My Breakfast

It is not a secret that our meals influence much on our health and our mood. That’s why I consider breakfast to be the most important meal in the day as it is the first our meal and it can put us in good spirits or it can’t. Now I shall tell you about my breakfast. 
In the morning I usually have porridge. I often start my breakfast with a cereal which is not cooked, it is something dry, ready to be eaten or muesly – some grain or porridge which is not cooked with dried fruit, nuts and so on. 
I also like eggs (cooked in different ways). I don’t practically eat butter, I prefer soft margarine – made of vegetable fat, which is not heavy and creamy. I don’t eat jam at breakfast, I eat marmalade which is not sweet, there is slight bitterness; it’s rather pleasant. 
I usually don’t have substantial breakfast on weekdays, I do it on weekends when I get up late. Very often I have just tea or coffee with sandwiches. Tea is usually taken by me with milk. I like very strong tea without sugar. 
Sometimes when I am in hurry I don’t have time to have proper breakfast and I go to the university being hungry. In such case I usually buy something like «Snickers» or «Mars» on my way to the Alma Mater.

My Family's Meals

My family isn't large. It consists of four members. But each member of owe family has his own tastes and interests. For example, my brother is fond of sports. So early in the morning he goes jogging. That's why he has nothing to eat before it, because it would be bad for him to eat before exercises. 
But when he comes back, he has a shower and is more than ready for breakfast. He always needs a cup of coffee to really wake him up. His breakfast usually consists of a bowl of cereal with milk and sugar. This he follows by toasts and juice. My father eats the same as my brother. 
My mother has a lighter breakfast of just yoghurt and a grapefruit. As for me, a cup of tea is enough for breakfast. And my mother sometimes scolds me for it, because it's important to have a really goods breakfast. 
We don't have our main meal at lunch time. My father takes sandwiches with him to work. To be healthy, he also eats fruit. My mother is able to be more varied in her lunches, because she is a housewife. It means that she can prepare what she likes. Her favorite dish is roast meat. As she likes to bake, there is always something tasty at home. Our evening meal is usually eaten at 7 o'clock. The main course is often meat with vegetables. Sometimes we eat pizza or pasta with delicious sauce. We try to eat our main meal together. In our busy lives it is the one time of day when we sit down and have a good talk.

Table Manners

Good table manners avoid ugliness. All rules of table manners are made to avoid it. To let anyone see what you have in your mouth is offensive. So is to make a noise. To make a mess in the plate is disgusting. So there are some rules how to behave yourself at the table: 
Do not attract undue attention to yourself in public. When eating take as much as you want, but eat as much as you take. 
Never stretch over the table for something you want, ask your neighbour to pass it. 
Take a slice of bread from the bread-plate by hand, don't harpoon your bread with a fork. 
Never read while eating (at least in company). 
When a dish is placed before you do not eye it suspiciously as though it were the first time you had seen it, and do not give the impression that you are about to sniff it. 
Chicken requires special handling. First cut as much as you can, and when you can't use knife or fork any longer, use your fingers. 
The customary way to refuse a dish is by saying, "No, thank you" (or to accept, "Yes, please"). Don't say "I don't eat that stuff", don't make faces or noises to show that you don't like it. 
In between courses don't make bread-balls to while the time away and do not play with the silver. 
Do not leave spoon in your cup when drinking tea or coffee. 
Do not empty your glass too quickly — it will be promptly refilled. 
Don't put liquid into your mouth if it is already full. 
Don't eat off the knife. 
Vegetables, potatoes, macaroni are placed on your fork with the help of your knife. 
If your food is too hot don't blow on it as though you were trying to start a campfire on a damp night. 
Try to make as little noise as possible when eating. 
And, finally, don't forget to say "thank you" for every favor or kindness.

Meals In Britain (1)

Since the 1970's eating habits in Britain have undergone a change. People have been encouraged by doctors, health experts and government advertisements to eat less fat and more fiber. Fat is believed to be one of the major causes of obesity and heart disease. Forty per cent of adults in Britain are overweight and Britain has one of the highest death rates due to cardiovascular disease in the world. Britons have also become more aware of calories, the energy value of food. Some people count the number of calories they eat every day, so that they can try to take in fewer calories and lose weight. Food manufactures have started to help the general public to make more informed choices about what they eat. 
So the traditional British breakfast is bacon, eggs or sausages, preceded by fruit and followed by toasts. Britons may eat this breakfast at weekends or on special occasions but prefer a smaller and healthier meal to start a day. Lunch is a light meal and is eaten at school or work. Lunch takes 30—40 minutes. Dinner is usually the main meal of the day and consists of two courses. 
In recent years, foreign foods have become a regular part of the British diet. Indian and Chinese dishes are particularly popular for evening meals. Take-aways became extremely popular in the 1980's. The traditional British take-away is fish and chips eaten with salt and vinegar and served in an old newspaper. 
The British are famous for their love of sweet things and afternoon tea with sandwiches; scones, jam and several kinds of cake, was once a traditional custom. Most working people don't have tea as an afternoon "meal", but they do have a short break in the middle of the afternoon for a cup of tea. Tea is often also drink with lunch and dinner.

Meals In Britain (2)

Traditionally English people have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the morning. It used to be a large meal with cereal, eggs and bacon, sausages, tomatoes. But such a large breakfast takes a long time to prepare and is not very healthy. Nowadays, Britain's most popular breakfast consists of cereal, toast with marmalade, juice and yogurt with a cup of tea or coffee. Lunch is a light meal. Most people have no time to go back home for lunch so they eat at school, cafes, pubs or restaurants. The main meal is dinner, which is usually between 6 and 7 p.m. A typical evening meal is a meat dish with vegetables and dessert. The most important meal of the week is the Sunday dinner, which is usually eaten at 1 p.m. The traditional Sunday dish used to be roast beef, but nowadays pork, chicken or lamb are more common. On Sunday evenings people have supper or high tea. The famous British afternoon tea is becoming rare, except at weekends.

