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"Old-fashioned, fresh baked treats guaranteed to take you back to Grandma's kitchen!" That's what Sinful Treats is all about. It brings me
the greatest pleasure when people tell me that my treats remind them of their grandma's recipes. So with my family's support and the "training" I got from my aunts, Juanita and Victoria when I was
a little girl, Sinful Treats will continue to bring you the same baked treats we've all enjoyed from generation to generation. From desserts inspired by family recipes, to gourmet cookies, fruit breads,
homemade pies and my own special creations, we have something to satisfy your nostalgic cravings. Proudly made the old fashion way, with simple and real ingredients, exactly the way we made them in my
Grandma's kitchen. |
How "Sinful Treats" Came To Be
(a letter from my aunt)
Imagine a little girl running around the kitchen, asking what the baking pans are for; how do we
use the measuring cups and spoons; how will the flour, sugar and eggs become cake; why do we try our best in carefully folding the batter and beaten egg whites to make a perfect chiffon cake. Then when the
cake pan is finally inside the oven, we'll suddenly see small hands holding on to the mixing bowls with little fingers cleaning away whatever batter is left.
During those times, I considered this scene as typical to any kid at that age; never
gave a more elaborate meaning to it; never saw it as a "sign" of things to happen in the future...until now. Oh yes, Mariel was one of those "kulit" (pesky) kids who
happily and willingly offered to help us (my sister and I) when we baked back then in our family home in the Philippines. She started helping out by "cleaning" the mixing
bowls as I described earlier, then eventually graduated into doing "bigger" tasks (when she grew taller than the working table) like sifting and measuring the flour
and sugar, assisted in the process of slowly adding sugar to the egg whites, or choosing the fancy design for the cookie cutter for the butter cookies (whether it be
a dog, heart, spade, star, Christmas tree, etc).
To me, I considered Mariel's helping out during those baking activities, at that early
age, as nothing more than a manifestation of a child's inherent curiosity of the things going on around her. I also do not recall having encouraged her to someday
do what we were doing. But what I know is that our family just loves to eat, and we do enjoy eating whether on special occasions or on ordinary weekends. The only
requirement is that everybody is there; that all of the grandkids are present, and that would be reason enough to send their grandpa and grandma to go shop for food to cook.
When Mariel told us that she plans to try out baking pastries for a possible business venture, she did not hear a word of protest
from my sister and I, but instead, we gave her all the moral support and words of encouragement that we can possibly give. Maybe
because on my part, she was fulfilling one dream that I always had - that of being a part in other people's special occasions by
baking a cake for them or preparing their favorite pastries, and seeing bright and satisfied smiles on their faces.
But you know what's special about Sinful Treats? You know what's really special about the pastries that Mariel bakes? I think it is
the fact that baking these goodies brings back good memories of her childhood with us. Memories with her Lolo and Lola Ma
(grandpa and grandma), with whom she enjoyed and had so much fun eating and "baking", together with her cousins, uncles and
aunties. That's why when I read the phrase, "old-fashioned, fresh baked treats, guaranteed to take you back to Grandma's kitchen",
in the website of Sinful Treats, I am quite certain that Mariel's pastries will really be great tasting and yummy, just like the ones we did in her Grandma's kitchen.
-Aunt Victoria (aka Tita Beng)
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