Hodela's Banquet

The story of sweetness celebrated with a birthday banquet.

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Overview

Stories tell of a kind woman called Hodela who poured all of her sweetness into everything she made. Every cake was made with love, but she needed to do good deeds to replenish her sweetness.
One day, a thief stole Hodela's favourite apron and she got very upset. People complained about the pastries she made that day, saying they were as salty as tears. She spent the entire week caring for the elderly folk to regain her wholesome sweetness again.
Hodela worked very hard perfecting secret recipes to make the sweetest desserts ready for her birthday, and she invited everyone to attend a huge banquet! But two days before the big day, the thief struck again and stole her cookbook.
Distraught from the loss of her most prized possession, everything that Hodela baked turned bitter and sour, no matter how much sugar she sprinkled on top! She knew that her plans for the birthday banquet were ruined, just like her food.
In tears, Hodela ran to her sister's house to tell her the bad news and that she needed to visit everybody and cancel her birthday banquet. Her sister said "Leave it all to me, dear sister, I will tell them what happened." and gave her a big hug.
In those two days Hodela didn't bake a single thing, and on the morning of her birthday she got a knock at her door. Her sister and a huge group of her friends were all there to greet her and wish her a happy birthday! They said they had a surprise for her (as if their visit wasn't a surprise enough) and brought her outside.
Her sister had kept her promise and told everyone what happened, but she also told them all to bake their favourite family recipe! Everyone brought their own mismatched tables and chairs out into the street with colourful tablecloths looking like a patchwork quilt down the middle of them all.
Hodela was elated and cried tears of joy as she enjoyed the best birthday banquet she could have ever hoped for. The whole street enjoyed her company and showered her in gifts! Best of all, every family wrote down the recipe for the dish that they brought to the table so that Hodela could enjoy them again for years to come.
Rumour has it that before she finished the end of her long and lovely life, she imbued all of her lifelong sweetness into a spoon and passed it on to her sister - everything stirred with it becomes wonderfully sweet! No one knows if it's real or not, but the tradition of giving a sweet spoon to a loved one still continues to this day.

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