Cooking Movies

I seem to have moved from the breakfast theme to cooking in general.  So, let's keep going and move from the kitchen to the living room.  Here are 2 movies with cooking themes to watch on DVD this weekend. 

This first movie is Ratatouille.  This is an animated movie about a rat who wants to be a world class chef and the challenges he faces in reaching his goal.  Because most people don't have a good reaction to seeing a rat in their kitchen.



The second movie is Julie and Julia.  A woman in a boring job decides to cook all of the recipes in Julia Childs famous cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blog about it.  The movie is a wonderful biography of these 2 remarkable women.

New Poll Breakfast Foods

I just added a new feature to this website.  I added a poll in the sidebar.  A poll is a way to ask people what they think about something.   So, I'm asking you what American Breakfast food you would like to try pancakes, scrambled eggs, or donuts.  Click on the ones you want to try and we'll all be able to see the results.  Which one do you think will be the most popular?In the future I will add different questions to the poll.

Cooking from US recipes

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Have you ever tried to cook a recipe from a US cookbook?   I bet you noticed a few differences in the way we measure the ingredients and the temperatures that we use.   The reason for these differences is that in the US, we don't use the metric system.  So, if you want to bake a cake from a US recipe, you need to understand our measurements and how to convert them. 

One website that can help you with that is The Metric Kitchen.  There you will find tables and charts for converting a US recipe to metric measures. 

For example, if you want to bake a cake, the recipe will probably say preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  That means 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  You can use the tools on The Metric Kitchen website to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius.  So, 350 degrees Fahrenheit becomes 176.66666 degrees Celsius. 

US recipes also use abbreviations such as
tsp for teaspoon
Tbsp for Tablespoon
c for cup
lb. means pounds

Now you're ready to cook?  Try these recipes for Traditional American Food at MyRecipes.com.

And as always, thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com. 

English Central - Hotels: Room Service

Listen and repeat this short video of a hotel guest ordering breakfast from room service. 

Idioms - Bacon

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All this talk about breakfast foods made me think of these 2  idioms that use the word Bacon -

1. Bring home the bacon. 

Mom takes care of the house and kids, while Dad brings home the bacon.

It means to make money at a job to support your family. 

2.  Save my bacon

Thanks for pulling me out of the way of that speeding car.  You really saved my bacon. 

It means to avoid harm or injury to your body.

Now you know 2 new ways to use the word bacon!

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

A typical Breakfast in the US

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In the United States, a typical breakfast is eggs, potatoes, pork and bread.  We usually have coffee, milk and juice to drink with it.     Eggs can be cooked many different ways  such as fried, scrambled, poached, or the eggs can be made into an omelette.  The potatoes are usually shredded or cut into pieces and fried.  The type of meat Americans eat most often with breakfast is pork either bacon, sausage, ham or candian bacon.  Toasted bread with butter and jam is also added to this meal or some other type of bread like a biscuit or a bagel or maybe a crossiant.   Something sweet and bread like such as pancakes or waffles served with maple syrup might also be on the breakfast menu.

Speaking of pancakes, I've included a video from the International House of Pancakes (IHOP).    IHOP is a restaurant famous for breakfast foods.  In the video you can see all types of different breakfast foods. 



Yum!  All this talk about breakfast is making me hungry.  Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Breakfast Cereal

Cereal and milk is a very popular breakfast in the United States.  It's quick and easy to eat before running off to school or work.  There are many types of cereals.  Some are healthy and some are sugary and come with a toy in every box.  Guess which ones kids like best!  After the break is a video with a funny song called Milk and Cereal.  You can read the lyrics also.  Many of the lyrics include lines from cereal commercials.  For example, Lucky Charms is a type of cereal that the commercial says is magically delicious.

Videos - Breakfast Recipes

Here are 2 videos with recipes and instructions for typical American breakfast foods.

Hello, Hello

I went for a bike ride in the countryside outside of Hanoi today.  Everyone I saw greeted me with "HELLO!"  So, nice to hear a friendly greeting.  Here are 15 other ways to say Hello from the website PhraseMix.  

http://www.phrasemix.com/phrase-lists/15-ways-to-say-hello-in-english.html?utm_source=PhraseMix.com+weekly+e-mail+newsletter&utm_campaign=20dd2548c0-Weekly_Lessons_2012_05_27&utm_medium=email

Good bye!

Topic of the Week - Breakfast in America

The New Topic of the Week is ...    Breakfast in America.  I've noticed that breakfast foods here in Asia are much different from what we eat in the United States, so for the next week we will take a look at what's on the menu. 


Here's a cartoon to get us started. 

Doctor Cartoon by Andertoons

Nicknames in the US

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I recently had a question about nicknames in the US.  How do we get them? 

The Future of Weddings

Marriage Cartoon by Andertoons

Wedding Cake

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Many different traditional activities take place during a wedding reception.  One of those activities is cutting the wedding cake. 

Today Wedding cakes come in all different shapes, colors and sizes.  But traditionally, a wedding cake has 3 layers called tiers.  It's frosted in white icing.  And the top of the cake is decorated with a little tiny bride and groom.  After the wedding reception is over that top tier is saved in the freezer and the bride and groom will eat it on their first anniversary. 

But during the reception, there is a special cake cutting ceremony.  The bride and the groom will come up and cut the cake together while their friends and family watch. Both of them will hold the cake knife and cut one slice. They will then feed each other a small piece of cake.  Some couples do this very nicely and some couples well, I'll let you see for yourself in this video.

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

More Wedding Gifts

Another video about proposals, wedding style, and gifts.

Wedding Gifts

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In the United States it's the tradition for the man to ask the woman to get married.  We call this the proposal. A man proposes marriage by getting down on one knee, asking his girlfriend "will you marry me?", and presenting her with a diamond engagement ring.  Men often find creative ways to propose - Special locations and creative ways for asking the big question.  In this video the guy finds a delicious way to pop the question.

English Central - Corpse Bride

This is not your typical wedding!  This is a preview for a movie called Corpse Bride.  It's a Claymation movie that is a little odd but funny.

How to use Mr., Mrs., Ms and Miss

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Today we are going to talk about names again.  As I mentioned in a previous post, When a woman gets married she typically starts using her husbands family name as her last name.  But she also changes from a Miss to a Mrs. 

English Central - Hallmark Brother of the Bride

Here is a funny commercial for the greeting card company Hallmark.  In it the brother of the bride is giving a toast.  A toast is a short speech given in honor of someone followed by everyone taking a drink together.    At a wedding several toasts are given by different people. 

Names in the US

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Our Dear friend Isabella is heading back to the US soon and although we will miss her, we wish her safe travels.

Did you know that the name Isabella is the second most popular girl name for babies in the US right now? 

Helmet Safety

Hello everyone.  I am having trouble with my internet connection so I am unable to upload the audio file of this post to the site where it is hosted.  As soon as this problem is resolved I will update this post.  Thanks!

This is the last post on Helmet Safety and then we will move on to our next Topic of the Week - Weddings.  

After talking to many of you and hearing your stories, arguments, and ideas about traffic safety - one thing that seems to make a difference with a lot of people is scary pictures and videos of the consequences of not wearing a proper helmet. 

Wear Your Helmet the Proper Way

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A helmet must fit correctly and be worn correctly to protect you. 

When you are buying a helmet, buy one that is the proper size for you.  It should not be too loose or it might fall off in an accident.

It should sit on top of your head and rest 2 finger widths above your eyebrows.  If it comes below that it's too loose (too big for you.)  Above that, say 3 finger widths or more, it's too small or it's not sitting on top of your head.  Maybe, It's pushed back too far.  It needs to sit on top of your head to give you protection.

The helmet must be buckled properly.  The straps on the side of the helmet should pass on either side of your ears making a V.  Adjust the straps so the bottom of the V is right under your ear. The chin strap must be buckled and fit snuggly under your chin.  That means it's tight enough that you can only fit 1 finger between the strap and your chin. 

If the chin strap is not buckled or if it is too loose, then the helmet will come off your head during an accident.  If the helmet is not on your head, it offers no protection at all.

So, buy a good quality helmet and wear it properly for the maximum protection.

Thanks for listening. This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

How to Pick a Safe Helmet

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Today I'm going to talk about picking a safe helmet.  You watched the videos from Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIP) and you are convinced that wearing a helmet is a good idea.  Now you need to know how to find a good helmet.

Why Wear a Motorcycle Helmet?

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Why should you wear a Motorcycle helmet?  This one is easy - the reason to wear a helmet is to save your life and save your brain.  According to the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation,  If you are in an accident and you are wearing a helmet you are 42% less likely to die and 69% less likely to be injured.

Because it's not just about dying.  You don't want to end up in the hospital with a life long injury to your brain.   Think about people,  everything you do is controled by your brain and if part of it doesn't work anymore neither do you.  That means you might lose the ability to talk, to walk, to think, to feed yourself and now you are dependent on someone else to take care of you for the rest of your life.  

If you are in an accident and you hit your head, your head stops moving when it hits the pavement or the other vechicle or whatever, but your brain does not. It keeps moving forward until it hits the inside of your skull and even then it doesn't stop moving.  It bounces back to hit the other side of your skull.  All this bouncing around causes damage that can result in a minor head injury such as a concussion or it can cause death.  Don't let it happen to you - WEAR A HELMET!

So, This information is pretty easy to understand.  So, why don't we do it.  Why do people NOT use a helmet every time they ride a bike?  Well, the list of excuses usually includes things like -  I wasn't going very far
I'm a good driver
It's too hot to wear a helmet
Does any of this sound familiar? 

Well, watch this public service announcement and see if you still think those are good excuses. 

Thanks for listening and remember No Excuses wear a helmet everytime you get on a motorbike.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Topic of the Week - Road Traffic Safety

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Wow I'm really late posting the new topic of the week.  But it's an important topic so I hope you will forgive me.  Our new Topic of the Week for May 8 - 14, 2012 is Road Traffic Safety and specifically helmet safety. 

