Walkulaib: class A: Morning Routine

Walkulaib: class A: Morning Routine

Walkulaib: class A: Morning Routine

                                                                 Morning Routine         
               lastday I woke up early morning. I took shower with my  sweet daughter. I felt fresh. Then we wear our clothes. After that we ate breakfast that was corn flecks with milk. Then we went to school. I like to go to school because I want to learn more and more about English. when I came from school, I changed my clothes and took some rest. after that I ate my lunch and watched  some cartoon movies with my children.

Bargain Turkey Slices With Potato Flakes and Gravy (Final)

When I was young, living with my family at my grandma's house, I learned to enjoy bargain food. Knock-off Chef Boyardee and cereal were generally the best we got. Occasionally, if Grandma wanted to spend a little bit more money, she would buy these packs of turkey pieces mixed with gravy and mix it with mashed potatoes. It was the greatest food in our minds. If grandma was making the turkey pieces and mashed potatoes, you knew something good happened. It was nice. Family from all around the country came to Grandma's to celebrate weddings, new babies, birthdays, and Christmas.

That all changed when Grandpa was put into a nursing home. Grandpa wasn't a very loud man, but for some reason the house got quieter. Grandma became sort of an introvert. Everyone seemed noticeably more somber. I guess it probably had something to do with realizing the fact that Grandma and Grandpa weren't going to live forever. After Grandpa was gone, my oldest aunt took it upon herself to take care of everything for Grandma. She went shopping for Grandma, she paid the bills for Grandma, and she cooked for Grandma, among other things. She seemed to really want to help Grandma. It was almost like she was trying to protect her. She made the turkey, gravy, and potatoes combo much more often than Grandma ever did. We quickly realized that the only reason we liked it was because Grandma made it. Everything tasted like it was going to be preserved for a 4 year trip. Even the potatoes were filled with salt. When my aunt took over, everything seemed to lose its magic. There were less laughs, we talked less, and gossip began to run rampant. My mom and my aunts formed alliances. My mom and Aunt C. versus Aunt T. and Aunt L.

One night, after my aunt had made turkey slices with mashed potatoes and gravy, my mom came home, and she seemed pretty angry. I didn't know what was going on, but she just kept staring at my aunt. Confused, I asked, "Mom, what's wrong?" "Nothing, but I just found out why your aunt is helping Grandma." My aunt looked furious. She then threw down Grandma' checkbook. It was filled with pages and pages of balance sheets, showing payments of $2,000 a month, to my aunt. She didn't want to help Grandma, she wanted money.

Now, every time I eat turkey slices with potatoes and gravy, I'm reminded of the exact moment our familial bond shredded. I'm reminded of my aunt, shipping Grandpa off to a nursing home, 300 miles away. I'm reminded of my cousin getting put through film school on the backs of Grandpa's retirement money. I'm reminded of the 3 hour long shouting match between my mom, my aunt, and Grandma that I was physically in the middle of. I'm reminded of the hatred that had tinged the conversations between all my aunts for 8 years. I'm reminded of when, before Grandma and Grandpa died, Grandma getting convinced to put my aunt on all of her bank accounts. I'm reminded of, after my Grandma died, my aunt selling the paid-off house for $140,000 and giving her three sisters $10,000 of that. I'm reminded of my aunt putting $30,000 into her house though renovations. I'm reminded of my aunt, pawning off my grandpa's WWII uniform for $40.

Most of all, I'm reminded that it's really not all that great.

Bargain Turkey Slices With Potato Flakes and Gravy (DRAFT)

When I was young, living with my family at my grandma's house, I learned to enjoy bargain food. Knock-off Chef Boyardee and cereal were generally the best we got. Occasionally, if Grandma wanted to spend a little bit more money, she would buy these packs of turkey pieces mixed with gravy and mix it with mashed potatoes.It was the greatest food in our world. If grandma was making the turkey pieces and mashed potatoes, you knew something good happened.

That all changed when Grandpa was put into a nursing home. Grandpa wasn't a very loud man, but for some reason the house got quieter. Everyone seemed noticeably more somber. I guess it probably had something to do with dealing with the fact that Grandma and Grandpa weren't going to live forever. After Grandpa was away from the home, my oldest aunt took care of everything for Grandma. She went shopping for Grandma, she paid the bills for Grandma, and she cooked for Grandma, among other things. She made the turkey, gravy, and potatoes combo much more often than Grandma ever did. We quickly realized that the only reason we liked it was because Grandma made it. Everything tasted like it was going to be preserved for a 4 year trip. Even the potatoes were filled with salt. When my aunt took over, everything seemed to lose its magic. Playing basketball in the driveway wasn't as fun anymore. The swingset we used to love was just unappealing. It was really quite strange.

