Transcript of Video on Thanksgiving Entertaining

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjSNDq8tWhs

Serving a _____ _____ _____ this Thanksgiving? Well, there's still time to add some _____ to your family affair.

Hey, ET Canada, the leaves are changing, and so is the _____ .

You got the _____ ; we got the chefs to help you _____ up the trimmings.

We got the _____ -_____ _____ , which is done with pumpkin seeds, figs, sage.

Cornbread _____ is done with the smoked chipotle, and sweet pepper and green onion.

And the _____ de _____ : _____ -_____ stuffing with _____ rice.

We add the actual bread to it as well.

We have sour cherries, and we top it off with _____ and chestnuts.

But what about _____ ?

Raspberry _____ . You take the apple cider or apple _____ , if you prefer, a little bit of frozen _____ raspberry, a little bit of _____ and sugar.

You put it all in a big _____ , and you _____ it.

And for a special cider, how about _____ _____ , cinnamon, and bit of Courvoisier _____ ?

It's served in a _____ _____ , it's warm, and you add a little bit of a cinnamon stick to it, and you're _____ set for the holiday!

Answer:

Serving a traditional turkey dinner this Thanksgiving? Well, there's still time to add some flair to your family affair.

Hey, ET Canada, the leaves are changing, and so is the menu.

You got the turkey; we got the chefs to help you twist up the trimmings.

We got the pumpkin-seed stuffing, which is done with pumpkin seeds, figs, sage.

Cornbread stuffing is done with the smoked chipotle, and sweet pepper and green onion.

And the pièce de résistance: chestnut-cherry stuffing with wild rice.

We add the actual bread to it as well.

We have sour cherries, and we top it off with brandy and chestnuts.

But what about drinks?

Raspberry cider. You take the apple cider or apple juice, if you prefer, a little bit of frozen concentrate raspberry, a little bit of cinnamon and sugar.

You put it all in a big saucepan, and you boil it.

And for a special cider, how about brown sugar, cinnamon, and bit of Courvoisier liqueur?

It's served in a champagne glass, it's warm, and you add a little bit of a cinnamon stick to it, and you're definitely set for the holiday!

Origin of Our Canadian Thanksgiving

Ever wondered how Canada came to celebrate Thanksgiving?

Are we aping the Americans--the arrival of the Mayflower, the boat carrying the Pilgrims from the Old World of Europe, their survival in New England, the eating of corn and turkey, etc.?

Or was it in celebration of Martin Frobisher's landing in what's today's Iqaluit?

Or perhaps something else? Who knows?

Well, thankfully, the quest for origins is not entirely hopeless! Check out this document from November 8, 1859:

What do you find remarkable/surprising, if anything at all?

Free Museum & Arts Passes

Okay, folks, it's first come, first served! I have one pass to the Textile Museum and one to any of Scarborough's Historic Museums. What's the catch? They both expire at the end of this month.


So, if you're planning on a weekend visit to a local museum, do let me know by placing a Comment below. But hurry. Once they're taken, they're gone.

More more information on the Museum & Arts Pass, who's sponsoring it, how to get one for yourself, what other museums are participating, go to this Toronto Public Library page.

What a Loot!

Over twenty Microskills LINC participants from Level 3 through 7 attended today's National Job Fair at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.


Here's a group photo, all smiles, with loot bags loaded with brochures, flyers, and souvenirs--including notepads, pens, and other secret treasures!


Although not as big as I'd anticipated, the job fair couldn't have been all bad, judging by the smiles here.


Lots of forms to fill in ...


But at least you get to keep the pen and, hopefully, land a job down the road!

Mock Job Fair

Okay, yawl. Here are the pictures from this morning's exercise. Looks like you had fun! Take a look at the pictures and videos and then post your comments below. All suggestions, complaints, and even flattery are welcome!

September 22nd Field Trip to the National Job Fair & Training Expo

Our next field trip, for LINC levels 4 through 7, is to the National Job Fair & Training Expo on Tuesday, September 22. Check out the website for details on exhibitors, interview tips, and services. Please dress appropriately and make sure you have your resumes ready.

We will be leaving the Southbound Platform of Sheppard-Yonge Subway Station at 9:30 a.m. So those who would like to meet there are advised to get to the platform a little before. Some of your classmates may be leaving from Don Mills Subway Station at 9 a.m. If you'd like to leave from there, please talk to them to confirm. We will get off the subway at Union Station and either walk or take a streetcar to Metro Toronto Convention Centre.


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Entrance is $3.95, but Microskills will pay for it. Also, don't forget to bring lunch/snacks and to save your TTC transfers for reimbursement.

See you there, and best wishes on landing a job!

Fall '09 Wish List

Based on our class survey, following are the topics suggested for thematic coverage:

1. Telephone speaking/booking/interview
2. Weather and small talk
3. Job interviews
4. Workplace communication
   
5. Job-prep courses
6. Dealing with problems at the airport
   
7. Canadian culture
8. Children's and adult education
9. Cost of post-secondary education
   
10. Taxes
11. Travel
12. Casino
13. Shopping
14. Canadian history

Based on scores from six participants on the Oxford University Press Intermediate Grammar Diagnostic Test, the following grammar points seemed to require more focus:

1. Questions, negatives, and answers
2. Modal verbs
3. The infinitive and -ing form
4. Pronouns
5. Adjectives and adverbs
6. Verbs with prepositions and adverbs
7. Relative clauses

Hopefully, we can cover most of these points over the next few months!

The Marshmallow Test Revisited

Some months ago we looked at the famous Marshmallow Test in the 1960s and the follow-up on the kids involved 40 years on. If the child does not eat the marshmallow while sitting alone in a room, they will get a second one as a reward. Is it worth the wait?

Here's a couple of videos (reenactments?) I just found of some of the kids:





The kids who did not fall to temptation did better later in life, on average scoring 210 points more than those who did on the SAT. Does this mean self-control is a predictor of success?

This is one test you may like to try at home!

Surprise Getaway to Fenelon Falls

Thinking the Maritimes trip would be it for the summer, we were pleasantly surprised to get an invitation to a friend's cottage this week. Cottage ... another Canadian experience!


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This one was in Fenelon Falls, a little village about 1 hour 45 minutes from Toronto. The cottage fronts Lake Cameron, and for us its two main features are two kayaks and a bunch of bicycles.


It was wonderful checking out the lake at different times of the day, doing kayak capsize drills, and just chasing each other around. One morning I saw a little cove with little ducklings swimming amid the shallow rushes and lilly pads. All was quiet but for the quiet rustle of weeds scraping beneath the kayak hull and waves shushing the shore on the other side of the spit. In the evening, I went back, and there was a lone heron that eyed my kayak for a long time before raising itself off the water and flapping wearily off, squawking a curse as it banked into the open lake.


Tucking in some Cantonese chow mein at Sunming, one of Fenelon Falls' two Chinese restaurants. Yum. Then over to the Sobeys for groceries for dinner. All on bikes!


The bike trail, from cottage to town to way beyond--what used to be a railway line linking places like Haliburton and Lindsay.


Ducks swim by the cottage in the morning mist.


More tomfoolery.





Someone else's kid going off the swivel bridge: