Apple Pie

What makes the apple pie ring with the infamous French sound of, “in-ter-na-tio-nale?”

Apple Pie

Cited from Wikipedia…

…“as American as apple pie” is a common saying in the United States, meaning “typically American.” U.S. advertisers exploited the patriotic connection in the 1970’s with the TV jingle “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.” Wikipedia continues to pontificate on an array of apple pies from different countries including Apple Strudel, an Austrian pie-like dish made with dough, apple sugar, etc. Although, the basic American apple pie is a fruit pie or tart, in which the principal filling ingredient is cooking apples, (for example Granny Smith or Bramley). Pastry is generally used top-and-bottom, making a double-crust pie, the upper crust of which may be a pastry lattice woven of stripes, with the exceptions being deep dish apple pie with a tip crust only and an open face.”

Apple pie is a basic symbol of Americana, (and probably one of the “first foods” of the English language), with its roots being from Mother England or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This interesting fact makes me look at the apple pie as an early English sugary delight, a fundamental source of culture for the English language, and as a fun culinary icon for further topics.

On a musical note, this makes the apple pie ring with the infamous French sound of, “in-ter-na-tio-nale?” Moreover, can the apple pie make the list of modern foods of the world?

Well, did you ever hear of the American expression: baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet? This is a phrase that applies to authentic down-home southern USA cooking and a way of life that is the epitome of a post-generational era of 1970’s Americana. Some pies and cars have come and gone to “replace” this phrase over the years. For instance, Italy and the Italian pizza pie is the number one culinary choice in the United States and the Japanese currently have the best-selling automobile in the world. I really like all of the models of “green environmentally sound autos” with the “green” hybrid Toyota Prius leading the crowd with its leafy green efficiency. I guess you could say that the freshly refurbished version of this phrase would be the:

(Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s) World Cup, McDonalds, Gourmet Pizza /and Apple Pies of the World, Microsoft, Chevy Trucks and Toyota.

I’m thinking that you cannot take the “apple pie” out of the English culture just as you in all actuality cannot remove all of the vowels from the language. Apple pie is foundational and the sustenance for who we are as Partners in English, unfortunately there’s no space for my big and rich luxurious Cadillac. (Chevy stays in the jingle since it’s just “too plain apple” to remove).

In using as much international diplomacy as I can possibly dish-out, (and after having freely stepped into an ambassadorial role of Foreign Teaching while entering my third year of teaching abroad in Shanghai, China), I am proud to introduce our new “global jingle.”

[ 2007-08-09 14:04 ]

Zina and the Stereophonic Punx

However, I must break away from my normal routine to tell you about some interesting musical “characters” who I met on the subway this past Sunday on my way home from the Pudong District. They are a fledgling Czech band named Zina, (after the lead singer), who is currently playing at the Le Royal Meridien Hotel on Nanjing Road in downtown Shanghai.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1945

Alike the thousands of lovely Chinese citizens whom I’ve met this year in Shanghai, the two members of the Czech Republic group have come up to me without hesitancy in a warm platitude of international diplomacy. Zina saw my face and immediately began speaking English, outside of her current fluency of both Chinese and Czech languages. I was star-struck by the guitarist John, who invited me to the Meridien over the weekend for some quality show tunes and American jazz singing. The band Zina is seemingly multi-talented with a sound background that originated from the sonic basements of the UK almost twenty-five years ago. The sound is the in-your-face “rebel yell” type of music called punk that was a classic 1970’s uproar of pop culture’s voice in the UK. This sound highlighted musical stars such as Billy Idol and the Sex Pistols.

I will escort my friends, (USA, France and Shanghai), to join me in enjoying some fine international music. You can visit the Zina and the Stereophonic Punx website at: http://www.zinapunx.com

Chinese Students Study Abroad

I will miss three of my students who will be traveling abroad to further their international studies next month. All three of my students are native Shanghai residents who will study in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The duration of study will from four to six years in their combination of travels and I wish them the best. What a lovely global adventure that awaits them! Good luck to my fall 2008 study abroad students.

Cowboy Recipe #1

From time to time I will offer some great American home-style country cooking recipes that are quick and painless for all of my Shanghai residents. They require no oven use and the preparation is usually just a few ingredients. Here’s the first recipe:

Ni Hao! Ciao! Bye-bye!

Cowboy Kabobs

Source: Kraft Kitchens

18 wooden skewers (10 inch)

1/3 cup A.1. Original Steak Sauce

1/3 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

2 tsp. KRAFT Prepared Horseradish

1-1/2 lb. beef top round steak, cut into 1/2-inch strips

9 pearl onions

1 large red or green pepper, cut into 9 strips

SOAK skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix steak sauce, barbecue sauce and horseradish until well blended; set aside.

THREAD steak strips onto skewers; place an onion or pepper strip on the end of each skewer. Place kabobs in glass dish; coat with steak sauce mixture. Cover. Refrigerate 1 hour, turning occasionally.

PLACE kabobs on grill over medium coals. Grill 4 to 6 minutes or until steak is cooked through, turning occasionally.

Makes: 6, 3 kabobs each