钟琬婷5年级英语作文

《Happy Little Reporter’s Club》 (4)

  

Busy as Bees

 

Pots and pans were all ready. An exciting cooking competition would soon take place!

To begin with, we had to start two big fires for the hobs. There were no gas cookers or electric cookers in the kitchen, so we had to start the fires with sticks. It was very difficult for us little girls who had never been to the countryside. A group leader, Miss Huang, came to help us. She told us to place some firewood in the grate. Then she ignited a piece of paper with a lighter and threw it into a firewood pile. A fire burned. We clapped our hands. She lighted another piece of paper and tossed it into another pile of firewood. ‘Quick, quick, quick! Put in some more sticks, or the fires will soon go out! Quick!’ Miss Huang helped us as we broke some of the firewood into pieces. We threw the bits of firewood into the fires. The fires burned brightly. We kept adding firewood to the fires to prevent them from going out. Miss Huang left all the other things to us.

‘Now, we can start cooking!’ I said. First, we decided to cook rice. We opened a plastic bag which was filled with white rice and put some into a pot until it was almost full. Then two girls put the pot in the sink and turned on the tap. They began washing the rice. After that, they poured out the dirty water and added some clean water. They put the pot on a hob and placed the lid of it back on. There was still another hob left for cooking dishes.

As the two girls were cooking the rice, the rest of us were busy, too. Zhou Qiao was trying to make the fire bigger. I was getting the materials ready for the first dish with several girls. I whipped the eggs. The other girls cut the sausages. One girl went to peel the garlic. She dropped it onto the ground three times! When the egg was whisked, the sausages were cut into slices and the garlic was peeled, a girl good at cutting food chopped the green onions to small bits.

Just then, Miss Huang came and helped us put the pan on another hob. As we were busy providing Qi Xin, our little cook, the ingredients of her dish, Zhou Qiao couldn’t stop the fires from going out. The fire became smaller and smaller. We all hurried to help her. Miss Huang thought the sticks we snapped were too small and short, so we pulled out a long piece of firewood from the pile and threw it into the fire. The fire burned. We added more sticks and the fire didn’t go out. We let out a sigh of relief.

We stood up and looked at the pan. It was hot by then.

‘Pour some cooking oil! Pour some cooking oil into the pan!’ I said. Before the others could say a word, a girl unscrewed the lid of a bottle and poured the liquid inside into the pan at once.

‘Oh, no! That isn’t cooking oil! It is detergent! See for yourself!’ I shouted and snatched the bottle from her hand. A strong smell of detergent filled the air. Everybody laughed.

Miss Huang sighed. ‘Little blunderer! Be sure not to mistake detergent for cooking oil again.’ She put the pan under the tap and washed it. Then she put it on the hob again. ‘Now, pour some cooking oil into the pan. Be careful!’ She walked away.

I opened another bottle and smelled the fluid in it to make sure that it was really cooking oil. Then I poured the oil into the pan. I nodded to Qi Xin and she nodded back to me. She walked up to the stove and took hold of the handle of the pan. She poured the bowl of sausage slices into the pan and stir-fried them. I could hear the clear sound produced when the sausage slices touched the oil. After a little while, she added the green onion and a little garlic. Finally, she poured the egg paste into the pan.

I walked to the table. Three girls were making ‘Tofu Castles’. One of them, Hui Hui, was making holes in the tofu with a spoon. Another girl was placing pork into the holes with a pair of chopsticks. Hui Min was putting the ‘Tofu Castles’ into a big bowl. I joined them immediately. Because there were no extra spoons or chopsticks, I helped Hui Min.

‘Here’s my “Pink and Yellow Flowers”!’ With a cry of triumph, Qi Xin took the pan by the handle and used a shovel to push the food into a large plate. An appetizing smell immediately came from the dish and attracted us. We walked over to Qi Xin. She smiled and asked, ‘What do you think of it?’

We sniffed and sniffed at the ‘Pink and Yellow Flowers’, as if it were a plate of roses. It smelled very tasty. We looked at the dish. The egg was yellow. The sausage slices were pink. The green onion was emerald. It looked tasty, too. We tasted some. Mmm, it was very tasty!

‘So you like my dish. That’s great!’ Qi Xin beamed and put the plate down on the table.

‘We are ready for the next dish!’ We called to Miss Huang. Hearing our calls, Miss Huang hurried to our stove and asked, ‘Do you need a pan or a pot?’

‘A pot! We want to steam the tofu.’

‘A pot for Stove No. 9 !’ Miss Huang shouted to a kitchen worker. ‘A large one, please.’

And soon a large pot was brought. The kitchen worker put it on the hob.

We poured some water into the pot. After that, we seasoned the ‘Tofu Castles’ with soy sauce and sugar. We put the bowl into the pot, replaced the lid and made the fire bigger.

We returned to the stone table. I threw the garbage, such as the peels, the eggshells and the wrapping of the sausages, into a trashcan. We gave what was left to Hui Min. There were two sausages and some meat. There were also some green onions and a lot of garlic.

‘OK. I’ll cook a bowl of stir-fry with these ingredients.’ Hui Min said.

‘We’re your assistants!’ I said. ‘Right, Hui Hui?’

‘Yes!’ Hui Hui winked at me. ‘We’ll prepare all the things for you. You do the cooking. And, hm, we share your dish!’

We laughed, ‘Ha, it’s a joke! All of us, including you, can share it. Now, let’s start working.’ Hui Hui said.

