Fig and Ginger Cake

I’ve been enjoying dried figs lately. They are great as a snack to nibbble on when you crave something sweet. I came acrosstwo different cake recipes with figs and ginger; Italian and English. I combined the two and made my own recipe. *Nice n Simple.* I like keeping things simple.

Ingredients

2 cups dried fig, chopped and soaked in 1 tablespoon of hot water
1 cup crystalised ginger, chopped
2/3cup almond, sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1/2cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp salt

For lemone cheese Icing: 300g of cream cheese + 2/3 cup of icing sugar+ zest of 1 lemon+1Tb of lemon juice
Topping: sliced almonds
Method

Preheat the oven to 175C and line the bottom of the spring cake tin with baking paper and oil the sides
Mix oil and sugar
Add one egg at a time and beat well
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and baking soda and combine with egg mixture
Gently fold in figs and ginger – don’t overmix.
Bake for 40-50 mins

Cool the cake before decorating with icing

Voilà and Enjoy it!

Asparagus&Leek

This is a dish that I made when I was staying in a hotel. You wouldn’t believe how someone can produce such gourmet food with very few kitchen equipments and very little ingridients. Yeah~ magic!

*A good workman never blames his tools*
It was fun to use salt and pepper in little sachets.

That was the time when I realised how important fresh ingredients and keeping the recipe as simple as possible was. I think I was healthier while living in the hotel than now in a proper flat. Strange…. Does anyone have the answer to this? *confused*

Fresh asparagus and leek in risotto style.

The reason I’m reluctant to call it risotto is that,
first of all, I used long grain rice and secondly, the rice was the leftover from the night before and I just threw it in the pan and mixed all together. So it may sound more like asparagus fried rice? HE HEh~~~*:-P*
Well, nice and light, right? If you don’t like the startchiness of ricotto. Remember I was in a tiny hotel kitchen………

Eggplant Season

“You should always eat fruit and vegetables in season.” My mum used to say that and always fed us with seasonal food. *thanks, mum* When I was growing up there wasn’t much produce from greenhouses. I remember living on mandarins through the winter, because, as a cold country, nothing grows in winter, but why mandarins?

Thanks to the only subtropical island called ‘Jeju’, far off the south coast of Korea.

It’s a volcanic island and the main producer of mandarins, which are the juicest and sweetest in the world! And they have NO PIPS, either! If you are a bit doubtful, just walk down to a Korean groccery shop, get a mandarin juice and try it for yourself. And if it turns out I’m right, hmmmm, send me a thanks cad. *big smile*

” So in winter, I would eat a big plastic bag full of them all day and night, lying on my stomach on a heated floor, until my skin turns as orange as the fruit. Having other fruits in winter, especially watermelons and pears, was luxury.”

The other day I printed out the list of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and I learned that eggplants and pupmkins were in seaon at the moment (it’s early automn here in Australia). So I made some nice vegie stack for a treat. It goes marvelously well with haloumi, but I made do with fetta cheese.

Roast eggplant slices, capsicum and pumkin – I salted the eggplant and let drain for 20 mins to take out the moisture before hand, and rinsed and dried it. As for the capsicum, I normally roast it until the skin is black and blistered, then peel it off. That way, you can get really nice soft texture.

That’s about done. Now just toss rocket leaves in plenty of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and make it a base (if you have some roasted garlic paste ready, put a little bit in) , then stack up all the vegies, olives and fetta. So simple and tasty!

Eat it with your eyes while enjoying the rest of Jeju Island below. *travel agent?*

Survival Basics

Download the file to print out.
survival-basics.doc

Audio- http://www.soundupload.com/audio/964apef8ur0icvv

 

Survival Basics

Pre-listening (Part 1)

Q1. What is the worst accident that happened to you in the past?
Q2. Do you remember any news about people who survived a serious accident, such as building collapse or fire?

Word Check

rescue trapped dig horizontal

concrete drill explosions crack upwards

collapse end up damage drip

Listen to Part 1

Q1. What happened to two men in the story?

Q2. What did people do to get the men out?

Q3. How long had they been trapped?

Q4. What kind of food did they eat while there were trapped underground?

Listen again and answer the missed questions from above.

Part 1

The final stages of the rescue of two Beaconsfield miners, trapped one kilometre underground, took much longer than anyone expected.

