it official. I am actually leaving ... 

This is the second time since my decision to move that I felt cold feet. While being put on hold by the Air Canada agent, millions of questions flew through my head ... is this for real? I started to make excuses to procrastinate the purchase of our one-way ticket. Maybe if I wait another week, the price will drop back into the $400 range. It's still too early, I should book next week. What if I can't sell everything in time? $517 is way too expensive for a one-way ticket! What if my laser eye surgery appointment needs to be pushed back? What if I can't get Niko's paperwork done in time? The agent hasn't come back, there's probably already 4 animals on the flight and we'll have to find another date ... The millions of excuses flooded through  my head and I was about to hang up but I had waited to be called back by Air Canada for two days now, I'm not waiting again. The agent came back on the line and said Niko was good to go, he was the only animal on the flight and his spot in cargo was secured ... $517.25 later, this is actually happening ... Ko and I? We're moving to Costa Rica! 

The days are starting to blur and I can barely remember the last time I ate or had a proper night's rest. In the last two weeks since I declared my resignation verbally at work, I have gone into auto-pilot mode. The house I have called home for the past 4 years has been transformed into a showroom; study room vacated, windows cleaned from the winter mold, emptied half my kitchen to become minimally functional and donated 12 large garbage bags of clothing and stuffed animals. I feel like I'm working two full time jobs. Executive Assistant by day, selling things off kijiji during my lunch hour, re-painting parts of the house and emptying it by night. The nickname my friends have given me over the years of superwoman and terminator have never been more accurate in these past two weeks. In this short span of time, my house is showroom ready and listed on MLS for private showings since the morning of Friday, February 28, 2014.

Among all these things I must do before I leave, I somehow squeeze in surfing on the weekends, more like a wild goose chase for waves on the lakes and the odd night out to get my bachata/kizomba fix. Even I don't know how I am actually accomplishing all this. There's never enough time in a day, but somehow, when push comes to shove, I manage to get it done ... somehow ...

Nachos: DANachos

Gonna start blogging all our weekend meals every weekend until the last :). Here's Dan's very precise engineer-minded recipe for the unhealthiest nachos you can consume for dinner. Recipe and directions are exactly transcribed as per Dan as he whipped it together. 

Ingredients
1 bag of corn nachos
1 can of Stagg Chili
1 can of salsa
500g grated cheddar cheese (medium strength)

Directions
1. Place one single layer of nachos.
2. With a spoon, scoop salsa on to each nacho individually.
3. Add grated cheese on top, evenly distributed to cover all layers of sauce.
4. Place another single uniform layer of nachos on top.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until desired height is reached - preferably nachos the size of your ass. 

Serve with Pico de Gallo. 

Disclaimer: The most unhealthy nachos ... maybe cause of the Stagg Dynamite Hot Chilli which is almost 500 calories for the entire can!\

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"♦ ♦ ♦

"Friends who make nachos together stay together ... until they move to Costa Rica." 

Another night with la familia to spend time with Karen ❤. Love our weekends together! 

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Pico de Gallo

Ingredients
7 small vine tomatoes

2 bunches of cilantro
1 small sweet white onion (to taste)
1 clove of garlic (to taste)
1 lime juice (to taste)
2 green chilies (to taste)

Directions
1. Dice the tomatoes. Remove liquid and seeds from the tomatoes, then dice the tomatoes.
2. Remove stems from the cilantro and finely chop. Add the cilantro to tomatoes.
3. Chop garlic.
4. Add lime juice, salt and hot peppers to taste.

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♦ ♦ ♦

Moa & Dan making Pico de Gallo
March 1, 2014

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Flourless Chocolate Coconut Quinoa Cake

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa 
1/3 cup almond milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk

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Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease two round cake pans.

Quinoa: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add 1 cup of quinoa. Cook for approximately 10-15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Let cool for 10 minutes. 

Cake Batter: Combine milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender. Add the cooled cooked quinoa and butter to the batter and puree until it becomes a smooth, thick, creamy batter. Whisk in the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar) and stir until well blended. Pour the batter evenly into two cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Let cool before frosting. 

Frosting: Place one of the cakes upside down on a plate. Without mixing the can of coconut milk, gently scoop out the solid coconut milk and spread on as frosting onto the cake layer. 

Chill for 2-3 hours in the fridge before serving to allow the coconut milk to solidify and set in. Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Quinoa Cake

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♦ ♦ ♦

The kitchen is definitely not a place you'd find me often and you will hardly ever find me in the kitchen for longer than what's necessary to make food edible. But one thing that will keep me there for hours, is the quality time I get to spend with my girls. I'm going to miss you guys so much, and these recipes will make me reminisce all the good memories of every single weekend we spend together each time I re-make them. 

From dancing in the kitchen while cooking our meals and baking, chasing you guys out of my cake batter, endless bachata/salsa/kizomba, sleepless nights, and late night girl talks. Love you guys always and forever. Hermanas para siempre. :) #HANLB :) 

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