3rd March, 2011 Dear Friend I want to thank you for responding to my letter. My favorite part is when you talked about your favorite food. I was wondering: do you have a story behind your favorite food, meaning why do you like Chapatti? My favorite food is butter milk pancakes. They are so good; if you can, you should try making it yourself; it would be so cool. You would need: 3 cups of wheat flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda, and ¾ teaspoons of salt, 3 cups of buttermilk, ½ cup of milk, 3 eggs, and ⅓ cup of butter (melted.) Do you know what buttermilk is? If you don’t have all the ingredients, maybe we can figure out how to substitute something. After you have all of your ingredients, you can cook it; the directions are: First, you will need to put in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook. Then, heat an oiled frying pan over medium heat. You can flick water (put a little on the tip of your hands, and have it drip over the pan); if it sizzles, it’s ready for the pancakes! Finally, pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it’s just blended together. Do not over stir! Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approximately ½ cup for each pancake. It should be brown on both sides (not burnt black) and serve hot. The calories are 219, the total fat is 7.4 g and the cholesterol is 70 mg. If you have any questions about any of these instructions, feel free to ask me. To answer your question: Whole Foods is a healthier place to buy your food. It is a place where you can get fewer chemicals than at fast food places. Many people go there to get their food; personally I don’t shop at Whole Foods. A fast food place is a restaurant where you can get your food faster and cheaper. A fast food place has a "Drive Thru", so that people don’t have to get out of their cars, if they don’t want to or don’t feel like going inside. Many people eat fast food even though it is bad for your health. People can get obese from eating from fast food places. Obese is when a person is very overweight. I’m very luck that I’m not overweight, because I used to eat from fast food places once a week. My family and I eat from fast food places, when we are having family night, meaning... when we are watching a movie together. In my family I have an older brother and an older sister, so I’m the youngest. I don’t live with my mother; I live with my auntie and her four kids. I am the oldest out of her kids; I’m 17 years old (how old are you?), and my little cousins are 12, 11, 8, and 5 years old. My auntie has 1 girl and 3 boys. My best friend’s name is De De (do you have a best friend, if so what is her/his name?): we do a lot of things together. We go shopping and just hang out a lot. My auntie is having another baby. I love my family very much; we do a lot of things together. We go to the movies, to the Water Park or to the swimming pool in the summer, to the church, and to a place called Chucky E. Cheese (do you know what Chucky E. Cheese is?). We like having
fun together. We sometimes sit around and talk about problems, and we help each other when we need help. When we go to fast food places, we do not spend a lot of money; you can get a hamburger, fries, and a drink for 3 dollars at McDonalds. Sometimes, if you get a meal it will only be 5 dollars. So, they are very cheap and they also have a dollar menu -- that means whatever is on the dollar menu it only costs a dollar. You should go to McDonalds sometimes, because I was surprised that you had never been. I would love to answer any further questions you may have. Let me know if you cook the pancakes! I will be happy to hear from you again. Asante sana, Quita