A SUMMER RECIPE

If you like cooking, it isn't usually difficult to follow a recipe in the language you are learning so why not try this one?

Summer pudding

All cultures have ways of using up leftover bread [i resti del pane] and here is a British one:  Summer pudding is a traditional British dessert and it's very simple to make. This version is a little bit Sicilian because I've used whortleberries [mirtilli] and added the juice and rind of an orange! If you prefer, you can use forest fruits [frutti di bosco] instead of the whortleberries and raspberries.

Note / Nota:  if you are a child, ask an adult to help you;  se sei un bambino, chiedi aiuto ad un adulto.

You need:

300 gr frozen whortleberries [mirtilli]
300 gr frozen raspberries [lamponi]
About 12 slices pan carré if you are in Italy or 8 slices stale white bread. [Note: slices of pan carré are smaller than slices of packaged white bread in the UK.]
1 vanilla pod [bacca di vaniglia]
juice and grated rind of 1 orange
150 gr sugar
a little butter


You also need an 850 ml pudding basin, which looks like this:

Lightly butter [imburra] the inside of the pudding basin.

Cut the crusts [le croste] off the bread and use the bread to line the pudding basin. The base and sides of the basin should be completely covered with bread.

Put the fruits in a saucepan with the vanilla pod, orange rind and juice and sugar and cook over low heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Take the vanilla pod out and let the fruit cool.

When the fruit has cooled, pour it into the basin.  Save a little juice to pour over the pudding at the end.

Cover the top of the pudding with slices of bread, too.

Now put a saucer [piattino] which fits the basin exactly on top of the pudding and put a weight [un peso] on top of that. [I used an unopened pot of jam, turned on its side.]

Leave the pudding in the fridge overnight.

When you are ready to serve the pudding, loosen it around the edges with a knife and quickly and fearlessly [senza paura!] turn it out onto a plate.

Pour the reserved juice over the pudding, decorate it with berries and / or mint and slice the pudding to serve.

Enjoy your summer pudding!  Some British people serve this with cream [panna] or ice cream.

WHICH WORD DO YOU PREFER?

Image: WP Clipart

Did you know that autumn is often called fall in American English?  This is probably because the leaves fall from the trees in autumn.  Which word do you prefer?

When writing English, remember that days and months are written with a capital first letter but seasons are not [unless they come at the beginning of a sentence or are part of a title]:

Monday; Tuesday; October; November; autumn; fall; summer.

James Taylor - You've got a Friend

Cheryl Wheeler - When Fall Comes to New England

SUMMER WORDSEARCH

Try our summer wordsearch!

T Y Y S Y C B F E T M N B A F 
N W L L E I E H K A H O O E G 
L C P U K I T D E F A L Q S I 
P D I I J A R R A T G E N U J 
S A N D B C C R I P Z M W X D 
W I E N O A H I E P S R U S E 
I A U B O U P B V B X E M W I 
M S H C A E B O U K W T D A X 
Q X V S R F U Y O C U A I C E 
A A Q G Q X H Z Z L K W R N I 
U L B H H O L I D A Y E H T H 
G E X U S J Q X X M J R T A S 
U R F E M F F A Z T P A K K D 
S A V E Z G A B E M J G D D A 
T P O Y L A N Q Z R R Y A Z Y 

AUGUST
BEACH
BIKINI
BOAT
BUCKET
CREAM
HOLIDAY
ICE
JULY
JUNE
POOL
RELAX
SAND
SEA
SPADE
STRAWBERRIES
SUN
SUNBATHE
SWIM
WATERMELON

SEASONAL QUIZ

Put the first letters of the answers together to form a seasonal word!

1.  An old word for "saint".

2.  The season we are in now.

3.  - - - - - - fall during this season.

4.  A carved pumpkin is called a jack-o'-   - - - - - - - .

5.  The tenth month.

6.  She rides on a broomstick.

7.  A ghostly, frightening atmosphere can be described as - - - - - .

8.  All Hallows' - - - is the day before All Saints' Day.

9.  - - - - , which are a combination of fruit and seed, are associated with this time of year.

Highlight the space below to see the answers:

1. hallow  2. autumn  3. leaves  4. lantern  5. October  6. witch  7. eerie  8. Eve  9. nuts

The word is HALLOWEEN!

Images for this post are from WP Clipart

LEAF IDIOMS

It's autumn and for many of us, that means that the leaves are falling.  Can you match up the leaf idioms 1 - 5 with their meanings a - e?  You'll find the answers at the end of the quiz:

1.  to turn over a new leaf

2.  to leaf through something

3.  to use as a fig leaf

4.  to take a leaf out of someone's book

5.  to shake like a leaf

a.  to copy someone else's behaviour, usually because the person sets a good example

b.  to turn over the pages of a publication quickly, without really paying attention to the content

c.  to tremble with fear

d.  to use a situation to hide an embarrassing fact or problem

e.  to begin again, changing one's behaviour in a good way

Finally, in Cockney Rhyming Slang  what is a  tea leaf ?   grief / beef / a thief?

To see the answers, please highlight the space below: 

1e, 2b, 3d, 4a, 5c.  In Cockney Rhyming slang, a "tea leaf" is a thief.

Images for this post are from WP Clipart.

Eric Clapton - Autumn Leaves

AUTUMN WORDSEARCH

R E B M E T P E S M L X H T T

R V B N D E R H E E E A F H U

O E D O B Q A L R Y L K A A N

S L B S N R L R J L P H L N T

Z T G M V F I M O P P S L K S

S N N E E U I W L U A Q R S E

P L S I Q V E R S M T R M G H

L T L S A E O T E P S Z O I C

S Z U A N S H N F K S B P V I

W O L L E Y R L G I Q Y G I T

B R O W N O F O E N Q X S N W

Q M M H C C L U S A P Q K G O

X C Y A L D Z Y H S F M T I V

X P T O C T O B E R Q K L I Z

 J Y F O N E N W C E J R P B Z 

ACORN

ALL*

APPLE

BONFIRE

BROWN

CHESTNUT

FALL**

GOLD

HALLOWEEN

HARVEST***

LEAF

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

PUMPKIN

RED

SAINTS*

SEPTEMBER

SQUIRREL

THANKSGIVING

YELLOW

* All Saints' Day [Tutti i Santi] is on 1st November.

** Fall:  Leaves fall in autumn, of course but fall is also a word for autumn in American English.

*** Harvest - when crops are picked [raccolta]