Vessy’s Journey: Cooking, Learning, and the Joy of Everyday Discoveries
The Questions
Meet Vessy, a dedicated pediatrician and a busy mom of two, who is eager to improve her English skills despite her hectic schedule. In this interview, she shares her approach to learning, the challenges she faces, and the strategies that help her make progress every day.
What sources of English do you find useful in your daily life?
I’d like to read something entertaining, about a hobby of some kind. It should be short, interesting and focused on something everyday and accessible to everyone.
If it’s a video, it must have subtitles. If it’s audio, it should be just a few minutes long, and the speech should be clear and slow, so that you can understand. And I should keep listening to something like this every day. On my way to work, in the car, since time is never enough. Something car-friendly, so to say.
Share something that has helped you learn more easily.
In the past, I learned the most from my boss, and that was because she speaks clearly and melodiously; I would unconsciously memorize entire sentences. That’s how I still learn today – I remember the whole expression within the context of a situation.
What aspect of learning English do you find most challenging?
For me, the hardest part of the English language is pronunciation. As a pediatrician, I often participate in conferences and have to use medical English. While reading and preparing, I understand 80% of the text, but when I check the pronunciation, I find that it feels like a completely different word.
What would be helpful for you to make progress and build confidence?
I wish I could also hear the texts I use – read slowly and clearly. In small, manageable parts. And this way, I each time I get a sense of a mini-achievement. I’ve figured out something new, and so day by day, until at one point, it turns out that I’ve managed to understand 50-70% of a podcast or an interview.
From Vessy’s English notebook
We love her stories about her life experiences. She’s got quite a collection by now. For this post Vessy gladly agreed to let us post her thoughts around the subject of COOKING – something she’s been passionate about in the last few years.
Tell us about a business idea you like
A business idea for cooking courses
My hobby is cooking. Maybe in time I will organize cooking courses. For this purpose I would choose a nice house with a seaview. It will have a large kitchen with a central kitchen island. There will be 4 ovens and removable induction hobs.
A group will consist of 10 participants at the most. Each month will be dedicated to a different cuisine – Italian, French, Chinese, etc. I plan to invite a master chef as a co-pilot. Each course will take 5 days. A will also need to find a partner company to provide the cooking ingredients. I will make a video recording of the course. The participants will eat the food they have prepared on the terrace of the house. At the end they will receive a file with recipes as well as some video lessons.
Every 3 or 4 months I intend to travel to different countries to learn new culinary techniques. I feel it’s a great idea and lots of people will be interested.
Write an ad for something you want that is hard to find
The teacup
I’m interested in buying a teacup like this (see the picture). Do you happen to have one? Or do you know where I can find one?
Maybe you think it’s just an ordinary cup. It’s white with a purple flower and its capacity is 200 ml. I remember that in the 80-ies almost every household had such cups.
You’re probably wondering why I want it. It’s perfect for measuring some cooking ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, etc. I had one but it broke. Besides, it was a gift from my mother and had a special value for me.
I’ll pay a reasonable price for a cup like this in good condition. Send an e-mail with photos and I’ll tell you if this cup is ‘mine’.
Contact me at [email protected].
Homemade burgers
In recent years, healthy eating has become very trendy. Everyone wants to consume fruits and vegetables raw, steamed, or baked, with almost no fat, or if there is any, it should be olive oil; no meat at all, or if we do want it, it should be chicken, turkey, or fish; no milk or dairy products should be consumed, and so on.
All of this is great, but after all, we are human, and sometimes we feel like eating junk food, which is completely normal. This got me thinking about how to find balance in this situation. I decided that I could achieve it by making burgers, but at home. This way, I can use products I’ve personally bought from the store, and I can be sure of the quality of the meat and vegetables; I can prepare the sauces and toppings for the burger myself; and last but not least, I’ll have fun while making them, which might be the most important thing in this case.
So, the first thing when preparing homemade burgers is to make the buns.
For this, you’ll need flour, water, yeast, sugar, sunflower oil, and eggs. Knead the dough and let it rise, then shape it into balls of about 50g each. They need to rise again, then brush them with a mixture of egg yolk and fresh milk, and bake in the oven until they form a golden crust.
The smell is amazing!
While the buns are baking, you can prepare the meat. It’s best to use minced meat that is a mix of equal parts beef and pork.
Season with salt and black pepper. Shape the meat, and if you like, add hard cheese in the center, such as cheddar or blue cheese.
Then grill it on a hot steel-bottomed pan until a well-cooked crust forms. You can imagine the aroma filling the kitchen!
As a topping for the homemade burgers, you can make caramelized onions, which take a bit longer to cook, but they are uniquely delicious and a perfect finish to the dish.
For the more enthusiastic cooks, it’s recommended to make your own mayonnaise for the burgers as well.
When everything is ready, you just need to ‘assemble’ the burger. The layers are entirely up to you! You can garnish with fresh lettuce and tomatoes.
These homemade burgers are a delight for the senses and a reward for the soul.
Try it, and you’ll see for yourself!
