By Eileen N. Ballesteros

An old joke states, “One has to face his problem, unless his problem is his face.” Idealists reply, “Even so, there is still a solution to that problem.” Therefore, the lesson is that in any difficulty encountered, there is a corresponding way out and that worrying will not ease the problem, although on the other hand could at times lead to a possible solution.

In a baking class at the Eastern Visayas State University one day, two students hurriedly went to their class on hope of finishing their products before lunch and proceed with their other recipes for the day only to be a bit downhearted to find out that they could not work on their sponge cakes because of power interruption. Two hours past lunch, these two trainees decided to work on their sponge cakes on the next day although as their instructor suggested, they have already prepared all the ingredients and utensils.

Before they spoke a word about their plan to the instructor, the latter told the younger student to be ready with her eggwhites and mixing bowl. The two students got puzzled with the instructor’s cue as it was still brownout that time and it would be impossible to make eggwhites stiff without using electric mixer. But confident of their instructor’s capability, both of them submitted to the trainer’s advice. With her own whisk, the cooking trainer started beating the eggwhites and turned it over to the younger student to continue whipping until the eggwhites turned foamy then stiff.

Stunned yet awestruck, these two trainees yelled in cheer for in spite of the power interruption, thus they were not able to use an electric beater, they were able to produce stiff eggwhite, of course with the aid of their trainor. The success of their effort did not only teach them how to bake Basic Sponge Cake and Mango Cake but saved them the worry of finishing their crash course in baking on time. Further it taught them a very important thing: there is no drawback which could not be worked out if only one will use his talents, skills and abilities in finding the solution to it.

Another incident, also in the same cooking class but on a different day, made these two trainees prove that indeed there is a way for one who wants to get through a task regardless of the hitch. Here the older trainee failed to complete the ingredients needed for her Choco Custard Cake. Instead of providing a brownie fudge mix in powder form, she mistakenly brought to her class a bottle of liquid Choco Fudge which is not meant for baking but only as a frosting or filling. With her vast experience that matures into wisdom, the trainor tried her best to make a substitute for the missing powdered brownie fudge mix using the dry ingredients available. Finally, the cake was baked. Although it did not look and taste perfectly the way it should, the cake turned out to be a best-seller when this trainee brought her Choco Custard Cake to her office for free taste to her officemates, who ordered from her the same kind of cake for their upcoming affair.

Words of gratitude do not suffice to express how thankful they are to their trainor and how they admire her. She had taught them things beyond their expectation from a baking class. The trainor: Prof. Nazarena Nacario-Aguirre of the Hotel and Restaurant Management Department of EVSU. She was an angel who showed a way out of trouble to these two trainees, besides being like their mother while in class. She taught them a simple yet very important fact of life: its thinking of a remedy not overly worrying that will solve a problem. She is really marvelous.