I'm really excited to be able to talk about this subject because it's important here in Vietnam where motorbikes are the main form of transportation.  Did you know 70 percent of all traffic accidents involve motorbikes and it is the leading cause of death in young people ages 15 - 29 years of age. I don't want that to happen to you.  I want you to live a long and healthy life so that is why this subject is so important. 
     
I went to a training session yesterday with the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation.   You can find their website at www.asiainjury.org and I went to their training session and I learned alot of information that I will be sharing with you on this blog about why it's important to wear a helmet, how to pick a safe helmet and how to wear it properly. 

But if you are one of my readers from the American Center Hanoi you can attend a special event to launch Road Traffic Safety Week.  Monday May 14 at the American Center there will be a presentation on Road Traffic Safety and a Poster contest with prizes. That's right I said prizes! You could win a custom Pro-tec helmet.  I hear it has a special design and it's really cool.  And of course, it's a good helmet to protect your head. So, be sure to come.  You can find all the the information on the American Center website at vietnam.usembassy.gov/program.html and of course, you can find all of those websites in the show notes. I hope to see you there. 

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Something to smile about!

Education Cartoon by Andertoons

See even native English speakers don't know what these things are!  ;)

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Chop chop it's time to get this audio post started!

When I'm doing something with other people and want to move along a little faster I often say, "chop chop."  It means hurry up.

For example, I might tell my slow moving friend, "Chop chop we're going to be late!"

Chop chop is a word borrowed from Cantonese.  A borrowed word, also called a loan word, is a word that is used in one language that came from a different language. Most languages have some borrowed words, but English has lots of them. 

For example, if you order a slice of apple pie in a restaurant, the server will ask Do you want that ala mode?  That's a French word for trendy but in America it means served with a scoop of ice cream. 

Another example is the word lanai.  In the US South, a lanai is what people call their patio or outside porch.  Lanai comes from the Hawaiian language.

So, chop chop sit down on the lanai and eat your pie ala mode before your ice cream melts. 

If you would like to learn more click on the links after the transcript. 

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Links
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/asianwords1.html  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_words_and_phrases_used_by_English_speakers  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Hawaiian_origin

How I read a Graphic Novel to learn a Foreign Language

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As I've mentioned before, I live in Vietnam and I am trying to learn Vietnamese.  So, a lot of the activities I suggest to you to learn English, I do myself to learn Vietnamese.  Things like watching TV programs and reading favorite books.  And, as I've also mentioned I love to read the Manga series Case Closed.  I had brought several English copies of the books with me to Vietnam and I was excited to see they had the same books in Vietnamese in the local bookstores.

Here's how I read Graphic Novels...

More Free On-line Comic Books

Here is another link to free On-line Comic Books for you to read. 

Marvel Comics - Read some Spiderman, Thor or Captain America Comics and many more. 
http://marvel.com/digital_comics/list?isFree=1    

English Central - Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics

More from English Central. 

English Central - 5 Centimeters Per Second

Here's an English Central Video about an Anime story.

Where to find free Graphic Novels and Comic Books

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Ok so we are all in agreement that Graphic Novels and Comic Books are fun to read and can help us improve our English, so, where do we find them?   And don't forget the title of the post says free so I don't want to spend a lot of money ordering books on-line and paying for postage. 

Well....

Comic Book - Super Team Ultra Force

This came from the website http://graphicly.com/comics.  Enjoy!

American Cartoons - Andertoons

Food Cartoon by Andertoons

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Mark Anderson is one of my favorite cartoonists.  He has a very funny website and blog at www.andertoons.com.  I added his daily cartoon widget to the sidebar so you can get a daily laugh.

Like graphic novels and comic books, cartoons use pictures and humor to tell a brief story.   But humor can be hard to understand for non native speakers because they refer to things related to culture. 

For example, do you understand the cartoon above?  There is a very famous children's book in the United States called The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  As you can guess by the title it's about a caterpillar who eats and eats.  It was written by Eric Carle.  In the cartoon the the caterpillar from the book is visiting a psychiatrist to talk about his problems.  It's only funny if you know the book which most people do in the US because they've read the book as a child or read it to their own children. 

I hope this explaination helps you enjoy this cartoon a little more. 

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Learn English by Reading Graphic Novels and Comic Books

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I'm a little late starting the topic of the week this week because, as many of you know, I live in Vietnam and Monday and Tuesday were holidays here. So, I got a little behind in my posts. 

Anyway, Last week's topic about How to Learn English and this week's topic about Reading Graphic Novels and Comic Books go hand in hand.  Hand in hand is an American idiom that means 2 things that go together well.  In this case, learning English and reading Graphic Novels and comic books go together well. 

Topic of the week ... Graphic Novels and Comics

Topic of the Week ... May 1 - 7, 2012

The Topic for the week is ... Graphic Novels and comics.  Join me as I bring you interesting articles, audio and video links and other ideas about this topic. 

To see all posts on this topic click Graphic Novels.

Learn American Slang

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One of the challenges to learning American English is slang and other informal phrases.  In casual conversation, Americans use a lot of non-standard words and phrases. But most English classes and text books don't cover this part of the language. So, how are you suppose to understand it? It's not like you can look up these words or phrases in a dictionary.  Or can you?