0009 Making Dinner, Eating Dinner

[Start of story]

When I get home, I start on dinner right away. I clean off the kitchen counter after putting away the groceries and decide to make pasta. I preheat the oven to 375 to bake the bread and to keep the chicken hot until my wife gets home. I put some water in a pan and turn the burner on high. When the water starts boiling, I put in the pasta and decide to make a salad. Just then, my wife opens the back door and yells, “I’m home!” She comes into the kitchen, and helps with chopping the tomatoes to add to the sauce. She stirs the sauce until it’s done, while I finish tossing the salad.

I get out the place mats and napkins to set the table. I also make sure that there is a spoon, knife, fork, and plate for each of us. About 15 minutes later, we sit down at the table in the dining room and talk about our long day. My wife says she’ll do the dishes, since I cooked, but of course I help out by drying them. First, I put some of the leftovers in a Tupperware container and some in plastic wrap and the rest in aluminum foil. Then I dry the pans, plates, glasses, and silverware.

[End of story]

In this episode, we are making dinner at the beginning, “When I get home, I start on dinner right away.” Once again, we have one of those two-word verbs in English, “I start on dinner,” that means I begin to prepare dinner. So, “I start on dinner right away. I clean off the kitchen counter after putting away the groceries.” The “kitchen counter” (counter) is the place in your kitchen where you have a long, flat top or board where you can prepare food and you can put things on, it's like the table almost. But usually in a kitchen, you have cabinets or cupboards, where you store things, and on top you have a counter. A “counter” is a general word that refers to the top of something, usually somewhere where you do something on top of it. In this case, the kitchen counter is where you prepare food.

Well, “I clean off the kitchen counter after” I put “away the groceries.” The “groceries” (groceries) – plural –are the food that I buy at the market. We sometimes call a supermarket a grocery store - a place that you buy groceries - buy food that you bring home and prepare and eat at home.

I decided “to make pasta.” So, “I preheat the oven to 375.” “To preheat” (preheat) really means the same here as to heat, but if you look at the instructions for making food, what we would call the “recipe” (recipe) – the recipe for making food, usually it begins, if you are going to be cooking something in the oven, by telling you to preheat the oven. That just means to turn it on so that when you are ready, when it is hot, you can put the food in to cook. “Pre” (pre) means before or to do something before.

So, “I preheat the oven to 375,” in other words, 375 degrees Fahrenheit. I preheat it because I want “to bake the bread and keep the chicken hot until my wife gets home.” “To bake” (bake) is to cook something, usually in an oven. So, I open the oven door, I put in the bread, I put in the chicken, and then I close the door. My wife is going to be home late so I want to keep the chicken hot - I want to make sure that it stays hot.

I put some water in a pan. A “pan” is what you use to cook something in. So, “I put some water in a pan and I turn the burner on high.” The “burner” (burner) is on top of what we would call your “stove” (stove). Your burners are for cooking food, where you have the heat comes from the bottom and you put the pan on top of the heat. So, if you are going to boil some water - make the water hot - you would put it in a pan and then put it on top of a burner, and the burner is part of your stove. Usually, stoves and ovens are one machine, one - in one single piece in many American kitchens. In my kitchen, the stove is on top of the oven.

I'm going to boil some water. “To boil” (boil) means to make the one of very hot until you start to see bubbles. The average temperature is 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 100 degrees Celsius, in order to boil water. Well, “when the water starts boiling” - when it starts to make bubbles because it is very hot - “I put in the pasta.” I take the pasta - the pasta “noodles” (noodles) - the little pieces of pasta, we call those noodles - and I put them into the boiling water so they can cook.

Then I decide I want “to make a salad” because I'm very hungry. Well, just as I decide to make the salad, “just then, my wife opens the back door.” “Just then” - that expression means at that time - at that same time - “my wife opens the back door” - the door to the house in the back, the opposite would be the front door. She yells, “I'm home!” That's what you would say when you come home to someone who is already there, you would say, “I'm home!” You wouldn't say, “I've arrived,” or “I'm here,” you would say, “I'm home.”

My wife comes into the kitchen and helps me chop the tomatoes. “To chop” (chop) means to cut something into small pieces. We chop tomatoes - we make them into smaller pieces - and we add them to the pasta sauce that's the red liquid that we're going to put over the pasta. My wife “stirs the sauce until it’s done.” “To stir” (stir) when you are cooking means to take a spoon and put it into the pan and move the spoon back and forth so that you are mixing what is in the pan.