We immediately began preparing the ingredients. I tore the wrapping of the sausages and threw it into the trashcan. Hui Hui cut the sausages. A girl put the slices into the bowl where the pork was placed. Another girl spread the bits of green onion left onto the pork. Qi Xin helped us. She chopped the garlic and put it on the pork.

When we were busy as bees, Rui Xin called to us, ‘Hey, it looks as if the rice is ready!’ Hui Min went over to Rui Xin and they carried the pot to the table. When they took off the lid, we all could smell the aroma of the rice.

‘The food ingredients are here, Hui Min!’ Hui Hui shouted. ‘And there’s a hob for you!’

Hui Min took the pan and put it on the spare hob. ‘Thank you!’ she said. Then she poured some fluid into the pan.

‘Strange!’ She murmured. ‘I think this isn’t cooking oil. It is … ‘

‘Detergent!’ We yelled almost at once and by mere coincidence we said the same words! ‘You should have noticed the detergent. Hui Min mistook detergent for cooking oil!’

Miss Huang came, angry and amused. She washed the pan for us again and told Hui Min that she should have studied the fluid inside before pouring it out.

Hui Min took the pan and went on cooking. She poured some cooking oil and the food ingredients into the pan. We heard a loud crack. We walked up to Hui Min. She was just like a real cook. She moved the shovel quickly and proficiently. We watched her in amaze.

Just as we were watching Hui Min, Zhou Qiao muttered from below, ‘Oops! I can’t control this fire! It’s getting smaller!’ Saying this, she broke a stick and threw it into the fire.

Suddenly, Hui Min shouted, ‘My dish is ready! It’s a dish to go with the rice. You may have much of it.’

The girls all rushed to see it. The meat and the sausage slices were in a bowl. The oil was still crackling. The meat was ruby and the sausage slices were rose. The green onion was forest green and the garlic was cream. It was a colourful and tasty dish, too.

Hui Min put the bowl on the table, just beside the dish cooked by Qi Xin.

‘Well, how about the tofu?’ A girl asked.

‘Tofu? Yes! Perhaps the “Tofu Castles” are ready!’ Hui Hui ran to look at the pot. ‘Oh, yes, they are ready!’

We surrounded the stove and watched Hui Hui taking the bowl out. ‘Wow! They look very delicious!’ We clapped.

‘Zhou Qiao, please stand up! Let’s go and have dinner!’ Qi Xin pushed Zhou Qiao. ‘Oh, look! Your face is dirty! Very dirty!’ Zhou Qiao’s face was marked with black ash from the stove.

‘Have a wash, Zhou Qiao. You are like a cat with all those marks.’ I turned on the tap for her.

After Zhou Qiao washed her face, we sat by the stone table and talked about the dishes. We were going to have a great dinner!

 

Great Meal

 

The Dining Room was bustling with noise and excitement. We were eating, talking and laughing.

We were armed with bowls and chopsticks. After the cooking competition was over, an eating competition started.

First, I went to the rice pot and got a large bowl of rice. Then I returned to my seat and began eating.

I lifted a piece of ‘Tofu Castles’ to my mouth and ate it. It was delicious. I ate three more at once. Then I had some egg. I also ate some pork. The pork was saltier than the tofu and the egg, so I ate it with some rice. I ate and ate, but I didn’t feel full. The dishes were so delicious! There were also a plate of Chinese cabbage and a pot of soup. It was a great meal.

The most marvelous dish was the “Pink and Yellow Flowers’. In less than fifteen minutes, the plate was almost empty. But we didn’t care. At last, the egg and sausage left was enough for only two mouthfuls. Qi Xin was worried. She said, ‘Will you please stop eating? The rest is for the judges.’ Thus, we all stopped eating.

After a little while, several judges came towards our table. They were Miss Ding Dong, Miss Mei Mei, Miss Huang and Brother Hao. Some kitchen workers were with them, too.

Miss Ding Dong and a kitchen worker tasted the egg and sausage.

‘Mm, it’s nice!’ Miss Ding Dong praised. The kitchen workers wanted to know who had been the cook.

‘I was!’ Qi Xin shouted.

‘Here is a decoration for you.’ The kitchen worker said. ‘Hang it on your neck.’

Then Miss Huang tried the tofu. She thought it was delicious. ‘Well, who made it?’ She asked.

‘We made it.’ Hui Hui said. ‘It’s nice because of our solidarity.’

‘Then I’ll give the decoration to the girl who designed the dish.’ Miss Huang said.

‘That’s Jing Jing!’ Hui Hui said. There fore Jing Jing got the decoration. She was happy.

After that, Miss Mei Mei ate some pork. ‘I cooked it.’ Hui Min said. ‘Well, isn’t it a bit salty? It’s a dish to go with the rice.’ She explained.

‘That’s OK.’ Miss Mei Mei gave Hui Min a decoration.

‘There is still a decoration for the assistant of the little chefs! Who is the best assistant?’ Brother Hao asked.

‘I am! I am!’ We all jumped up.

‘Let’s give it to Zhou Qiao. She helped us with the fire. If she hadn’t made the fire bigger, we wouldn’t have cooked such delicious dishes.’ Qi Xin said.

‘OK.’ Brother Hao gave the decoration to Zhou Qiao. Then they went to another group.

We ate and talked and laughed. I thought it was the best supper I had ever had.

...... 

(to be continued)

 

 

    广州市农林下路小学  五年（3）班  钟琬婷