English Masa Blog

First summer vegetables

Vocabulary

OTT, over the top (phrase) やりすぎの、常軌を逸した

e.g.  Using a Samurai Sword to chop garlic is a little OTT.

ripen (v)　実る

e.g.  Avocado ripens faster if you leave it outside the fridge.

It is probably a little OTT the call the three vegetables I picked a harvest.

Anyway these are the first aubergine, sweet pepper and cucumber of the summer. I think they look pretty good and they tasted just like they should do.

This is my first time growing such vegetables.

As more and more of the vegetables ripen, I will post more photos.

I am hopeful that within the next week or two, I should be able to photograph yellow tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes. I am also hoping that I will be able to use some of the vegetables in July’s appetizer, Gazpacho.

Eventually, my goal is to combine English Kitchen with the growing of vegetables so hopefully this is the first step.

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Appetizer　前菜

Tomato, sweet pepper and feta bruschetta.

トマト、パプリカとフェタチーズのブルスケッタ。

Main　メイン

Lasagne with homemade pasta. Sashimi and mizuna salad.

手作りパスタのラザニア。刺身とみずなサラダ。

Dessert　デザート

Panna cotta with blueberries.

パナコッターのブルベリー和え。

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Aubergine flower

Vocabulary

recently (adv)   最近

e.g.  I recently bought a new pair of shoes

attempt (v)  企てる

e.g.  I attempted to change the oil in my car myself

in no particular order (phrase)  順不同に

e.g. I told Maya my 10 favourite ramen shops in no particular order

aubergine (n) ナス

e.g. In America, they call aubergine “eggplant”!

sweet pepper (n)  パプリカ

e.g. In America, they call sweet pepper “bell pepper”!

obviously (adv)  言うまでもなく

e.g. Obviously, British English is much better than American English

I recently realized that although the title of this blog is 「英語、料理、野菜栽培」, I didn’t have any entries about growing vegetables. So I would like to take this opportunity to let you know about the vegetables I am attempting to grow this summer. In no particular order, they are:

1. Aubergines
2. Cucumber
3. Red cherry tomatoes
4. Yellow cherry tomatoes (sometimes called yellow grape tomatoes)
5. Beefsteak tomatoes
6. Yellow sweet peppers
7. Orange sweet peppers
8. Sweetcorn

Last year, I tried growing tomatoes, so this year aubergines, cucumbers, beefsteak tomatoes, bell peppers and sweetcorn are all new to me. So far, I have been able to harvest aubergine and cucumber. Both were delicious. The aubergine was tender and sweet enough to eat raw, and the cucumbers were quite strong tasting (obviously if you don’t like cucumber, this is not a good thing). Also, I thought it was best to pick one of the sweet peppers because it had grown very large and wasn’t changing color. I will upload a photo of some of my harvest soon.

The only problems I have had so far are insects eating my aubergine leaves and my cucumber plant seems to have stopped producing cucumbers.

I will report more later…

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Appetizer　前菜

Pea and potato samosas

グリーンピースとジャガイモサモサ

Main　メイン

Prawn, aubergine and spinach Indian style curry

エビ、ナスとほうれん草のインド風カレー

Dessert　デザート

Bread and butter pudding

ブレッド＆バタープディング

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Website upgrade

It has been just over a year since I started English Kitchen and English Masa. I was a little tired of the old website, so I have updated it and changed the layout. In addition, there is a new section on Private English lessons. If you have time, please check it out!

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Appetizer　前菜

Broccoli Potage

ブロッコリーポタージュ

Main　前菜

Homemade hamburgers with oven roasted chilli chips

手作りハンバーガー、オーブン焼きピリ辛フレンチフライ添え

Dessert　デザート

Fruit crumble with homemade custard

フルーツクランブル、手作りカスタード添え

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