Hey there! This is TOP episode 123. Christmas Cocktails And Drinks. Vocabulary Booster
My name’s Ola and I am an online English teacher, I teach through one to one classes and I want you to know I believe you can eliminate your language blockade. It is 100% guaranteed. I’m not saying it’ll be given to you on a silver patter yet I know you can get there. I’ve overcome a massive blockade myself and I know how to do it. The secret word here is consistency. That is why I record this podcast’s episodes, and each comes with a little worksheet, a one-pager to help you digest and test what you’ve practised here. You can speak English with more confidence, slay that fear and enjoy new freedoms. Each episode helps you practice speaking, the practical part is always there, at the end of each episode. You’ll boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar, and improve your pronunciation. Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. <They’re free> Happy learning!
Welcome to another podcast episode! I’m thrilled you’re here! I’m glad you’ve managed to find some time for your development, for your English during this busy run-up to Christmas.
First I thought, you know food. Christmas equals food. But then I thought, drinks! So that was basically my thought process. Not that multifaceted, I know. But it’s time to chill, the end of the year, it’s time to sit back, help yourself to a delicious, warm Christmassy drink and do nothing.
Before we continue please let me ask you a favour. If you think this episode is valuable and worth sharing, please share. You can tag me on Instagram, I’m @teacherola.podcast. You can subscribe to my channel on YouTube, follow me on Spotify, or GooglePodcast. Finally, you can leave your rating in iTunes. I would really appreciate that! You can also grab a link and text it or share it with somebody who needs it! Think of that one person who complains about his or her English skills and let them know about TOP. Teacher Ola Podcast.
Don’t forget to download the worksheet. It’s waiting for you at teacherola.com/124. If you have little time and prefer to go all-in buy the Worksheet Set. I’ve prepared a set of the first 31 worksheets. The Worksheet Set (1) includes a Speaking English Planner, a great tool for monitoring your progress in speaking. Of course, I am planning to give you set 2, 3 and 4 and many more, maybe they’re already in my shop? Please check at teacherola.com
Now, today’s episode. It’s gonna be sticky sweet. Let me tell you what I did. I was looking for some recipes from Jami Oliver and came across his two festive drinks and I thought I would share them here. The first recipe is ‘The Best Hot Chocolate’ and the second ‘Jamie’s Mulled Wine’. We’ll start off by listing the ingredients and then I’ll read out the methods. I’ll also explain some vocabulary items and at the end, you’ll repeat some sentences out loud. Without further ado, let’s get down to the ingredients!
The Best Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
- 565 ml of full cream or semi-skimmed milk
- 2 tablespoons of good-quality drinking chocolate
- 1 handful of marshmallows
- sugar, optional, to taste
Before we move on to the method let’s stop for a while and explain the ingredients.
Full cream milk. Also called whole cream milk. It’s milk from which the cream has not been removed. It contains more than 3.5% of fat.
Semi-skimmed milk. That milk contains half the fat of whole milk; 1.7% of fat compared to the 3.5% in standardised whole milk.
Skimmed milk is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% fat.
Ok! We have the ingredients, and now how to make hot chocolate? It’s super simple. Listen.
This takes around 3 or 4 minutes to make. First, put the milk into a pan. Bring to a simmer – not a boil – and while it’s heating, put a tablespoon of choccie powder and sugar, if using, into each mug. Add a little warmish milk from the pan to each mug – you just need enough to dissolve the chocolate powder. At this point, plonk a few marshmallows into each mug. When the milk is at a simmer, carefully pour it into a plastic jug or flask. I normally do this over a sink as I always end up spilling a bit (the trick is to have a big enough jug or flask so the milk only half fills it – you need the extra space for shaking and frothing).
Screw the lid on tightly, place a cloth over the lid for safety, and shake hard for a minute. Remove the lid, minding the steam, and pour the milk into your mugs. A little stir, and you can slurp your way to heaven!
The second recipe. Jamie’s Mulled Wine.
Ingredients:
- 2 clementines
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 200 g caster sugar
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- 1 whole nutmeg, for grating
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 bottles Chianti or other Italian red wine
Clementines. Tangerines and clementines are two varieties of mandarins. They’re both prized for their sweet flavour and soft, easy to peel skins. Of the two, clementines are sweeter and easiest to peel.
Caster sugar. Granulated sugar will usually work just fine as a caster sugar alternative. The main difference between granulated (also known as white table sugar) and caster sugar is the size of the grain. It is not as fine as confectioners’ sugar, as it does have a little grit to it, and is not powdery.
Cloves. Cloves are a pungent warm spice with an intense flavor and aroma. Cloves are good for toothache. For centuries, cloves have been used as a pain relief technique.
Historically, treatments called for inserting the clove into an infected tooth or cavity. They contain an active ingredient that numbs the skin it touches, which may provide temporary relief from the toothache.
How to prepare Jamie’s mulled wine?
Peel large sections of peel from the clementines, lemon and lime using a speed-peeler.
Put the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the pieces of peel and squeeze in the clementine juice.
Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and about 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and add to the pan, then stir in just enough red wine to cover the sugar.
Let this simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the red wine, then bring to the boil. Keep on a rolling boil for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until you’ve got a beautiful thick syrup. The reason I’m doing this first is to create a wonderful flavour base by really getting the sugar and spices to infuse and blend well with the wine. It’s important to make a syrup base first because it needs to be quite hot, and if you do this with both bottles of wine in there you’ll burn off the alcohol.
When your syrup is ready, turn the heat down to low and add your star anise and the rest of the wine. Gently heat the wine and after around 5 minutes, when it’s warm and delicious, ladle it into heatproof glasses and serve.
That’s it. Doesn’t it all sound just delicious? Time to speak some English. Listen to the sentences you’ve already heard from me today and say them out loud.
It’s time to sit back, help yourself to a delicious, warm Christmassy drink and do nothing.
Add a little warmish milk from the pan to each mug.
Plonk a few marshmallows into each mug.
When the milk is at a simmer, carefully pour it into a plastic jug or flask.
Screw the lid on tightly, place a cloth over the lid for safety.
Remove the lid, minding the steam, and pour the milk into your mugs.
Peel large sections of peel from the clementines, lemon and lime using a speed-peeler.
Put the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
Let this simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the red wine, then bring to the boil.
When your syrup is ready, turn the heat down to low and add your star anise and the rest of the wine.
Ladle it into heatproof glasses and serve.
That’s all we have for today! Great job! Don’t forget to go to your inbox and grab the worksheet in order to test yourself. Complete gapped song lyrics. If you’re not a member of TOPeople download the worksheet at teacherola.com/124 and become one. It’s free.
If you find this episode useful, tell your friends about my podcast, share it with one person or share it somewhere on your social media. It’ll help me grow and spread the message.
Last, but certainly not least. Christmas wishes. I hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday season. I hope this season is full of peace, joy and happiness. Merry Christmas with lots of love. Thank you so much for being my dear listener.
Thank you so much for tuning in and I’ll see you next Wednesday! We’ll be talking about vocabulary. Till then, take care! Happy learning. Stay fearless and say it out loud! Bye!