So, my wife is stirring the sauce - the pasta sauce - the tomato sauce “until it's done” - until it is ready - until it is cooked, “while I finish tossing the salad.” So, she is stirring the sauce and at the same time, I am finishing the salad, and I finished by tossing it. “To toss” (toss) a salad means to mix the salad together. In a salad, you often have lettuce and maybe tomatoes, other food, other vegetables, and you want to mix them together. Often you put in a salad “dressing” (dressing). Salad dressing is a liquid, often made from some oil, that gives a better taste to your salad. So, you toss the salad in order to mix everything up.

That verb, to toss, can also mean to throw, usually to throw something to someone else. Someone may say, “Toss me that pen,” they mean throw me that pen.

Well, I am “tossing the salad” here - mixing it up, “I get out the place mats and napkins to set the table.” The “place (place) mats (mats)” are things that you put underneath the plate and the spoon, fork, and knife so that the table doesn't get dirty; we call those place mats. They can be plastic; they can be made out of cloth, and they are used to protect your table.

So, “I get out the place mats and the napkins to set the table.” A “napkin” (napkin) is like a little towel that you use. In case you need to wipe your face while you are eating, you can use your napkin, and it's common in American restaurants and in houses for people to put the napkin on their legs while they are sitting - on the top of their legs, which we would call the “lap” - on your “lap” (lap) you put the napkin while you are eating. “To set” (set) the table means to put all of the things that you need on the table - plates, spoons, knives, forks, and so forth. That is to set the table - to make the table ready so you can eat.

“About 15 minutes” after I set the table, my wife and I sit at the table - “we sit down at the table in the dining room and talk about our long day.” The “dining room” (dining) is a place where you eat. “To dine” as a verb, (dine) means to eat. So, the dining room is the room in your house where you eat your meals. My wife and I “talk about our long day,” meaning we had many things happen today, and maybe we are very tired, so we had a long day.

“My wife says that she’ll do the dishes.” “To do the dishes” means the same as to wash the dishes. My wife offers to “do the dishes” because “I cooked, but of course,” since I am a wonderful husband, “I help out by drying” the dishes. “To help out” means the same here as to help. But if we are talking about helping another person do something, maybe something that we don't have to do, but we want to be nice, we would say we help them out.

So, I helped my wife out by drying the dishes. “First,' I have to “put some of the leftovers in a Tupperware container.” “Leftovers” (leftovers) – all one word – is extra food - food that you did not eat. At the end of your dinner - at the end of your meal - if you want to keep some of that food, we call it leftovers. And in this case, I'm going to put the leftovers into a small plastic box that has a top on it. We call that kind of little box a “container” (container). We usually refer to these plastic boxes that we put food in as Tupperware containers. “Tupperware” (Tupperware) is actually a company that makes these small plastic containers for food. Even if you don't have a container made by that company, many people just call it “my Tupperware” - the Tupperware containers – that means the plastic boxes that you can put food into.

Well, some of the food, I put in a plastic wrap. A “plastic wrap” (wrap) is a thin, clear piece of plastic that I put food into, and we call it a “wrap” (wrap) because we put it around something. To wrap something is to put something around it, usually to keep it cold, or to keep it warm, or to keep it fresh when we are talking about food. We use that same word, wrap, for putting paper around a present or a gift that you are giving someone. The paper is called wrapping paper.

You can also put food in aluminum foil. “Aluminum” (aluminum) is a kind of metal. It's usually a silver color. “Foil” (foil) is like a plastic wrap but it's made from aluminum. It's a - it's like a long, flat sheet that you can put around something to keep the food in your refrigerator or in your freezer, where you have even colder temperatures.
At the end of the story, I dry the pans, the plates, the glasses, and the silverware. The silverware, remember, is the spoon, knife, fork that you use when you eat.

Glossary
counter – a long, flat surface in a kitchen or bathroom for putting things on

• Please don’t forget to clean the counters after you wash the dishes.

groceries – food and drinks that are bought in a store

• I accidentally left some of the groceries in the car overnight and had to throw away the spoiled milk in the morning

to preheat – to heat an oven to the correct cooking temperature before placing any food inside the oven to cook

• This cake recipe says that we should preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

to bake – to cook in an oven

• Doug likes to bake cookies with his children on the weekends.

burner – the round part of a stove that produces heat under a pot or pan

• Does your stove have gas burners or electric burners?

to boil – to be at the point where a liquid that is being heated is very hot and there are bubbles in the liquid

• Don’t put the eggs in the water until the water boils.

to chop – to cut a food into pieces with a knife

• Please chop the carrots so that I can add them to this soup.

