The food in America is different from our Chinese food. For example, they eat a lot potatoes. They like to eat them every day. They eat bread for breakfast and for another meals. They eat their bread with butter (黄油), maybe cheese or jam (果酱). Cheese and butter are made from (用……做成) milk. They drink a lot of milk, too. They drink the milk in hot or cold, and they put it in their tea. And they like meat or fish with potatoes and other vegetables. After the meal, they always have something sweet. They call that dessert (甜点).

My parents taught me not to waste food. My mom always found ways to make leftovers (剩余食物) taste good. I went to Italia to learn about some of their special foods. As I was there, I learned about the food and the history of the area. I learned that they don't waste food, either, and they use leftovers!

Many years ago, there was not enough food for everyone. People learned to cook and eat almost everything. They had to think of ways to make special dishes. One of these dishes is kao zha. It's made with leftovers like meat, soup, oil and fat. That might not sound very good, but it does taste good. Today, kao zha is a special dish at big banquets (宴会).

Another famous dish is called zao bing. It's made with fruit, meat and other things. I really liked it! But I didn't want to cat too much. It has a lot of fat in it.

I smelled something burning and I saw smoke, so I found another special food of the Italian area -duck meat. The duck meat is put in a big oven to cook it. Smoke keeps the meat fresh. I don't usually cat meat, but this duck meat was delicious! It tasted sweet.

Italia is a great place with delicious food. I hope I can come back again!

Celebrate the season

Which is the shortest day of the year? It is the winter solstice. It falls on December 22 this year. After the solstice, daytime becomes longer and longer with each day.

On this day, people in southern China will eat tangyuan. The little tangyuan balls are made from rice because rice is the main food there. They have different kinds of sweet fillings. People eat tangyuan in hope of having a happy and sweet life.

However, people in the northern part of China celebrate the day in a different way. They eat jiaozi, a dumpling made from wheat because wheat is the main food in the north. They usually fill the dumplings with different vegetables and meat. Sometimes, people put a coin inside. If you happen to come across a coin-filled jiaozi, you will have good luck. Eating jiaozi is also seen as a way of keeping healthy. As the old saying goes, “Eating jiaozi on winter solstice protects the ears from frostbite on wintry days.”

Both tangyuan and jiaozi are filled with traditional Chinese culture. You can’t know what’s inside by looking at them. Only when you eat them, you can find out. In this way, they are similar to some other Chinese characteristics. More and more people from other countries now enjoy eating tangyuan and jiaozi.