Cooking

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• in a rut
• saute
• fast-paced
• dice

• whip up
• chef
• chore
• takeout

• chop
• cookbook

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Good cooks make it look so easy. Using simple ingredients, they can whip up a delicious meal, bake a beautiful dessert, or create a gourmet snack. But we can’t all be gifted chefs. If you are not a good cook, putting food on the table every night might seem like a real chore. That’s when you end up having frozen pizza, cold sandwiches, or takeout every night.

In English, when someone is a really bad cook, we say he “can’t boil water,” since all that takes is some water, some heat, and a pot. For someone who’s that bad in the kitchen, even a cookbook isn’t much help. Find out if Marni and Dale know how to boil water.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Dale

Marni

Dale:  So, Marni, do you enjoy cooking?

Marni:  You know, cooking is something I’m just not very good at. I can boil water, but that’s about it.

Dale:  You don’t try? Are you not experimental?

Marni:  I feel like I’m always in a rut. I’ll get excited about something and it’s like I just go back to what I know. Like I can saute some onions, boil some water, make some pasta, and it just becomes the same old thing. I’m eating the same thing every night.

Dale:  Do you not like those cooking shows that are on TV, and kinda learn from them and get hungry, watching them cook this fabulous dinner?

Marni:  OK, well here’s the interesting thing about a lot of cooking shows, you know like the reality shows, they don’t really show you how to cook anything. It’s all like fast-paced, like making a meal. So I think cookbooks are a better resource.

Dale:  Do you use cookbooks?

Marni:  No. I should though.

Dale:  Cooking for me is like the most relaxing time. For me it’s more like an art feeling. I can step back, use all my senses at once, taste, smells, sight. Just the whole feeling about it.

Marni:  Do you use a lot of fresh herbs? Do you like to dice and chop and all that stuff?

Dale:  Yes. I love to do all those things. I think that’s the way that cooking should be. Nothing frozen, everything fresh.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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