“Turning The Page from Dependence to Independence”
by Ahmed Alfehaid
Everybody has changes in life. When
these changes happen, people must turn to
a new page in their
lives. For me the biggest change has been coming to USA. My name
is Ahmed. I’m from Saudi Arabia. I arrived to La Crosse, WI in
May 20, 2010. Before I came to the USA, I quit my government job
at city hall in Riyadh the capital city of Saudi Arabia, which I
had had for 2 years. This meant that I turned a page from work
to study. Right now, I’m studying English at the E.S.L.
Institute. After I
graduate from ESL, I will go to New Jersey to study my MBA.
In some ways, I’m not like the typical UWL students.
However, in other ways I’m just like every other freshman
student. Since I arrived here, I have had to turn the page from
being dependent on my family and friends to being independent,
relying only on myself. For example, I never did housework
before, so I had to learn how to do many common things for
myself. One thing that I have had to learn is cooking. Of
course, I eat the regular American food, but I have to eat our
traditional Saudi food sometimes.
Every country has a traditional meal. In my country we
have a famous dish. The dish’s name is Kabsa. It is
formed by rice and meat, and it doesn’t matter if it is chicken
or lamb. We eat this meal of the lunchtime or the dinnertime.
It’s not common to eat it for breakfast because it has a lot of
fat. Also, it is commonly eaten in parties and ceremonies. In
this article I’m going to explain how to cook the Kabsa dish.
First of all, I put the rice in a
container
or Jerrycan with water inside and leave it at least half an
hour. Second, I bring the mix to a boil, and I put in one a
tablespoon of oil. Third, I put in the onion, and it must be cut
by chopping. Fourth, I fry the onion with tomato sauce for two
minutes. Fifth, I put the meat into the boil, and I put in the
water to equal the quantity of the meat. Sixth, I put one
teaspoon of salt into the boil and cook for 20-25 minutes. After
I finish cooking the meat, I take it outside the boil, and I put
the meat in the oven to bake. When I’m baking the meat, I cook
the rice by the highest heat on the stove. Seventh, I should
make sure the water in the rice is evaporating. After the
evaporation, I push the key of the stove to “low heat” and leave
it for 5-7 munities. When the meat is roasted, I take the rice
outside of the boil. Finally, I put the rice and meat in same
plate to serving the guests
Generally, I’m happy to have come to the U.S to study
English. It’s the biggest page I have had to turn in my life.
I hope you dear students will consider “turning a page” with me,
and enjoy this recipe for cooking Kabsa.
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1-one cup from
Basmati rice
(tip: the best
place to find
this kind is
Woodman’s
grocery store,
La Crosse).
2-one teaspoon
of oil.
3- one piece of
onion. 4-tow or three tablespoons of tomato sauce.
5-chicken or
lamb.
6-one teaspoon
of salt.
Fry the chicken with onion and tomato sauce Put the chicken outside and boil
Evaporate the rice Let the rice cook for 5-7 minutes
The dish is ready to serve
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