How it all began 2.17.2026

Far left is my Grandma Lourdes, the middle two are her sisters, and on the right are my mom and 5 month old me

First blog post of 2026!!! I recently changed the name of my newsletter and blog to "Anong Chika?" Tagalog slang for "What's the news? or What's the hot goss??" And this first blog post will be part of a (semi) weekly series called Talambuhay Tuesdays. (I say semi, because we'll see if I can stick to a weekly cadence lol) Talambuhay is Tagalog for "biography" and has been used in many Filipino spaces I've been a part of to introduce and share more about oneself and their background. I feel like when I post to Instagram there's a bit of a pressure as a small business owner to appear as though you have it together, or to be constantly promoting, or keeping up with content trends, and that's never really been my vibe. (I'm also just an anxious, introverted person who hates being front facing and if I could just get away with posting dessert pics I would!! 😅)

I started out simply sharing stories about myself and my family, Filipino history, culture, and goings-on in the local Filipino community, the crafts or food and desserts I was making, moody posts about being a first gen Fil-am eldest daughter and the nuances around forging a path for myself and holding all my parents' hopes, dreams, and aspirations. And the folks that got it, got it and stuck around. So I started this blog last fall, a few months after closing our flagship bakery location to try and get back to that feeling of just sharing things in a way that feels low stakes, low pressure, and genuinely me; To start processing everything that happened, get over the hesitation to share the messy behind the scenes, and all that came with going from pop-up to brick-and-mortar. I felt (and still feel) a lot of shame for things not working out there, even though there was so much out of my control and even though the negatives far outweighed the positives. But I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Getting back into pop-ups after a post-holiday hiatus, sharing more about where I've been and where I'm going, and inching forward little by little to hopefully reopen in a home better suited for all I am and all I want to be.

Starting off with a little bit of my background story and how I got into baking ~~

I grew up in Renton, Washington with a really large family. I have my parents and one younger brother, but for most of our childhood we lived in a multi-generational home with our grandparents, some aunts, uncles, and cousins, in and out as they migrated from the Philippines, and a super close knit extended family that lived in the area. We got together pretty often--it felt like the special occasions were endless for a family as big as ours. It was always somebody's birthday, or someone was visiting, or we were rotating the host for different holidays, etc. etc. Among all of the cousins, I was the only girl, often getting roped into helping prepare food while my brother got to hang out and play. As soon as I had the dexterity to hold a knife, I was chopping carrots for pancit, rolling the rice balls for tambo-tambong (aka, ginataang bilo-bilo, a sweet coconut stew), or plucking kangkong leaves (water spinach) for sinigang (tamarind soup). I would sit by my grandma Lourdes at our kitchen table peeling the wrappers for lumpia so she could fill and roll them, while she and her sisters and my mom and aunties would tsismis (gossip), laughing that joyful, deep-belly half scream/half laugh that filled a room and echoed outside to our backyard where my dad and uncles took turns at the grill cooking pork skewers and oysters.

As I grew up, it was during these moments where I was packed shoulder to hip with my mom and Titas in the kitchen that I learned how to make some Filipino sweet and savory staples-- Turon with Grandma Lourdes, Leche Flan from Uncle Jun, Mango Float with Auntie Teresa, Siopao Asado with Auntie Earling. One recipe I regret not being able to learn through direct practice was my Grandma Macing's Bitsu-Bitsu (aka carioca). In essence, it's a fried glutinous rice ball coated in a coconut caramel sauce, but I have NEVER been able to make it the way she does nor have I EVER encountered the same texture with any other bitsu-bitsu or carioca that I've eaten anywhere else. She was pretty secretive about it and was the only one to ever bring it to parties in the same pink tupperware container, and it was SO GOOD. A uniquely thick outer crust and dense, chewy texture that I can still remember the feeling of.

Now that all of us cousins are grown and spread out, it's much harder to get together and I really miss these family parties. I don't think anything really captures the experience of eating boatloads of lumpia and then running through the basketball court while your older cousins try to play 2 on 2 or the liminality of being just barely asleep on the couch in the middle of the living room while your Dad and Uncles compete to get the highest score on the same song in karaoke (my dad would always try to gaslight everyone into thinking a lower score meant you were better 😂). I stay trying to recreate that homey feeling!! Do you have any fun family party memories or moments during your childhood that set you on the path you're on today?

Kk that's it for now! Kitakits next week!

-G