The event was scheduled after lunch. Beauty didn't leave her room since it was raining hard that morning and the weather became colder than the usual. All of the partic.i.p.ants were wearing thick sweaters and socks as they moved toward the compet.i.tion hall.

The hall was slightly foggy. The judges started to fire the burners and the fog dissipated slowly. The show must go on whether the weather would agree with them or not unless a storm would voluntarily interfere.

There were eight separate make-s.h.i.+ft kitchens in the hall right now but only a stove top was seen on each workstation. The ovens and other special types of equipment were placed at the side. All the eight semifinalists stood in front of the judges. The rest of the partic.i.p.ants were sitting in a place intended for them only.

"Thank goodness, for now, we're almost done with the compet.i.tion but before that, you will have a face-off round. You will draw lots and face the person who got the same number as yours. Let's start with Beauty as beautiful. Your parents are really so into you for naming you Beauty." John said as he pa.s.sed a gla.s.s bowl with folded papers in it.

Beauty picked from the bottom and got number 2. Then the following person followed suit.

"Okay, who got number 1?"

A girl and a boy came up. "Elaine and Ernie, all E's. Who got number 2?"

Beauty went to the front with a girl named Nota. Then Rene was paired with Cathy. The last pair was Luisa and Renee.

"The face-off will be an instant death, no chances left. But cheer up, you're all be going to the nationals so just give your best to get the prizes here. The theme will be 3 recipes for 5 ingredients. Meaning you need to produce three different kinds of recipes using these five as main ingredients. The ingredients are all-purpose cream, flour, fish, cheese, and apple. You'll be provided with the basic essentials like oil, eggs, sugar, salt, milk, and spices like onion, garlic, and etc. All of it is now under your worktable."

"You can do anything you like. Sweets, fried, salad or baked goods but we only have five ovens available so you will take turns using them. The recipes must not repeat itself. You can also set a three-course meal. All five ingredients must be found in every recipe. What we're looking for are creative dishes and can be somewhat rare."

"Genuinely made recipes by you is totally welcome. So be imaginative. Your recipes and cooked dishes will be compared to your opponent's work. The food which will come out more creative and eye-catching to us will win. Of course, the taste matters greatly. So go now to your worktables. You have three hours to prepare us with good food."

"Timer starts… now."

Some started to work, while some still standing and thinking. Beauty was one of the second types. Looking at the provided ingredients with few ovens. No baking, she decided. Creative and eye-catching and tasty? The only thing came up to her mind was her great grandma's recipes and her own experiments. She recalled every recipe she could remember.

Chicken Entangled to fish entangled? No sense of attractiveness at all. To see two fishes hugging each other seems gross.

Fish in a pie? She thought she could improve that to become fried circular or rectangular empanada with steamed or partly fried fish, spices, cheese, and cream inside. More like a fried sandwich. She planned she would puree the apple and add some chili to make it spicy. "Hoho, nice. One down, three to go." She was writing all of them on a piece of paper provided for them.

How about the No-bake Cream Buns? "Hmm, improve it to No Bake Apple Buns. The fillings will be syrupy slices of apples. This time only tidbits of fried fish and cream instead of milk will be mixed with the dough. How about the cheese? Hmm… I think… just shred it on top the bun crust. Yes, that's it. Two down, one to go."

"The last one but not the least, which one?" In her mind, she was like scanning a recipe book page per page. Then she remembered the crunchy spaghetti with sauce on top made by her grandma.

"How to improve that? Hmm, I need to make the noodles. Dunno how to do that. I need to study how to make one later. How 'bout the bun or crust dough? I'll make them long and thin, resembling noodles and fry them straight. It will become crunchy noodles."

"How to make it unique from the two? Hmm, I'll try mixing the leftovers of the two, add some ground spices to make it different from the rest. Haha, nice idea. The rest will be the white sauce and condiments." Her chuckle was slightly loud made everyone looked her way. However, she didn't notice.

"Yes, all three recipes. Thank you, grand mommies, for your recipes." She looked up above the ceiling remembering her Grand Mommy's face and the recipe book from her great grandma. Her smile was so brilliant with confidence embedded in it. The judges saw this and were filled with antic.i.p.ation on what the outcome of this smile.

Beauty directly went to work. The judges were watching and observing all eight of them. Sometimes they would walk around and see the contestants work. They gathered again and talked about what they saw.

Even the spectators were really worked up watching the eight. They wished they were there as well and fought with their ideas with all their might.

At Cathy's and Rene's workstations, the former was running here and there from the oven to her station. As she was cutting more fish, a loud ding was heard. She ran to the oven but forgot the mittens. So she went back running again to retrieve it. At this very moment, she accidentally collided with Rene who just stepped back trying to see his finished work with a knife in his hand. Both of them fell down on the floor.

The knife in Rene's hand slipped out and slightly flew. It fell but didn't spare from wounding a flesh on his forearm near the wrist. It was so sharp that a single hit left a big wound on his working arm. Blood flowed right out. All of the people were shocked and were worried about the two. Rene didn't panic but tried to stop the blood using his ap.r.o.n while Cathy was scared stiff for causing an accident with her rushed movements.

The medics came and stopped the blood with a bandage. His hand was covered with gloves to prevent it from being touched by the ingredients.

"Can you still continue? Can you exert your strength properly?" The medic was concerned for the wound was near his wrist joint on his dominant hand.

"I'm not sure, let me try first." He tried to cut an onion but his hand's rhythmic movement started the blood again.

"I think… I can't continue." Rene reluctantly said it with a sigh.

John was near him all the time after the collision. He heard what Rene said. He understood what the man felt, but also knew nothing could be done to reverse the situation.

"If so then I think you don't need to trouble yourself more and just rest with the others. Anyway, you have cemented your entry for the nationals. Cheer up, it's not totally over for you."

Rene felt bad for not winning the regionals. However, after what John said he thought of the nationals with greater heights and expectations, his heart calmed down.

So Cathy won by default and secured her place for the semi-finals. Yet, she was unhappy. She wanted to win with a true winning streak, not this way. However, complaining wouldn't be of any help at all. It was also her fault. So, she remained mummed but discontented.