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he was there, all covered in flour, when grandma Marola found her, Sofía, her only granddaughter of 8, was very sad in the kitchen. —What happened to you little one? — asked her grandma while hugging her. Sofía was sobbing inconsolably and, between moans, told her what had happened. —Grandma, I ruined it! —She said exalted and somewhat disturbed—. I wanted to show you that I can prepare the special recipe, the strawberry cake one that I like so much. I can make it grandma, just as delicious as you do it. —Of course you can! —grandma answered her with a lot of sympathy in her voice—. Don’t worry my dear. What if we do it together?
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Grandma was trying to dissuade her a little from the unfortunate episode, explaining SofĂa that nothing serious happened and that instead, they could make it together in a second try. Sofia, still very sad, was not really convinced, because her real interest was to show that she could do it alone. —Grandma I appreciate it, but I prefer to try without your help. —replied the little one, as she looked straight into her eyes, with more sorrow than shame.
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Marola was a very sweet old lady, but above all she was wise and indulgent, as all grandmothers are. Her hair was gray, always well groomed, and this time she was wearing a pair of pearl earrings and a set of clothes with a light blue flowers pattern. Typically, she would have felt distressed watching her granddaughter suffer over a small thing like this. However, she knew when to step aside, to let SofĂa overcome bad times by herself. Therefore that evening, she took her purse and umbrella and went out for a walk. Marola was also a grandmother who took great care of herself; she never left the house without powdering her face and putting some color on her lips and cheeks. Even if she went just to the corner, she was always accompanied by her cat, who everyone called Lolita.
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After a while, Marola decided to go back to the house. She took a little longer to return to the kitchen, which was clean again, and with everything in its place. Sofía looked still upset. You could tell she had just taken a bath and was wearing her favorite pajamas, the one with pink and purple hearts. —What happened this time Sofía? —Nothing grandma —she replied with a very low tone of voice. — It’s just that didn’t work. I think something really bad is happening with your kitchen. —Do you think so? —asked Marola. —Yes grandma —she answered quickly—. The proof is that, in my 8 long years, everything has always gone well for me, except for this silly recipe.
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—Did you follow the recipe word by word? —asked grandma wisely. —Yes grandma. And you know that I’m very good at following instructions. Feeling a little flushed and confused, Marola looked at her granddaughter with a straight face, and told her that the next day her parents would be coming back, and that she would be needing her special help, to prepare a lovely welcome. Many regrets, feelings of sadness and disappointment, invaded her grandmother’s heart, as she realized her granddaughter, had attitudes that she had not notice before. Sofia, besides from being an obedient and kindhearted girl, had the defect of being arrogant. So she behaved like an insolent, when things didn’t come out as she planned.
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The next morning, Sofía woke up in good spirits and greeted her grandmother with a splendid smile. —This is the day my dear parents arrive! —exclaimed joyfully. Her parents were out on a trip, celebrating their ten years of marriage. A whole weekend in the mountains, at the very top like her father had told her, where the stars looked closer.
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Jumping all over the house, SofĂa was everywhere, looking for the materials she needed to create a great welcome sign for her parents. She took a purple marker, her favorite color, and wrote with big and rounded letters the phrase: Welcome home dad and mom! XOXO, SofĂa When she finished she put it on the entrance wall and, in a hurry, went to the garden to cut some daisies in order to decorate the place.
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Giving space and time to the child, grandma Marola watched Sofía from a distance. When she saw her finished her chores with a lot of emotion and dedication, Marola decided it was the ideal time to teach her granddaughter a lesson. —Come here Sofía, accompany me to the kitchen, I want us to prepare something delicious together for mom and dad. —She brought her closer gently. —Ok grandma —Sofía replied, with great emotion. —Come, open that drawer and take the special recipe for the strawberry cake. —Marola said plainly, as if she had forgotten the event of the day before. With a sort of frivolous look, the little girl obeyed. Her eyes became a little bigger, she was somewhat surprised and also disappointed. —I prefer to watch —expressed Sofía, taking advantage of the first chance she had to say it. —Yes! You’re going to watch, but you’re also going to help me. —Answered grandma Marola, calmly and with authority. And so she began to direct the girl, bit by bit.
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They started washing the strawberries and carefully measured each one of the ingredients. The first thing SofĂa learned was that, if you had the exact measurements of each ingredient, it was much easier to mix one by one and bit by bit. When they had the dough ready, well mixed and homogeneous, the grandma told her granddaughter that it was time to let it rest for a while in the fridge. SofĂa was excited and wanted to put it directly in the oven. She was a very impatient girl, and she already wanted to see the delicious strawberry cake growing in the oven.
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—Honey —she said— if you read the instructions well, you will see that the dough must rest. —And what’s the purpose of that? —she asked with curiosity. —Because if it doesn’t rest for a while with the yeast, the cake won’t grow enough, nor will it have the necessary fluffiness. —Ohhhh! —said Sofía, while taking her own notes on a little pad—. Grandma, then in the kitchen we must also exercise patience. —That’s right honey. If we skip the instructions, then I don’t think it can turn out very well.
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When they covered all of the steps, the girl asked her grandmother for the recipe. Now she would read it more carefully and thoroughly. The strawberry cake was in the oven and it started to smell delicious. Marola had a great time, and then SofĂa immediately noticed she had forgotten some notes she wrote on the back of the sheet. She looked at her grandmother mischievously and started to read aloud: 1- Always follow the instructions. 2- Learning with someone else, is usually more fun. 3- When you divide the tasks, it always gets easier. 4- When you give things their time and learn to wait, you will always obtain better results. 5- The secret ingredient of any recipe, will always be to share.
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Sofía opened her eyes until she looked like an owl and told grandma Marola, quite rightly, that this time the cake smelled delicious and that she could hardly wait to share it with her parents. Sofía’s parents arrived just in time. They were surprised that their little girl had baked her first cake. That day, Sofía learned perfectly how to prepare the famous strawberry cake recipe. But also learned something farther more important, she understood clearly that, in life nothing was more fun and noble than to share from the heart; that to do things in the company of others will always make it easier, and that with team work it’s much more harder to make mistakes.
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Yina Guerrero postingmylife.blogspot.com/ Ely Murguia elymail.blogspot.mx