After three series of learning Chinese (how to call family members in Chinese, how to name body parts in Chinese and how to name vegetables and fruits in Chinese), the forth lesson series starts today: Lesson 4-Animals.

The animals in this series include wild and domestic animals, sorted alphabetically by common name. Today, I am going to teach you to say alligator, ant, anteater and armadillo in Chinese.

Alligators are in the same family as crocodiles but are native to only two countries, which are USA and China. Although alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families.
The most obvious external differences are visible in the head—alligators and caimans have wider and shorter heads, and a more U-shaped than V-shaped snout.

The alligator’s upper jaw is wider than its lower jaw, and the teeth in the lower jaw fit into small depressions in the upper jaw. While the upper and lower jaws of the crocodiles are the same width, and teeth in the lower jaw fall along the edge or outside the upper jaw when the mouth is closed.

Alligators strongly prefer freshwater, while crocodiles can better tolerate seawater due to specialized glands for filtering out salt.Both species of alligator also tend to be darker in color than crocodiles—often nearly black.

Now, Let’s get started.

Watch PPT presentation for the complete lesson. Due to the size of the program, content in the frame below may display blank. Simply refresh the current webpage or press F5 on your keyboard for the refresh function. (Please enable your computer audio and increase the speaker volume. You can hear the words when they are spoken and follow the sound track):

Click here to see the whole screen PPT presentation.

Or you can view the presentation in an interactive mode: Chinese Learning for Babies (Lesson 4-Animals): How to say alligator, ant, anteater and armadillo in Chinese?

Related posts:
how to call family members in Chinese?
how to name body parts in Chinese?
how to name vegetables and fruits in Chinese?

Tags: chinese language for young children, Chinese learning for babies, How to say alligator in Chinese?, How to say ant in Chinese?, How to say anteater in Chinese?, How to say armadillo in Chinese?, learn chinese for free | Bilingual Baby, From Mommy, Third Year | mommy | August 19, 2010 7:29 pm | Comments (1)

Recipe 8: Creamy potato soup with roasted red pepper and leek (suitable for children of 6 months +)

Comments from mommy:
I found this recipe in Book of Soups by the Culinary Institute of America. The author’s note caught my attention: “this silky-smooth cream soup derives its thickness and most of its texture from potatoes rather than roux. The sweetness of the leeks and red peppers make a wonderful combination”. Sound so yummy! I was eager to give it a try.  

And…M loves it and DD loves it! That should be enough! The following recipe is based on the original one from Book of Soups.

2 large red peppers; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 leek, diced (white and light green parts); 15 medium-sized yellow potatoes, peeled and diced, about 8 cups; 8 cups of homd-made chicken broth or 3 cans of low-sodium chicken broth; 1 cup heavy cream or half and half, heated; salt and pepper as needed; 1/2 cup finely diced chives (optional).  Sachet with all ingredients enclosed in a coffee filtering pouch:  1 bay leaf; 4-5 parsley stems; 1 garlic clove; 1/2 t. dried thyme.

Nutrition facts:
Red bell peppers have significantly higher levels of nutrients than green. Red bell peppers contain lycopene, which is a carotene that helps to protect against cancer and heart disease. 

Red peppers also supply the phytonutrients lutein and zeaxanthin, which have been found to protect against macular degeneration, the main cause of blindness in the elderly. This explains why red bell peppers are normally more expensive than greens ones in the supermarket. 

	1. Preheat the broiler. Put the red peppers onto a cooking sheet and place the cooking sheet under the broiler. Check frequently and turn as the peppers roast until all sides turn black evenly.
	2. Put the peppers in a small bowl and cover it with aluminum foil. Let the peppers steam for 10 minutes.
	3. Meanwhile, dice the leek, set aside.
	4. Dice the potatoes, set aside.
	5. Remove the aluminum foil. Take peppers out of the bowl. Pull off the skin. Remove the seeds, ribs, and stems from the peppers. Chop the flesh coarsely.
	6. Melt the butter in a big soup pot over medium heat, stir in the roasted peppers and leeks. Make sure all sides are coated with butter. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook the leeks until tender and transparent, about 4-6 minutes.
	7. Enclose the sachet ingredients into a coffee filtering pouch.
	8. Gradually pour in approximately 8 cups of the broth; freeze any remaining broth for future use. Place the sachet into the soup.  Add the potatoes. Cover with cold broth, bring to simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are folk tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. During cooking, skim and discard any foam that rises to the surface.
	9. Remove the sachet and discard it. Use a hand held blender to puree all the solids.
	10. Add more chicken broth if necessary to help puree the solids.
	11. Heat the cream in another pot on the stove.
	12. Remove the soup pot off the heat; Stir in the hot cream.
	13. Spoon the soup into a heated bowl. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with a pinch of diced chives (optional). Serve right away.

Related posts:
Get Children eat vegetables: Cream of chicken soup with home-made chicken broth
Get children eat vegetables: Vietnamese noodle soup with fresh ginger and vegetables
Get children eat vegetables: Spinach casserole with bacon and fresh shiitake mushrooms
Get children eat vegetables: Almond chicken with green beans
Get children eat vegetables: Chicken pot pie with fresh vegetables
Get children eat vegetables: Green peas & rice mix
Get children eat vegetables: Carrot & sweet potato mix
How to get children eat vegetables?

Tags: Get Children eat vegetables: Creamy potato soup with roasted red pepper and leek, How to get children eat vegetables? | From Mommy, Get children eat vegetables, Third Year | mommy | August 11, 2010 7:20 pm | Comments (1)