to stir – to use a spoon to move a liquid around in a bowl or pot

• I’m supposed to stir this soup for 20 minutes without stopping, but my arm is getting tired.

to toss – to lightly mix vegetable or fruits in a salad

• If you don’t toss the salad gently, you will damage the fruits.

place mat – a rectangular piece of fabric or plastic placed on the table in front of each person, to protect the table from hot items and falling pieces of food

• Look how much food is on these place mats! It’s a good thing we used them for the kids.

napkin – a small piece of fabric or soft paper used to clean one’s mouth during or after eating

• Cloth napkins look nicer than paper napkins, but you have to wash them after a meal.

to set the table – to put placemats, napkins, plates, cups, forks, knives, and spoons on the table before a meal

• When you set a table, the fork and napkin should be on the left side of the plate and the knife and spoon should be on the right side of the plate.

dining room – a room with a table and chairs where people eat meals

• We can invite only two guests for dinner because our dining room is so small.

to do the dishes – to wash dirty plates, cups, forks, knives, spoons, pots, pans, and other things used for food

• They always do the dishes together: he washes them and she rinses them off.

leftovers – uneaten food that is saved for another day

• Last night we couldn’t eat all of the chicken, so today my roommate took the leftovers to work for lunch.

Tupperware container – a plastic container with a lid that is used for storing uneaten food

• Which Tupperware container are the cooked vegetables in? The blue one or the green one?

plastic wrap – clear thin plastic that sticks to itself and is used to cover uneaten food

• At the picnic, he wrapped the potato salad in plastic wrap so that the flies wouldn’t land in it.

aluminum foil – a shiny, flat piece of aluminum that tears easily and is used to cover uneaten food

• I often wrap food with aluminum foil before cooking it in the oven so that it doesn’t become too dry.

Culture Note
Heart Health

Heart disease is the leading cause of death and a major cause of “disability” (illness or condition of the body or mind that prevents someone from doing certain activities) in the United States. Nearly everyone knows of or is “related to” (connected by blood to) someone who has been a “victim of” (person who has suffered because of) heart disease.

Nearly 600,000 Americans die of heart disease “annually” (each year). This is almost 25% of all deaths in the United States. To “raise awareness” (make more people aware) of this disease, February has been "American Heart Month" since 1963.

Some medical conditions, such as “high blood pressure” (too much force moving the blood through the body), and lifestyle factors, such as an unhealthy “diet” (what one eats and drinks), can increase your “risk” (danger) of developing heart disease. Having close “biological” (related by blood) relatives with heart disease can also increase your risk of developing heart disease. Working close with “health providers” (such as nurses and doctors) to “review” (look at; go over) your medical history can help determine whether you are in the “high-risk” (likely to develop something bad) “category” (group).

The U.S. government strongly recommends “cholesterol” (substance in the body that prevents healthy movement of blood through the body) “screening” (exam) for men aged 35 and older. For people who have a “family history” (other members of one’s blood relatives having had) of early heart disease, the government recommends cholesterol screening beginning at age 20 for both women and men.

[故事的开始]

回到家后，我马上开始做晚饭。我把杂货放好后清理了厨房的柜台，决定做意大利面。我把烤箱预热到375度，以烘烤面包，并在我妻子回家之前保持鸡肉的热度。我在锅里放了一些水，把炉子开到最大。当水开始沸腾时，我把意大利面放进去，决定做一份沙拉。就在这时，我妻子打开后门，大喊："我回来了！" 她来到厨房，帮忙切番茄加入到酱汁中。她搅动酱汁直到完成，而我则完成了沙拉的翻炒。

我拿出餐垫和餐巾纸来布置桌子。我还确保我们每个人都有一个勺子、刀、叉和盘子。大约15分钟后，我们在餐厅的桌子旁坐下，谈论我们漫长的一天。我妻子说她会洗碗，因为我做了饭，当然我也会帮忙洗碗。首先，我把一些剩菜放在特百惠容器里，一些放在保鲜膜里，剩下的放在铝箔里。然后我把平底锅、盘子、杯子和银器擦干。

[故事结束]

在这一集里，我们一开始就在做晚餐，"当我回到家时，我马上开始做晚餐"。再一次，我们有一个英语中的两个字的动词，"I start on dinner"，意思是我开始准备晚餐。所以，"我马上开始做晚饭。我把杂货放好后，把厨房的柜台清理干净"。"厨房柜台"（counter）是你厨房里的地方，你有一个长长的平顶或板，你可以准备食物，你可以把东西放在上面，它几乎就像桌子。但通常在厨房里，你有柜子或橱柜，你在那里储存东西，而在上面你有一个柜台。柜台 "是一个笼统的词，指的是某个东西的顶部，通常是你在上面做事情的地方。在这种情况下，厨房柜台是你准备食物的地方。

