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A Year of Baking and Loving

Kristine Tome
Apr 2, 2018
3 min read

My blog, Bake with Love, and my Facebook group/family, We Bake with Love, just turned one a few days ago. Did you know how it all started?

I was fervently praying for something at the start of 2017. I felt that God was going to grant that prayer request because it seemed to fit perfectly in the picture. But then, God’s answer was a heartbreaking “No.” So my year started rough. I was so down and had no drive to do anything at all except binge-watch Kdramas. Hehe.

Then one night, I learned about the art of writing and selling e-books. And so I tried it out. In one week, my husband and I finished Millennial Moneyger. Then I tried writing another one about baking, Baking for Newbies and finished it in three days. I tried selling it through Facebook groups, and it was a hit! I would wake up in the morning with several messages and notifications on my phone. However, group admins were not happy about the attention I was getting and kicked me out of their groups even if I followed their rules. I was puzzled about what to do next.

In the middle of the summer traffic in Pansol, I realized that I should make my own Facebook group for new bakers. When I went home, I grabbed my phone and did it. Fast forward to today, and we are over 3,000! I have also developed more learning materials for newbie bakers.

Looking back, the best part of forming and moderating the group was not about baking itself. It’s more about the friendships I’ve earned and the love we shared. I would receive messages about baking, and the gratitude of the people made me feel more grateful about life. There were also times when the members just send me messages not about baking but just to share about what they are going through. I feel humbled to be trusted by these people, even if we haven’t really met in person. I guess love is just like that. You don’t need to see each other, you just have to feel each other and share the gratefulness for each other’s presence.

There were times when I felt like I wanted to share more about my experiences to the group, but couldn’t because most of the time they were not related to baking. And that nagging feeling grew more at the start of this year when I was called to serve God again through The Feast. I also have an unfinished book about gratefulness. I’ve been working on it from time to time for over 3 years I guess. To address all these issues, I decided to start another project, similar to my blog and We Bake with Love.

I’m forming a new group with an objective to help other people grow a more grateful heart. This topic is so close to my heart because I’ve been blogging and writing articles about it since 2011. Being grateful has changed me personally, and I hope to share this with others without limits.

I am not taking down the WBWL group. I’m hoping that you will all continue to post about your breakthroughs and queries on baking. I will continue to share my thoughts here about baking. I will also launch a new product for you to keep you inspired and passionate about baking. (More on this later this month). I encourage you to be active in this group. At the end of the year, I will be giving away surprise boxes to the most active members of this group.

To my blog followers and members of WBWL, I would like to say "Thank you" for everything that we shared together. The blog and the group have been a big blessing to me especially in 2017. As an anniversary/Easter present, I'm sharing with you three printables that you can use for your kitchen. Print the design that you like most, put it in a frame, and place it on your kitchen wall or table. It will be our reminder to always put LOVE in baking. When you've done this, please do share the pictures to our group to spread the positive vibes. Download the printables here.

I would also like to invite you again to join Bakers' Boot Camp on April 7 at The Pastry House, Maahas, Los Banos, Laguna, from 9am to 4pm. You will learn new recipes, social media marketing strategies, visual branding, dessert buffet styling, money management, and more! Why is it a "camp"? Because it will not stop there. I will continue sharing knowledge and secret strategies to the participants so we all grow together as successful bakers. Reserve a seat now at bit.ly/WBWLbootcamp.