The rescuers used a huge machine to dig a horizontal tunnel, one metre wide and almost 16 metres long.

But when they started digging the last part by hand, they hit rock like this.

It’s 5 times harder than concrete.

So they drilled lots of smaller holes and set off small explosions to crack the rock and make it easier to dig through.

Then they had to dig upwards, being careful not to cause a collapse.

So Todd Russell and Brant Webb ended up spending two weeks trapped in the mine.

They didn’t eat for the first five days and only drank small amounts of water.

It seems amazing that anyone can go for so long and still be OK.

So we asked Lucy to find out more about what our bodies need to survive and which things are most important.

Pre-listening (Part 2)

Q1. How long do you think people can survive without water?

Q2. How long do think people can survive without food?
Q3. There are meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, bread, nuts and water.
What would you eat to survive?

Word Check

desert island strand carbohydrate fibre lung
kidney juggle equivalent of crumpet diabetes

asthma obese plenty of a tub of fizzy drinks

Listen to Part 2

Q1. How much energy do 100g of almonds compared to the same amount of tuna and bread?
Q2. What is “kilojoule”?

Q3. How does our body use up energy? Do we need energy when we are asleep, too?

Q4. What happens when you burn less energy than you put into your body?

Q5. Why are more kids putting on weight these days?
Q6. How long can people survive without food? What about without water?

Part 2

If you were stranded on a desert island, what food would you choose to help you survive?

100 g of tuna, 100 g of wholemeal bread or 100 g of almonds? If you chose the almonds, you would probably survive the longest.

The almonds have five times the energy of the tuna and twice the energy of the bread.

Fish is high in protein, bread is high in carbohydrate and almonds are high in fat

Because fat has the most kilojoules per gram it provides us with the most energy we need to survive.

People stranded at sea or lost in the desert have been known to survive on very little food. This man was lost for three months and ate anything he could find.

RICKY MEGEE: Leeches out of the dam, frogs, grasshoppers.

The miners trapped underground at Beaconsfield didn’t eat anything for five days. At first they survived on small amounts of water but eventually they would have needed some food.

LUCY, REPORTER: Food is fuel for our bodies. As I burn this marshmallow, the sugar, which is the fuel, creates energy in the form of heat and light. And when I eat the marshmallow, the sugar provides me with energy to do all sorts of things like…juggle.

Energy is measured in kilojoules. This apple has about 300 KJ so if I eat it, I will then have enough energy to do some exercise. But how much do we need to eat?

The amount of energy that you put into your body by eating should be balanced with the amount of energy your body uses up. Even when we’re resting we are using up energy to keep our hearts beating, lungs breathing, kidneys filtering, brain thinking. We even use energy when we are asleep.

Most children need to eat about 10,000 kilojoules per day to provide the energy they need for an active lifestyle.

That’s the equivalent of eating all this food in one day.

- Cereal with milk and fruit, a piece of toast and half a glass of juice for breakfast.
- A piece of fruit for a snack.
- A salad wrap and tub of yogurt for lunch.
- Cracker with cheese and salad for an afternoon snack.
- And a glass of milk and crumpet for supper.

You need to get the right mix of protein, carbohydrate and fat. A balanced diet also includes plenty of fibre and vitamins.

So the more exercise you do the more kilojoules you need to eat. If you don’t get enough kilojoules you won’t have the energy to exercise, think and grow. You also wouldn’t have the energy that your brain needs to think and your body needs to grow.

Too many kilojoules result in putting on weight which leads to all sorts of health problems – such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma and even cancer. Twenty five per cent of Australian children are considered to be overweight or obese.

Research shows that Australian kids are not exercising enough and are eating, and drinking, too many kilojoules. A Victorian study showed some kids are drinking up to two litres of soft drink a day. Fizzy drinks and sports drinks have lots of kilojoules but they don’t fill you up so you’ll probably still feel hungry and will eat something as well. It’s much better if you just eat a piece of fruit.

So how long can we survive without any food?

It’s not healthy to go without food – that can damage your body – but you can survive for several weeks. What you really can’t survive without is water. As we saw earlier, the Beaconsfield miners were able to survive by drinking water dripping into the cave where they were trapped. They were very thirsty and as soon as rescuers drilled the small shaft the men were given water.

Back to our desert island survivors¦.