One night, after my aunt had made turkey slices with mashed potatoes and gravy, my mom came home, and she seemed pretty angry. I didn't know what was going on, but she just kept staring at my aunt. Confused, I asked, "Mom, what's wrong?" "Nothing, but I just found out why your aunt is helping Grandma." My aunt looked furious. She then threw down Grandma' checkbook. It was filled with pages and pages of balance sheets, showing payments of $2,000 a month, to my aunt. She didn't want to help Grandma, she wanted money.

Now, every time I eat turkey slices with potatoes and gravy, I'm reminded of the exact moment our familial bond shredded. I'm reminded of my aunt, shipping Grandpa off to a nursing home, 300 miles away. I'm reminded of the 3 hour long shouting match between my mom, my aunt, and Grandma that I was physically in the middle of. I'm reminded of the hatred that had tinged the conversations between all my aunts for 8 years. I'm reminded of when, before Grandma and Grandpa died, Grandma putting my aunt on all of her bank accounts. I'm reminded of, after my Grandma died, my aunt selling the paid-off house for $140,000 and giving her three sisters $10,000 of that. I'm reminded of my aunt putting $30,000 into her house though renovations. I'm reminded of my aunt, pawning off my grandpa's WWII uniform for $40.

Most of all, I'm reminded that it's really not all that great.

Chicken Mole (Final)

Food is important for us for innumeral reasons. Not only beacuse it is somethings that we need in life and to survive on. Food can leave many memories in us. It could be the texture of it, the thought we had in our minds when we ate a particular food at the moment and even the feeling we get when food goes straight to our mouths. My Family and I have so many memories everytime we sit at the table together for lunch or even when it is dinner time.

The minute my grandmother gets in the kitchen to get our meal prepared, it is like having your first candy bar when you were a little kid. My grandmother has a special recipe when she makes Chicken Mole. My grandmother passed on the recipe to my mother who now does a fantastic job of making Chicken Mole. Chicken Mole will forever be a specialty in our family history, culture and our everyday food choice that we can not get enough of.

When my grandmother is up in the kitchen and making us Chicken mole, she puts all her energy in to it. Chicken Mole is a special food that comes from a family history from long time ago.My grandmother's family always had Chicken Mole as their main dish when it was dinner along with Arroz Rojo which is red rice. This was truly a family history for many years, since my grandmother's family always had this as a main dish at the table when she was younger.

Chicken Mole is a dish that many Mexicans or Hispanic families have at their tables for lunch or dinner. This is truly a culture thing when it comes to food. Most families have this as an everyday meal or two days out of the week. Chicken Mole can either be spicy or mild. Some families when they make Chicken Mole even make it sweet. My family obviously makes our Chicken Mole mild since it is my favorite dish and I am not a fan of eating to much spicy food. My Mother is the one that makes it special just for me and just the way I like it.

Chicken Mole is so popular in our family that we cook it so often. We just can't seem to get enough of it when chicken mole is made by my grandmother or by my mother. I simply just love the texture of chicken Mole and the spicy, sweet, mild tase of it just makes me drool everytime I eat it. I dont think that there is any other food that make me crave it all the time as much as i crave this special dish.

Smooth Sailing (final)

When you think of a boat what do you see? A speedboat on Lake Powell perhaps. Maybe a paddle boat on Bear Creek Lake. Maybe you even imagine a large cruise liner off the coast of Cabo San Lucas. In my mind when I imagine a boat I see a small wooden one. It isn't able to carry much of anything. I would even go as far as saying if you tried to get it to actually float it would instead sink. Now you are probably wondering what is the point of a boat that small that can't even do it's job and float? That's because it's real intent is to hold food, one type of food in particular: Sushi.

Sushi is almost like an addiction in my family. My mother, sister and I crave Sushi always though our meals of it are rather rare due to the not exactly low rates of fish now days. But nonetheless we hold our Sushi in high regard. I have been told that woman begin craving things in intensity while pregnant. I have no idea if this is true or not but my mother says it is true. I have been told by some of my friends moms that they craved such food mixtures as peanut butter and cucumbers to just pretzels. My own mother's pregnant food craving was Sushi. Some doctors (and I am sure many other people) would say that while pregnant do not eat raw fish aka Sushi. Maybe my mother wasn't the smartest indulging this craving during both her pregnancies but I believe this is where the love began. We used to joke around that my sister and I were 'born with chopsticks in our hands'. We have been fans since birth. Back in 2006 my two half-siblings were in town for a visit. At the time both Wesley and Tasha lived on Galiano Island which is a small island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Living directly on the water and having a large city (Vancouver, my hometown) nearby Sushi bars and restaurants are in abundance. (Hint: Wes and Tash love Sushi). So where else would we all choose to go on a Saturday evening to celebrate their visit then one of our favorite local sushi bars: Kobe An. A friend of my mother's and his daughter joined the rest of the family that evening to bring the group to a solid 7 people. As soon as we were seated discussion started on what to order from the long detailed list of roll types given to us by one of the waitresses. Before we all knew what had happened our list of choices was completed and handed back with anticipation for the rolls to arrive.

