ESL Podcast 241 - At the Bakery
to make up (one's) mind - to decide; to make a decision; to choose; to select
He can't make up his mind about going to the party. He wants to go, but he also needs to study for the test.
dessert - a sweet food eaten after lunch or dinner
I ate so much for dinner that I couldn't eat any of the dessert, even though the chocolate cake looked very good.
case - a large box with glass windows that stores use to show customers the things that are for sale
Could you please take those two watches out of the case so that I can look at them more closely?
cookie - a sweet, round, flat dessert made from flour, sugar, milk, and eggs, often with small pieces of fruit, nuts, or chocolate
Grandma makes delicious peanut butter cookies whenever we visit her.
brownie - a small square or rectangular piece of dessert that is like a heavy chocolate cake, made with flour, sugar, and a lot of butter, eggs, and chocolate
Kevin loves brownies, but he can't eat those. They have nuts in them and he's allergic to nuts of any kind.
cake - a large dessert made from flour, sugar, milk, and eggs, that is often decorated and is cut into pieces for eating
They spent more than $300 on their wedding cake, but it was very beautifully decorated.
muffin - a small, round sweet cake for one person, often with fruit or nuts, with a smaller bottom section and bigger top section
Aunt Winnie made us banana muffins for breakfast. They were delicious!
How many people does it serve? - How many people can eat from this dessert? How many portions (servings) does this have?
This cake is pretty, but small. How many people does it serve? I need enough for at least ten people at our dinner party.
layer - a horizontal, round piece of cake that is put on top of other pieces to make a tall cake
This is a two-layer cake, with strawberries and cream between the layers.
to slice - to cut a cake or bread to make pieces for each person to eat
Please slice only a small piece for me. I'm on a diet!
frosting - a sweet, thick, colored mixture of sugar, milk, butter, and coloring that is used to decorate a cake
She used green frosting to make her son's birthday cake look like a frog because frogs are his favorite animals.
sprinkles - small, crunchy, colored pieces of sugar that are used to decorate a cake or ice cream
Kimberly ordered an ice cream cone with lots of red sprinkles.
scones - a small, dry cake usually made with dry fruit, often eaten for breakfast with butter or jam
Every morning Jay buys a cup of coffee and a strawberry scone before he goes to work.
baker's dozen - 13 of something (a regular dozen is 12 of something)
I asked for four dozen cookies, but they were baker's dozens, so I actually got 52 cookies instead of 48!
biscotti - a very dry, long, sweet cookie, usually made with nuts and/or dried fruit, often eaten with coffee or tea
This biscotti is difficult to eat because it's very hard and dry, but if you dip it in coffee, it becomes soft and delicious.
if you don't mind - a polite expression meaning "if it doesn't bother (annoy) you" or "if it isn't too difficult"
When you go to the store this afternoon, please buy some orange juice for me, if you don't mind.
overload - too much of something
Many people say that the Internet has brought us "information overload," meaning that we have access to too much information.
sugar - sweet white or brown crystals that are used in cooking or put in hot drinks
How many teaspoons of sugar do you put in your coffee each morning?