那么，"在我把 "食品杂货 "放好后，我把厨房柜台清理干净。"杂货"（groceries）--复数--是我在市场上买的食物。我们有时把超市称为杂货店--一个你购买杂货的地方--购买你带回家并在家里准备和食用的食物。

我决定 "做意大利面"。所以，"我把烤箱预热到375"。"预热"（preheat）在这里的意思和加热是一样的，但是如果你看一下制作食物的说明，我们称之为 "食谱"（recipe）--制作食物的食谱，通常它的开头，如果你要在烤箱里煮东西，告诉你要预热烤箱。这只是意味着把它打开，这样当你准备好了，当它是热的，你就可以把食物放进去煮。"预"（pre）的意思是之前或在做某事之前。

所以，"我把烤箱预热到375，"换句话说，华氏375度。我预热它是因为我想 "烘烤面包并保持鸡肉热度直到我妻子回家"。"烤"（bake）是指煮东西，通常是在一个烤箱里。所以，我打开烤箱门，放进面包，放进鸡肉，然后关上烤箱门。我妻子要晚点回家，所以我想让鸡肉保持热度--我想确保它保持热度。

我在锅里放了一些水。锅 "是你用来煮东西的地方。所以，"我在锅里放了一些水，然后把炉子开到高处"。燃烧器"（burner）是在我们称之为你的 "炉子"（stove）的上面。你的燃烧器是用来烹饪食物的，你的热量来自底部，你把锅放在热量的上面。因此，如果你要煮一些水--使水变热--你会把它放在锅里，然后把它放在燃烧器的上面，燃烧器是你的炉子的一部分。通常情况下，炉子和烤箱是一个机器，一个--在许多美国厨房里是一个整体。在我的厨房里，炉子是在烤箱的上面。

我要去烧点水。"沸腾"（boil）的意思是使其中的非常热，直到你开始看到气泡。平均温度为华氏212度，或摄氏100度，才能把水烧开。那么，"当水开始沸腾时"--当它开始产生气泡时，因为它非常热--"我把意大利面放进去"。我拿起面条--面条 "nodles"（面条）--小块的面条，我们称之为面条--然后我把它们放入沸水中，以便它们能够煮熟。

然后我决定我想 "做一个沙拉"，因为我非常饿。就在我决定做沙拉的时候，"就在这时，我妻子打开了后门。" "就在这时"--这个表达方式意味着在那个时候--在那个相同的时间--"我妻子打开了后门"--后面的房子的门，相反的是前门。她大喊："我回来了！" 这就是你回家时对已经在那里的人说的话，你会说，"我回来了！" 你不会说 "我已经到了 "或 "我在这里"，你会说 "我回来了"。

我的妻子来到厨房，帮我切西红柿。"切"（chop）的意思是把东西切成小块。我们把西红柿切碎--我们把它们切成小块--然后把它们加入意大利面酱中，那是我们要放在意大利面上的红色液体。我妻子 "搅动酱汁，直到它完成"。烹饪时的 "搅拌"（搅动）是指拿着勺子放到锅里，来回移动勺子，使锅里的东西混合。

因此，我的妻子正在搅拌酱汁--意大利面酱--番茄酱，"直到它完成"--直到它准备好--直到它煮熟，"而我则完成了折腾沙拉。" 所以，她在搅拌酱汁，同时，我在完成沙拉，我完成了折腾它。"折腾"（toss）沙拉的意思是将沙拉混合在一起。在沙拉中，你经常有生菜，也许还有西红柿，其他食物，其他蔬菜，你想把它们混合在一起。通常你会在沙拉中放入 "调料"（调味品）。沙拉酱是一种液体，通常由一些油制成，能使你的沙拉有更好的味道。所以，你翻动沙拉，以便将所有东西混合起来。

这个动词，折腾，也可以有扔的意思，通常是指把东西扔给别人。有人可能会说，"把那支笔扔给我"，他们的意思是把那支笔扔给我。

好吧，我在这里 "折腾沙拉"--把它混在一起，"我拿出餐垫和餐巾纸来布置桌子"。"位置（place）垫（mats）"是你放在盘子和勺子、叉子和刀子下面的东西，这样桌子就不会被弄脏；我们称这些为位置垫。它们可以是塑料的，也可以是用布做的，它们是用来保护你的桌子。