British Cuisine 
Some people criticize English food. They say it's unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it's chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables. The basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavor 
that British haven't had to invent sauces to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh pees or new potatoes just boiled and served with butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious? 
If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say "Fish and chips" then stop. It is disappointing, but true that, there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants, because the food doesn't lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found at home. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with a reasonable prices. 
In most cities in Britain you'll find Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. In London you'll also find Indonesian, Mexican, Greek... Cynics will say that this is because English have no "cuisine" themselves, but this is not quite the true. Tea is the Most Popular Drink in Britain 
Everyone knows that tea is the most popular drink in Britain. It's even more popular than coffee, which is favoured throughout Europe and America. The Dutch brought the first tea to Europe in 1610. But it was not until 1658 that the first advertisement for tea appeared in a London newspaper. At that time a pound of the cheapest tea cost about one-third of a skilled worker's weekly wages. Tea was guarded by the lady of the house and kept in special containers, often with a lock and carefully doled out by the teaspoon. By 1750 tea had become the principal drink of all the classes in Britain. Later, tea-drinking developed into a fashionable social ritual. Tea parties were popular at home and soon the ritual of "afternoon tea" was firmly established. Nowadays, throughout the homes, tea shops and hotels of Britain, the custom of tea-time continues. Tea in Britain is brewed in a teapot. Then the one spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot is added. Most people in Britain prefer a rich, strong cup of tea with milk, and sugar is sometimes added to taste.

Spirits In Ireland

The most popular spirits in Ireland are Guinness and Whiskey. Ireland has its own whiskey. The Irish learned to make whiskey from monks. They came to Ireland from the continent of Europe in the fifth and sixth centuries. They knew a lot about the way to make spirits. Irish whiskey is made differently from Scotch whisky. It is also usually spelled differently — Scotch whisky has no "e". Irish whiskey tastes lighter and smoother than Scotch whisky. Just now more people in the world drink Scotch whiskey. But some people like Scotch whisky and some like Irish whiskey. In the American Civil War someone said to President Lincoln that General Grant was drinking too much Irish whiskey. Lincoln knew that Grant was a good general, and he knew that Irish whiskey was a good drink. So Lincoln's answer was: "Find out the make of General Grant's whiskey. Then give it to the other generals". 
Another popular spirit is Guinness. It's a kind of beer. Guinness is made from barley, hops, yeast and water. Everything in it is quite natural; there are no chemicals. The Irish have made or "brewed" it in Dublin since 1759. The Guinness brewery in Dublin is bigger than any other brewery in Europe. Today there are also Guinness breweries in Britain, Nigeria, Malaysia. People drink more than seven million glasses of Guinness every day around the world. Irish coffee is another interesting drink. This is how to make it. First you put very hot coffee in a glass, with some sugar. Then you add whiskey. Then very carefully you add some cream, which stays on top of the whiskey and coffee. It is a very good way to drink whiskey! Traditional American Food 
Americans eat a lot. They have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of Americans don't eat home but prefer to go to restaurants. They can choose from many kind of restaurants. There is a great number of ethnic restaurants in the United States. Italian, Chinese and Mexican food is very popular. 
An American institution is the fast food restaurant, which is very convenient but not very healthy. 
However there are some principles of American cuisine (if we may call it so). Americans drink a lot of juices and soda, eat a lot of meat, fruits and vegetables, not much bread. In the morning Americans have cereal or scrambled eggs, milk or orange juice. 
Chicken or fish, fried potatoes, vegetable salads, and desert: this is the most common menu for lunch. Dinner is probably the most important meal of the day, some people have family dinner, when all members of family have to be there. For dinner Americans usually have meat, fried or baked potatoes with ketchup or sour cream, corn, peas, sometimes macaroni and cheese or spaghetti; ice-cream, fruit or cake may be for dessert. 
Turkey, ham and apple pie are traditional for Christmas and Thanksgiving Day dinners.

The Story Of "McDonald's" And "Coca-Cola"

In 1937 the McDonald brothers, Dick and Mark, opened little restaurant in California. They served hot dogs and milk shakes. In 1945 they have 20 waiters. All the teenagers in town ate hamburgers there. When the 1948 year came they got paper boxes and bags for the hamburgers. 
They put the price down from 30 to 15 cents. There were no more waiters — it was self-service. So it was cheaper and faster. 
In 1960s the McDonald's company opened hundreds of McDonald's restaurants all over the States. In 1971 they opened restaurants in Japan, Germany and Australia. Now the McDonald's company opens a new restaurant 
every 8 hours. There are more than 14,000 restaurants in over 70 countries. The Coca-Cola story began in Atlanta in 1886. John Pemberton invented a new drink. Two of the ingredients were the South American coca leaf and the African cola nut. Pemberton couldn't think of a good name for the drink. Finally, Dr. Pemberton's partner Frank Robinson suggested the name Coca-Cola. Thirty years later the famous Coca-Cola bottle design first appeared. For many years only Coca-Cola was made. They only introduced new drinks — Fanta, Sprite in the 1960s. The recipe of Coca-Cola is a secret. Today they sell Coca-Cola in 195countries. Hundreds of millions of people from Boston to Beijing drink it every day. It has the most famous trademark in the world.