While almonds are the best choice of food what they really need is about one and a half litres or six to seven glasses of water every day. So maybe a water bottle is more important than a snack pack!

Language Point

hand

* by hand – by using the hands, manually

* in hand – in one’s possession / under control or consideration

* out of hand – out of control
* on hand – present, available

* on one’s hands – to have responsibility or burden

* at hand – close by, near / soon in time

* on the one hand – as one point of view
* on the other hand – as another point of view

Exercise

Fill in the gap with the correct idiom

1. Don’t worry. I still have some money …………..
2. My dog got ………………. and it took an hour to calm him down.
3. It is good to have a dictionary ………………. when you write something.

4. She has three children …………… so she is very busy all day.

5. When I make bread, I knead the dough …………

6. My manger kept the situation …………., so we didn’t have to worry about it.

7. His credit card debt got ……………. and he had to sell his car to pay it off.

8. ………………, a computer game gives you entertainment, but ………………, it is highly addictive.

9. Some companies ask you to write your resume …………. to see your hand writing.

10. I don’t have the answer …………. at the moment.

11. We should start studying. The exams are …………..

12. The rugby fans got ……………….. during yesterday’s match.

13. The movie was hard to understand; ……………….., the performance of the main character was brilliant.

14. There are many people ………… to help us.

Go – There are too many phrases with ‘Go’ to list here. Further lesson will follow.

* go with – to match nicely/to accept

* go without – to not have / to cope without having something

Seem

* Subject + seem + like + Noun : It seems like rain.

* Subject + seem +Adjective : You seem healthy. It seems expensive.

* Subject + seem + to + Base Verb :
You seem to be healthy. She seems to like him. It seems to be raining.

* Subject + seem + (that) + S + V : It seems he doesn’t the idea.

Exercise (go, seem)

Fill in the gap with the correct phrase

1. They are coming, so we’ll have to ……………… their help.

2. Does this shirt …………… my pants?

3. I …………….. lunch because I didn’t have time.

4. We decided to …………. our original plan.
5. Sushi ……………. soy sauce.

Change the sentence to a different format

1. He seems busy. – He seems to ………………
2. It seems like chicken. – It seems to me (that) …………….

3. It seems you get angry easily. – You seem to …………….

4. They seem to like each other. – It seems …………………

5. She seems to be a nice person. – She seems like …………

End up – to become or do something unplanned
I forgot my wallet and ended up walking for an hour to get to work.
We wanted to eat Italian food but ended up having Mexican!

End up with – to get as a result of something
He tried hard but ended up with a poor grade.

She cooked the meat for too long and ended up with hard chewy meat.

End in – finish a certain way

Her marriage ended in divorce.
It will end in tears / diaster / tragedy / happiness.

Consider – to think carefully / to form an opinion or to judge = regard

He considers the feelings of others.

I consider him as the most generous man I have ever met.

= I consider him to be the most generous man ……..

= He is considered as the most ………

= He is considered to be the most…….

= It is considered that he is the most ………..

Suppose – to assume to be true or real

I suppose (that)he is still working.

He is supposed to be working.

This place is supposed to be the best Italian restaurant in Sydney.

You are supposed to be at work by 9 o’clock.

☼ The more exercise you do, the more kilojoules you need to eat.

The + comparative form ( + S +V), the + comparative form (+ S + V)

Examples:

The healthier you are, the longer you live.

The faster you drive, the earlier we will get there.

The sooner, the better. The bigger, the better.

Exercise

1. …………… food you eat, ………….. you get.

2. …………….. children you have, ……………. time you have to do other work.

3. …………….. a house is, ……………rooms it has.

4. ……………. people there are, ………….. the party is.

5. ……………. he sleeps, (relaxed)…………. he seems.

☼ make it easier to dig through
= make + it + adjective + (for someone or something)+ to Base Verb

it = dig through : it replace a long phrase

Example: These shoes make it hard to walk fast.

These shoes make it hard for me to walk fast.

Compare: It is impossible (for me) to work for 10 hours a day.

-> It = I work for 10 hours a day = impossible
It is nice of you to say that.
-> You = nice ≠ it = you say that

Exercise

 

Rewrite the sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with ‘it’

1. The wind makes to open my eyes difficult.

->

2. The pollution makes I breath hard.

->

3. This bed makes I sleep easier.

->

4. The noise makes I concentrate on my study difficult.

->

 

 

The Year of the Rat

This is an example of how my lesson is done.
Every lesson has either a video file or mp3 recording.
Download the MSword file to print out the lesson.

