20090518 -- Home-cooked Food for Busy People (1)

Ordering takeout is no longer the only way to get a fast meal

The hands on the clock approach 6:00 p.m., which is the dinner hour in many American homes. The kids are hungry, and Mom is exhausted after a full day at work. Yet she can have a home-cooked meal ready in short order with her slow
cooker. Before work, Mom(or Dad) puts all the ingredients into the slow cooker and
turns in on. The food cooks slowly all day and is ready to eat when everyone gets home.


Another possibility for busy parents is a "dinner studio." Here, they can prepare several entrees, take them home, and put them in the freeze. Then they just defrost the food, heat it and eat it. First, they make an appointment to visit the dinner studio and choose entrees from the online menu. When they arrive for their appointment, all the ingredients are waiting. They just put them together according to the recipe. Then they pay and leave. The staff at the dinner studio does the cleanup, and the cost is only about $4.00 per serving.



exhaust v. 使精疲力盡[
-> very tired/ extremely tired
eg: I just cleaned the house, cooked dinner and made a cake, so I'm exhausted!

in short order (idiom) 迅速地
eg: Dan didn't have to wait long because Carrie was ready in short order.
eg: Tina is a sharp business person. She's capable of solving problems at work in short order.
eg: Halfway through dinner, my son suddenly got sick, so we left in short order.


slow cooker


entree n. 主菜
eg: This chicken and pasta entree is delicious.

appointment n.
-> arrange to meet someone at a certain place
eg: Sherry has an appointment with the doctor today at 2 p.m.

defrost v. 退冰
de-除去
eg: Mother defrosted the beef in the microwave.
eg: We left the turkey out last night to let it defrost thoroughly.
eg: It's time to defrost the freezer. The frost(結霜) is becoming very thick.

serving n. 食物的一份
eg: He had a large serving of fried rice.
eg: This pie recipe should be enough for 6 servings.
eg: Each serving of this ice-cream is over 400 calories.



//== Grammer on the go ==//

不直接說明現在的時間為何，而是透過有趣的形容讓文章更活潑
The hands on the clock approach 6:00 p.m.
= It's almost six o'clock.

The grandmother cook in the hallway climed five times.
The bells of the clock tower rung five times.
The hour hand on his watch pointed to five.


//== Chat room ==//

cooker 電鍋
cooker -> appliance(電器用品)


cook 廚師 ( Anyone who prepares food is a cook)
chef ( comes from Franch language) (在法文是指chief,chef即為在廚房裡的領
袖，所以就是大廚/主廚)
-> professional cook who is in charge of cooking

eg: Who is the cook of the meal?