因此，"我拿出餐垫和餐巾来布置桌子"。"餐巾"（napkin）就像你使用的一条小毛巾。万一你在吃饭的时候需要擦脸，你可以用餐巾，在美国的餐馆和房子里，人们在坐着的时候把餐巾放在腿上是很常见的--放在腿的上面，我们称之为 "大腿"--在你的 "大腿"（lap）上，你在吃饭的时候把餐巾放在那里。"摆"（设置）桌子的意思是把你需要的所有东西放在桌子上--盘子、勺子、刀子、叉子，等等。这就是摆放桌子--使桌子准备好，以便你可以吃饭。

在我摆好桌子后 "大约15分钟"，我和我的妻子坐在桌子旁--"我们坐在餐厅的桌子旁，谈论我们漫长的一天"。"饭厅"（dining）是一个吃饭的地方。"就餐 "作为一个动词，（dine）是指吃饭。所以，饭厅是你家里吃饭的房间。我的妻子和我 "谈论我们漫长的一天"，意思是我们今天发生了很多事情，也许我们非常累，所以我们度过了漫长的一天。

"我妻子说，她要洗碗"。"洗碗 "与洗碗的意思相同。我妻子提出要 "洗碗"，因为 "我做了饭，但当然，"因为我是一个出色的丈夫，"我也会帮忙洗碗"。"帮忙 "在这里与帮助的意思相同。但是，如果我们谈论的是帮助另一个人做一些事情，也许是一些我们不需要做的事情，但是我们想表现得好一点，我们会说我们帮助他们出来。

因此，我帮助我的妻子擦干了碗碟。"首先，'我得 "把一些剩菜放进特百惠的容器里。" "剩菜"（leftovers）--都是一个词--就是多余的食物--你没有吃的食物。在你的晚餐结束时--在你的晚餐结束时--如果你想保留其中的一些食物，我们称之为剩菜。在这种情况下，我要把剩饭剩菜放到一个有顶的小塑料盒里。我们称这种小盒子为 "容器"（container）。我们通常把这些放食物的塑料盒称为特百惠容器。"特百惠"(Tupperware)实际上是一家生产这些装食物的小塑料盒的公司。即使你没有那家公司生产的容器，许多人也只是叫它 "我的特百惠"--特百惠容器--那是指你可以放食物的塑料盒。

好吧，有些食物，我放在一个保鲜膜里。保鲜膜"（wrap）是一块薄而透明的塑料，我把食物放进去，我们称它为 "包"（wrap），因为我们把它放在某物周围。裹住东西就是在它周围放些东西，通常是为了保冷，或者保暖，或者在我们谈论食物的时候保持新鲜。我们用同样的词，包装，是指用纸包住你送给别人的礼物或礼品。这种纸被称为包装纸。

你也可以把食物放在铝箔中。"铝"（Aluminum）是一种金属。它通常是银色的。"铝箔"（foil）就像保鲜膜，但它是由铝制成的。它是一个--它就像一个长而平的薄片，你可以把东西放在周围，以保持食物在你的冰箱或冷冻室里，那里有更低的温度。
在故事的最后，我把平底锅、盘子、杯子和银器擦干。银器，记住，就是你吃饭时用的勺子、刀、叉。

文化说明
心脏健康

在美国，心脏病是死亡的主要原因，也是造成 "残疾"（身体或精神的疾病或状况，使人无法从事某些活动）的主要原因。几乎每个人都知道或与某人有 "关系"（与之有血缘关系），他是心脏病的 "受害者"（因心脏病而痛苦的人）。

每年有近60万美国人死于心脏病（每年）。这几乎是美国所有死亡人数的25%。为了 "提高"（让更多人了解）这种疾病，自1963年以来，2月一直是 "美国心脏月"。

一些医疗条件，如 "高血压"（血液在体内流动的力量太大），以及生活方式的因素，如不健康的 "饮食"（吃的和喝的），可以增加你患上心脏病的 "风险"（危险）。患有心脏病的近亲（有血缘关系）也会增加你患心脏病的风险。与 "健康提供者"（如护士和医生）密切合作，"回顾"（看；复习）你的病史，可以帮助确定你是否属于 "高风险"（可能会发展成坏事）的 "类别"（群体）。

美国政府强烈建议对35岁及以上的男性进行 "胆固醇"（体内阻碍血液在体内健康流动的物质）"筛查"（检查）。对于有早期心脏病 "家族史"（一个人的其他血亲成员曾有过）的人，政府建议女性和男性从20岁开始进行胆固醇检查。