Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is delicious and easy to make. It's a great alternative to apple pie. Here's a simple recipe:

6 apples, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
Mix the apples with sugar and cinnamon and put into a baking dish.
Mix the sugar, oats, flour and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Mash the butter into the mixture until it resembles crumbs.
Spread evenly over the apples in the dish.
Bake in the oven until golden brown for about 40 minutes.

The Mystery

Sarah Teasdale wrote The Mystery. Here is her poem:

The Mystery

Your eyes drink of me,
Love makes them shine,
Your eyes that lean
So close to mine.

We have long been lovers,
We know the range
Of each other's moods
And how they change;

But when we look
At each other so
Then we feel
How little we know;

The spirit eludes us,
Timid and free--
Can I ever know you
Or you know me?

The poem consists of four stanzas. Each stanza has four verses and the second and fourth verses of each stanza rhyme. The poem ends with a question: Can I ever know you or you know me?

The first stanza expresses the intimacy of the couple. This is revealed in their eyes that lean closely to one another. In the second stanza the reader learns that they have been together for a long time and know how their moods change. The third stanza explains that even though they know each other well, they feel they know little about each other. The fourth verse is connected to the title. Love can be a mystery. Even though the two have been together long, there is so much they don't know about one another.

Sarah Teasdale tells the reader that relationships are complex and develop over time. Regardless of how long couples have been together, they'll never know everything about one another. In this regard, relationships are like a mystery.

Victory in 18

In a game of chess my opponent resigned after 18 moves. He was apricotshandy of Australia. In this game I played white. Here are the moves of the game with my commentary:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 exd
4. Bc4 h6

I decide to develop rather than capture the pawn. Black's move fails to develop a piece.

5. 0-0 Bd7

Black should develop a piece on the kingside so that he can castle quickly.

6. e4 dxe

My aim is to open the centre of the board.

7. Nxe5 Be6
8. Bxe6 fxe6

The black king is exposed.

9. Qh5+ Ke7
10. Qf7+ Kd6
11. Bf4 Nc6
12. Ng6+ Kd5

I use a discovered check to win the black rook on h8.

13. Nxh8 Nf6
14. Ng6 Nh5
15. Bxc7 Qg5

I win a pawn.

16. Qf3+ Kc5
17. Nxf8 Nf6

I win a piece. Black wants to capture my knight.

18. Nxe6+

My knight check forks the king and queen, so black resigns.

I force an early resignation with my quick development and material advantage. Black makes a number of mistakes in the game. His most critical is probably Bd7. It fails to develop his kingside and keeps his king in the centre.

Frisian

Frisian is a Germanic language closely related to English. Most Frisian speakers are located in the northern Netherlands. The language also has speakers in Germany and Denmark. Here are the Frisian numbers from one to ten:

1) ien
2) twa
3) trije
4) fjouwer
5) fiif
6) seis
7) sân
8) acht
9) njoggen
10) tsien

With the exceptions of one, eight and nine, all the numbers start with the same letter as in English. They are also similar to the numbers in Dutch. The Dutch numbers from one to ten are een, twee, drie, vier, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen, tien. Frisian is thus also closely related to Dutch.

City Demonyms

Demonyms refer to the people of a place. English uses different suffixes for the residents of cities. Here are examples:

-ite Lisbonite, Vancouverite, Denverite, Seoulite, Tokyoite
-ian Parisian, Budapestian, Bangkokian, Madridian, Bostonian
-er Praguer, Berliner, Dubliner, New Yorker, Hamburger
-an Hanoian, Nairobian, Mumbaian, Chicagoan, Miamian

Here is a list of irregular city demonyms:

Warsaw-Varsovian Moscow-Muscovite Los Angeles-Los Angelino Liverpool-Liverpudlian
Manchester-Mancunian Florence-Fiorentine Venice-Venetian Naples-Neapolitan
Athens-Athenian Sydney-Sydneysider Glasgow-Glaswegian New Orleans-Orleanian
Cambridge-Cantabrigian Oxford-Oxonian Damascus-Damascene Aberdeen-Aberdonian
Oslo-Oslovian Cairo-Cairene New Castle-Novocastrian Halifax-Haligonian

English doesn't have a single suffix for city demonyms. However, the suffix -an occurs with cities that end with a vowel sound and -er, -ian and -ite with words that end with a consonant sound.  English also has a number of irregular city demonyms.

Baked Cod

Baked cod is both delicious and nutritious. For this recipe hake can be used instead of cod. Here is a Portuguese recipe:

1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons parsley
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 slices of cod or hake

Saute the onion, garlic and green pepper in olive oil over moderate heat for 5 to 6 minutes.
Add the bay leaves, parsley, tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Uncover and simmer about 25 minutes more until the sauce thickens.
Preheat the oven to 175 C.
Put the pieces of fish in a casserole and arrange in a single layer.
Pour the sauce evenly over all, cover and bake for 15 minutes.
Uncover and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, until the fish almost breaks at the touch of a fork.

This fish can be enjoyed with either a dry white or red wine.

The prefix -re in English

The prefix -re can be attached to many English words. It has the meaning of again to indicate repetition or back to indicate backward motion. This prefix often occurs in loanwords from Latin.

Here is a small list of words with the prefix -re:

reanalyze
rebuild
recount
redecorate
redo
reexamine
regenerate
remarry
reoccupy
replay
reread
resell
restart
retrace
retry
reunite
reuse
review
revisit
rewrite

The prefix -re occurs with read and write, but not with listen and speak. It occurs with marry but not with divorce, with start but not finish and also with sell but not with buy. The number of words that the prefix occurs with is restricted.

In most cases the meaning of the prefix is again. The verb redo means to do again. However, in return the prefix means back. We can thus analyze return as turn back.

Many English verbs can be prefixed with -re. In certain cases, only one word pair is possible. For example, we can attach this prefix to live (relive) but not to die. Though the prefix originally occurs in Latin loanwords, it also occurs in native English words such as build, read and sell.