I love spending time with my siblings and family. The table bantered back and forth about school, travel, business, etc. As soon as the food arrived though conversation was put to an immediate halt. The Sushi had arrived. I mentioned that our meal was long and I hope you realized I meant long. It would be like comparing a 3 sentence response to a 4 page paper. To fill such an order almost all the rolls had been organized onto what is called a Sushi Boat. It dominated the center of the table with its size and the eye catching colors of both fish and vegetables artfully placed along its surface. The overall affect was like a rainbow: electric orange from the salmon, delicate pastel pinks from the tuna cuts, murky purple from the depths of the ocean octopus slices, to the pure white of the particular sticky rice used in sushi rolls. The fresh scent of the cut fish, unique earthy undertone of the seaweed binding, strong nose-watering hot green wasabi to the bitter but juicy shredded ginger combine for one of the most mouth-watering scents I have ever had the fortune of smelling. As always the waitress began to name all the types of rolls we had gotten: Eel Roll, Rainbow Roll, Spider Roll, Rocky Mountain, Heart Attack and endless more.

Like any family we decided on having some fun while we ate. Meaning: Mom, "Let's time it to see how fast we eat it all". KD, "I say 12 minutes." Wesley, "No, more like 15 minutes or so." Daniel. "I'll go with KD." Me, "Can we just eat already?" To make an extremely rough estimation each type of roll had about 8 pieces. There were about 10-12 different types of roles. 8x12=96 sushi pieces. Everyone had to eat at least 13 pieces. Want to guess how fast we dominated that sushi boat? 7 minutes. Our waitress was amazed as were we. So when I saw we have a love know it is true. Food brings people together. Sushi is that food for my family. I love my family. I love food. I love Sushi.

For the Love of Food (final)

Russia is mainly a northern country with long-lasting cold winter, which lasts approximately seven to eight months out of the year. Because of that, the main components of Russian cuisine are the ones with a lot of carbohydrates and fats, rather than proteins. Some of the top ingredients of a Russian meal are potatoes, bread meat and butter. Russian cuisine is also rich with ingredients such as mushrooms, berries and various grains. In Russia, there are a lot of woods and forests, especially in the north. These account for the abundance of berries and various kinds of mushrooms. Gifts of the forest for the Russian table.

Throughout centuries Russian cuisine has evolved into what it is today, rich in history and character. In the ninth century the Vikings introduced herring and preserving techniques. In the thirteenth century Mongol-Tatar brought with them the samovar (a tea-making and serving vessel), various spices and other culinary techniques for meat and dairy. In the eighteenth century Russian cuisine was influenced by western European cuisine. At first German, then Dutch and Fhrenc. In the time of Peter the Great fashionable cooks became common in Russia. Also saucepans, straining spoons and other essential kitchen utensils were introduced.

In spite of all the changes that were brought in by foreign chefs and cultures, the basics of Russian cuisine remained untouched. The most distinctive national features, such as lavish amounts of food on the table, diversity of starters, adherence to bread, assortment of fish and mushroom dishes and extensive choices of sweets, were conserved for centuries. Combination of outside influences and colder weather have lead to the development of some wonderful dishes such as borscht, which is a heavy vegetable soup with cabbage, beet and meat, or pelmeni, which are made from ground beef, pork and onions wrapped in dough and served with sour cream.

A traditional Russian meal consists of three dishes. To start out, a meat soup with vegetables and grains, such as borscht, solyanka or shchi. Then a dish with fish or meat served with garnish such as rice, buckwheat, potatoes or stewed cabbage. And last, but not least, a beverage such as compote, kvas, kissel or juice. Meals such as lunch and dinner were strictly observed, and the whole family would gather around the table, where everyone had their own designated place. Such a big meal was required, especially for the working class to sustain energy during or after a hard day's labors. Although today the meals aren't as big as they used to be, in most households dinner and lunch times still remain an important part of a family's life.

Russian cuisine is very important to many Russian families, even more so to families that have immigrated to other countries. Today we can find all kinds of establishments that serve and sell Russian food. As a Russian native, I love the food and everything about it, where it began and how it got to where it is today. I love going to the store and getting ingridients for some of my favorite dishes, that I share with my family.