polenta

Polenta is delicious comfort food that tastes great with everything from cheese to tomatoes to mushrooms. It is very simple to make polenta at home. To make polenta, you will need two cups of water, one teaspoon of salt, four cups of water in a pot, two cups of polenta or cornmeal, three tablespoons of butter, grated cheese, and tomato sauce. First, add salt to the four cups of water in a pot, and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, pour the cornmeal into the two cups of water in a bowl, and whisk it together so there are no lumps. Once the water is boiled, gradually stir in the cornmeal and cold water mixture in the boiling pot. Then let the cornmeal and water simmer gently. Stir frequently, so there is no sticking. It will take about 30 minutes until it gets very thick. At the end, mix in the butter. Butter a bowl which will be used to pour in polenta. Pour the polenta into the bowl, and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes. while it cools, the polenta will take the shape of the bowl. Once it sets, invert the bowl into a flat plate,cut polenta into thick slices, and top it with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

Polenta

Polenta Ingredients
For this recipe you will need:

* 6 cups water
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups polenta (cornmeal)
* 3 tablespoons butter (optional)
* grated cheese
* tomato sauce to taste

Combine the Water and Polenta
First,pour the cornmeal and 2 cups of the cold water into a large bowl. Whisk it so there are no lumps.

Next, pour the remaining 4 cups of water and the salt into a pot, and bring to a boil.
Stir the Polenta
Now, gradually stir in the polenta and cold water mixture.

Let the polenta and water simmer gently. Stir frequently, so there's no sticking. It will take about 30 minutes until it's very thick.

At the end, mix in the butter.
Pour the Polenta Into a Buttered Bowl
Butter a bowl for the polenta to cool. The polenta will take shape of the bowl after sitting for about 10 minutes.

Once it's set, invert the polenta onto a flat plate. You can cut it into thick slices and top with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

My old bedroom

My old bedroom was small and very comfortable. Except for sleeping, I always enjoyed sitting on the bed and have some reading. The bedroom was on the second floor of a townhouse. It had white ceiling and walls. In the corner on the left side of the door was a large mirror that was hanging on the wall. Every morning I usually stood before the mirror to make sure I dressed well. Right next to the mirror, there was a large wardrobe that was built into the wall. All of my clothes, shocks, shoes and etc. were put in the wardrobe. On the right side of the door was a king-size bed. The mattress above the wood bed frame was not too hard and not too soft. I would be full of energy and happy whenever after a short nap or a long sleep of a night. Facing the bed was a large glass window with a window blind. From the window, I could enjoy the beautiful scene outside and the birds flying in the sky. Against the wall below the window was a study desk where I did my homework. Although the room is quite small, I really liked spending a lot of time in the room.

Lisa's birthday adventure

August 15 is Lisa’s Birthday. In the past five years, Lisa’s father and mother held big birthday parties for her every year. However, this August, Lisa’s mom was out of town because of business. Lisa was a little bit sad for a couple of days because she knew that there will not be a birthday party this year. In the morning of her 5^th birthday, Lisa woke up around 7am and put on her best dress. Then she walked to their backyard and played with her favorite toy, Babie, but she felt so lonely and disappointed. “Hi, sweetie, happy birthday” Lisa smiled and asked her father what they would do that day. Her father showed her two air tickets to San Diego and promised her that she would like her birthday adventure. Right away, they got on their car and drove directly to the airport. After about two hour’s flight, they arrived at San Diego. At a famous Pancake House, they had a very nice breakfast. Then they went to a water park. In the park, Lisa’s father tried his best to teach her how to swim. Before that, Lisa was a little bit afraid of water and didn’t like to play in the water. However, on that day, she was not afraid of water at all and loved to learn to swim so much. And after a while, she grasped the basic skills of swimming and even could float without any help. She felt so proud of herself. At noon, Lisa was very tired and fell asleep in the car they rented. When Lisa woke up, she found they were in the parking lot of San Diego’s Zoo. Then they bought tickets and started to walk around the Zoo. The Zoo was so large and had a lot of animals, including pandas, giraffes, elephants, and polar bears. Among all of the animals, what Lisa liked most are the elephants. These giant guys have very long trunks and they can use their trunks to spray water and lift heavy logs. Time flied, it was almost evening when they finished visiting almost all the animals. They had two more hours to stay there before they return to their home. It was almost the perfect time to enjoy the sunset in the beach, so Lisa’s father drove to the Jo Lala beach. The beach was so beautiful and clean. And there were so many people. Some were swimming; some were surfing, while the others were just relaxing or playing at the beach. Lisa couldn’t wait to practice her swimming skills. They put on their swimming suits and started to swim in the sea. That was the first time that Lisa saw the sea, and enjoyed the amazing beauty of the sunset in the beach. She was so excited and appreciated that her father made her 5^th birthday so wonderful and unforgettable.

reasons why people should come to Penn State

Every year, a lot of new people come to Penn State. Some people come here for undergraduate study, some are here for graduate study, and some start their work at Penn State, while others come to learn English or to live together with their family. There are some reasons why people choose to study, work or live at Penn State. First of all, Penn State is one of the top 20 universities in the US, so a lot of people would like to come for their study or working. Second, Penn State lies in a very safe city, state college. As you know, some cities in the US is not so safe, while state college is among the 10 safest cities in US. Thirdly, many people come to Penn State to accompany their husbands or wife or be united with their family. Although the reasons people come here are different, they enjoy their new life at Penn State not only because it is a good university but also because it is a very safe place and they can live with their family.

Advertising

Advertising helps consumer make better choice of buying products. Nowadays our society is developing very fast and a lot of now products is produced every day. If there is no advertisements for the new products, we even don't know the exist of that product and we will miss some great opportunities to make our life easy, fun or better. For example, the game system of Wii is very popular these days, and so many people like to play with it. Why the Wii is game is so popular? It is the advertisement of Wii from TV, magzine, internet, and etc. that make Wii known and used by everybody. Even for the products that are not new, advertisement let people have better choice. For instance, there are many kinds of laundry detergent, some are good, some are not so good, and some are especially made for infants, and some are particularly for the people who have sensitive skin. From the advertisement of these products, we know which kind of detergent is better for us. Therefore, the advertisement is really powerful and can make our life better.

My home country

My home country is China. As you know, it is a large country, which lies in the east Asia. China has nearly all kinds of weather and geography. In the north part of China, the winter is almost half a year and it is very cold, while in the south part, the winter is very short and not so cold, and it hardly snows. China has so many interest and amazing places to visit, such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City in Beijing, Taishan, and Huanshan, etc.

China has more than 5000 years history. The most influential four invention, compass, gunpowder, printing technique and paper-making technique has been the mark that China has one of the world's oldest civilizations. It has gone through many dynasties and experienced all steps of human developments.

Now China is a modern country. It has a population of about 130 million. Chinese is the official language, and it also has a lot of dialects. With the fast development of economics and cooperation and communication with other countries, more and more people are learning English. Children start to learn English when they enter the first grade. More and more young people are going to the US or other Countries to study or work, and at the same time, more and more people from other countries are studying or working in China.

Although I have been abroad for years, my memory for my home country is still so clear. I hope that I can do something for it some day.