For the longest time, I’ve had a master wishlist of things to bake/cook. Like anyone interested in baking and cooking, I have an ever-evolving, gargantuan list of all of my want-to-bakes: French macarrons, Sans Rival, Buche De Noel, petit fours, panettone, panna cotta, a proper English trifle, buko pie like the ones they used to sell in El Ideal in Silay City…the list is as long as my memories of food (and those are historically plentiful.)

But, there’s a Special List. I’ve started calling it the Dandelion List, because when I get the chance to wish on a dandelion, more often than not, I will wish for the gumption to start making the things on this list. It’s been in my head since I was 12 years old, when I first made a cake all by myself (an all-together-too-rich butter cake with buttercream frosting from Let’s Cook With Nora). I realized then that maybe if I gave baking a chance it would do me the same favor, so I’ve been baking (and wishing) ever since.

The Dandelion List is different because it’s made up of dishes from the wonderful cooks in my family – on both Mama’s and Papa’s sides. These are the legendary recipes that I’ve had to think twice about recreating. Why? Because there are delicious standards to live up to! And I often feel that a successful dish doesn’t just depend on a tried-and-true recipe, but on the person wielding the wooden spoon. If it’s your signature dish, no one can quite make it like you. Cooking is a science, yes, but it’s partly magic as well. As the cook, you impart your own brand of sorcery to any dish you make.

But I DO want to try, even if these talented cooks set the bar pretty high. Because I often think about how the hands that made those dishes were fashioned from the same genetic cloth as my own. The attempt is my way of honoring not just the culinary history that’s so much a part of my family names, but the potential in me to bake as well as they can.

So, here is the GWAC’s Dandelion List Of Deliciousness. One that I hope to tackle, one cup of flour (or rice!) at a time.

       The GWAC’s Dandelion List Of Deliciousness

Lola Pin’s Daffodil Cake

Tia Minda’s Parker House Rolls

Auntie Betty’s White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Manang Cynthia’s Empanadas

Lola Pin’s Sago Pudding with Meringue

Mama’s Hopia

Tia Minda’s Orange Chiffon Cake

Manang Flo-Flo’s Siakoy

Mama’s Callos

Tito Boy’s Tuna Ceviche

Tito Boy’s Paella

Lola Pin’s Fresh Pineapple Candy

P.S. The yellow dandelion image you see above is actually beautiful fabric that the UK company St Jude’s carries. They have the prettiest fabric with eclectic designs made by their own roster of artists. Another great craftster resource is the St Jude blog All Things Considered, with art news and design ideas from that country across the way, one I hope to visit some day.