MOTOism: In Memory of My Aid (2000-2012)

Aid, Kitchen passed away on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. She was 12 years old. Since she was adopted (refurbished model), the exact date of birth is unknown. The cause of death is paralysis. The bowl is completely stuck on the base, and no matter what I've tried, it won't dislodge. In another words, her brain is still working perfectly, but her body is frozen, forever, so we decided to put her to sleep.

In the past 12 years, she played crucial role in my baking life. Let me remind you of  some of the accomplishments she helped me with.


Proud To Be An American cake for a friend who became a naturalized citizen.


Castella cake here. 


Or beautiful challah bread here.


This girl is still one of my most favorite cake baking experiences. 

Oh, moffins has been such a great invention, from its texture to the unlimited options to add flavors. Aid helped me make batch after batch of these.



More memorably, I've made countless batches of macarons, using her powerful mixing skills. The whole journey started here, to here and finally triumphant here.  Ah, all the effort, failure, tears and successes are half of hers as well. Who could keep whipping up egg whites for 10 minutes? After years of macaron-making, I finally packaged them for sale.



Thank you, Aid.

I still get a bit emotional when reading my series of posts on Aya & Irwin's wedding cake. The trials, execution, and ultimate failure, are now all a great memory for all of us who were involved. From the initial conception here to the many trials here, here and here, building up to the the final traumatic moment here. Throughout all this, Aid was the one who was quietly looking at me thinking, "What an idiot, putting together layers of light cake without securing it properly to avoid collapse."



Needless to say, her biggest contribution to my life as a baker culminated to my experience to become ReMarthable.



Martha, I would like to make an announcement personally to you: I left my day job to become you. I am slowly building my empire and I may replace your one day. Watch out.

Aid was always with me for the past 12 years, and when I finally decided to do something that I always wanted to do and try to make a living out of it, she was there to help.



Funny thing is, she died while making buttercream for my first real sale of these Raisinwich cookies. She died while she was hard at work.



Through all my bakings and sometimes cooking, she was there to help me improve my skills, scold me quietly when I made mistakes, and encourage me when the end result came out nicely. Without her, I would not have made it here. She will be missed... but I am excited that I will be getting the professional 600 series, color TBD. Life surely goes on.

R.I.P. Aid.