"Are you sure?" I asked as I hesitantly chopped the fresh dill and mint that''d be mixed with the creamy yogurt she was expertly blending.


    Sheughed, "Trust me, you can never go wrong with yogurt," she said with a glow on her face and I couldn''t help but think that yogurt was something she really enjoyed making.


    I shrugged, "I just don''t want it to be too much, you know." I nced around us and saw that everyone was doing their best to impress the judges.


    Even though there was no price attached to it, it felt good to get our hands dirty doing what our job entailed while not behind screens. Besides, I could see that some of these guys were naturals when it came to cooking. It was probably why they applied for jobs at Taste Tech. I bet they were slightly dismayed when they discovered that the Tech in the name of thepany hadn''t been for fancy.


    We honestly do more tech stuff than kitchen stuff. Well, it was understandable. This tech stuff was always rted to food. My knowledge of recipes and ingredients and everything rted to the kitchen and meals before I joined thepany and now could not bepared. I had massively expanded my knowledge in that aspect overtime.


    And it felt good. I usually feel like I have an edge over a regr customer whenever I step into a store to buy a food based product and I''m able to identify an error or mistake. At the end, the result of our joint effort and ideas was a vorful dip that would perfectlyplement the crispness of the vegetables.


    As we added the final touches, we marveled at the vibrant spread before us. The colors of the vegetables, the aroma of the herb-infused dip, and the crunch of the golden pita chips all came together harmoniously, creating a wholesome and visually appealing snack. It was heaven. I was literally itching to have a taste.


    With smiles of aplishment stered on our faces, we high fived one anothe extremely proud of what we made.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    We chatted animatedly among ourselves as we set our snacks down, ready to present them to the judges.


    At the time, we were rounding up, other teams had also finished their creations.


    When we were all done, each team member stood by their creations, awaiting the judgesments.


    Though it was meant to be a fun challenge, the team members and even the judges seemed to be taking the judging pretty seriously.


    The judges included Mr Jenkins, the farm''s representative and the Taste Tech innovations officials which obviously included Aiden and his


    assistant.


    The speaker from earlier came to address us again. "Be rest assured, the final result will be utterly fair. As long as you stuck to the rules. Now, as the judges stop at your table, lost the ingredients you utilized making your snacka nf do a quick exnation of the process it went through. With that," he stepped back, "I wee the judges on board."


    The judging began as the judges moved from one table to the next. When the judges stopped at each table, the assigned team leader listed out the ingredients and gave a quick rundown of how each piece Chapter 0297


    was made as we had been instructed. As they tasted the snacks and juices, the expressions on their faces were undecipherable as they refused to betray any of their emotion or thoughts.


    Finally, it was getting closer to my team''s turn and I found myself running my palms together in excitement and slight worry. My teammates and I exchanged nces and we wordlessly assured ourselves that we did our best.


    Besides, it didn''t really matter if we failed to emerge as winners. This was a getaway. A getaway from work and worries aboutpetition. We are here to have fun and we were having it, alright. The farm-to- table challenge had been even more fun than I expected.


    We watched the judges stop at the table of the team before mine.


    I watched, preparing myself for our turn, as they listed their main ingredients and how it was made.


    My brows furrowed into a frown when they were done. Something felt amiss but I couldn''t quite ce my fingers on it.


    Just as it was Aiden''s turn to taste their snack, a donut looking thing, it suddenly hit. I looked up, eyes wide as Aiden raised their snack to take a bite.


    "No!" I blurted without thinking.