Download Lesson- Year of the Rat
Listen to or Download Audio file -   http://www.soundupload.com/audio/wtgd7pz4pewa44f

Part 1

solar / lunar calendar star sign birthstone superstition folk tale

Warm up

Q1. What is your animal in the Chinese horoscope?

Q2. Do you believe that people with a certain horoscope have a certain personality?

Q3. What do you know about your animal? What kind of personality do people born with your animal have?

Listen to the recording

Words Check

horoscope
legend
banquet

sleep in

turn up

quick-witted

piggy back
celestial
stand

Post-listening

Q1. What did Jade Emperor ask Rat to do?

Q2. How were the animals ordered in the Chinese horoscope?

Q3. How did the Rat cross the river?

Q4. How arrived first at the banquet?

Q5. According to the Chinese folklore, why do cats not like rats?

 

Transcript

This will be the Year of the Rat, the first sign of the Chinese horoscope.

Why a rat, you ask? According to legend, the Jade Emperor asked the rat to deliver invitations to 12 appointed animals to attend a special banquet. He would name a year after each, according to the order in which they arrived. The cat was invited but typically, slept in. *Seeing his chance, the quick-witted Rat turned up in the cat’s place, persuading the Ox to give him a piggy-back cross the celestial river. *Jumping off on the other side the Rat was the first to arrive. Now you know why – despite what Al Stewart might think – there is no Year of the Cat. And why cats can’t stand rats!

• Phrasal Verbs

sleep

* sleep in – to oversleep, to sleep longer than you usually do

* sleep on – to think about something overnight before deciding

* sleep like a log/rock – to sleep very deeply – idiom

* sleep around – to have sex with more than one partner
* sleep with / sleep together – to have sexual relations

Exercise

1. I missed the morning train school today because I ( ) ( ).

2. She normally ( ) ( ) on weekends and has brunch at 2 o’clock. (brunch=breakfast + lunch)

3. I’m not sure if I really need this expensive DVD player. I should ( ) ( ) it.

4. I couldn’t wake you up because you were ( )!

5. He was so tired last night he ( ).

turn

* turn up – to show up, appear / to increase volume, temperature, etc.

* turn down – to reject an offer, invitation, etc. / to decrease volume,

temperature, etc.

* turn into – to become

* turn on – to start a machine / to make someone feel attraction or pleasure
turn off – opposite to “turn on”

* turn out – to produce an unexpected result / to attend / to produce

Exercise

1. He didn’t ( ) ( ) for school today.

2. Could you ( ) ( ) the music a little? I’m trying to study for an exam tomorrow.

3. They offered me the job, but I ( ) it ( ) .
→ (pronoun ‘it, this, that/me, you, she, etc’ must come between the verb and adverb)

4. Ice ( ) ( ) water when it melts.

5. She ( ) ( ) at the party in a nice black dress.

6. She is trying to ( ) her sunroom ( ) a study room.

7. The movie was boring at the beginning, but it ( ) ( ) quite good.

8. Thousands of people ( ) ( ) to see Prince Henry and William yesterday.

9. My apartment ( ) ( ) to be very cold during winter.

10. I met a guy and I liked him a lot, but it ( ) ( )that he was married!

11. He ( ) ( ) alcoholic at the age of 35.

12. I ( ) ( ) the TV and ( ) ( ) the bedside lamp to read a book.

· Present Participle Clauses

* Seeing his chance, the Rat turned up in the cat’s place.
→ When he saw his chance, the Rat turned up…. (he = the Rat : same subject)
(Subordinating clause) (main clause)

→ the verb à Base verb + – ing (present participle)

* She was talking to her friend and forgot about the chicken in the oven.

→ Talking to her friend she forgot about ……

* Because I did not feel well, I didn’t go to the cinema.

→ Not feeling well, I didn’t go to…..

* As he was a good boy, he helped his mother in the kitchen.

→ Being a good boy he helped his mother……

< Exercise >

1. He ate dinner while he watched a movie.

→

2. She didn’t call him because she was angry with him.

→

3. Because I didn’t know his address, I wasn’t able to find his house.

→

4. When we heard a crash, we looked out the window.

→