looking for someone to correct my essays(3)
strictly on grammar and proper punctuation(comma splices,fragments,run on sentences,etc). no opinions please.
First story
__ The Perfect meal__
What people consider a perfect meal definitely varies from person to person. For example, some people like nutritional meals such as ginger tofu or maybe grilled pork, but what I believe would be the perfect meal isn’t exactly what you would call a nutritional choice but rather more of a mouthwatering, delectable choice. I’m speaking of the Southwestern Mexican American traditional cuisine known as Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas (With the side dishes of Spanish rice and refried pinto beans),and for dessert Pecan Cobbler. Each Entree in itself is essential in complementing the principle dish.
First off is the Spanish rice. What you will need for this side dish recipe is as follows: two tablespoons of oil, two tablespoons of chopped onion, one and a half cups of uncooked white rice, two cups of chicken broth, and one cup of chunky salsa. What you want to do once you have all your ingredients is heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over a medium heated stove. Stir in the onion and cook until tender. This usually takes about five minutes. Once you have done that you mix the rice into the skillet, stirring often as to not burn the dish. When the rice begins to darken to a brownish color, stir in the chicken broth and salsa. Reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so, or until the liquid had been absorbed into the rice.
Now that you have made your Spanish rice you can move onto your refried pinto beans. There are two methods to making the beans, but for this instance I’ll share the less time consuming method. For this method you will need a pressure cooker. Put the beans into a four-quart pressure cooker with a fifteen pound weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for thirty to thirty-five minutes or until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open. Allow the pressure cooker to cool all the way down before you open it, for safety reasons. Strain the beans from the cooking water; add the onions and lard, fat, or oil to a wide frying pan on a medium heated flame. Cook the onions until transparent; please note that the onions are completely optional.
Add the strained beans and about ¼ cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan while you are cooking them into a smooth texture. Add more water if needed to refrain from drying out the beans. Once you have done this you will then be one step closer to completing your meal.
Now for my personal favorite part, the dessert! For this dessert recipe you will need the following: three cups of flour, one cup of butter, one-half thru three quarters cup of cream, three cups of pecans, one teaspoon of cinnamon, one cup of sugar, half cup of water, one tablespoon of baking powder, and one teaspoon of salt. You will want to bring the water to a boil. Add the sugar and cook until soft. Remove it from the heat and beat in half a cup of butter, add one cup of flour, the cinnamon, and mix in the pecans. Spread this mixture into the bottom of a greased baking dish. Preheat the oven to four hundred degrees. Combine the remaining flour with the remaining butter. Mix until it is granular. Add the baking powder and salt with the cream and mix a little at a time until the mixture is just short of pourable, but be careful to not over mix. Spread the pecans across the mixture. When all mixtures are added, immediately place it in the oven. After about fifteen minutes reduce the heat about fifty degrees. Bake for approximately thirty more minutes or until the filling starts to look bubbly.
Last but not least is the principle dish, the ENCHILIDAS. For this you will need one and one quarter cup of flour, one cup of powder chili, half a cup of olive oil, five teaspoons of salt(optional),five cups of water, one tablespoon of garlic, and corn tortillas. Mix this combination of ingredients in a big pan. Every five minutes or so stir it as to not burn the chile. Cook the chile for about half an hour and pour it into a glass pan and make a casserole out of it, tortillas on the bottom top and middle and chile in-between. Put cheese on the top. Put it in the oven and let it cook for about an hour and a half. Now all that is left to do is eat and enjoy keep in mind that you would want to only eat small portions of each entrée due to excessive overeating issues.
Second story
AMERICA: MELTING POT OR, SALAD BOWL?
The question is a fundamental issue for the United States. Since its formation, the U.S.A has been referred to as a Melting Pot. Ever since my Father and I can remember, it’s always been. This came from what the founding fathers had made and was “coined” or nick-named as such.
I think people looking for an answer one way or the other would have to understand the basic meaning of the word melting, and see what has come from the process of the melting. It is stated in definition five of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as: melt, to lose outline or distinctness: Blend.
In understanding or interpreting this definition, you first have to consider how the definition, in the spirit of the founding fathers, should be viewed and applied. Also, you need to consider what it was, is, and will continue to be that is or should be blending. It’s people!
People have unique perceptions of reality. They also have unique attitudes as well as other issues. Please bear with me while I make my point on this piece of the whole. Anyone born in the U.S.A or anyone coming to the U.S. at some point has to concede that in fact they are here or coming here to be a part of. In a salad bowl, the idealism of it which states separate but equal is in direct contradiction of itself in the least.
I do not recall any populace of the world finding ideal living arrangements for both parties using this type of model. If you look to the African continent or to Europe, you find a close model to salad bowling. Look at the cost. A Salad bowl, ideally, can never work because it holds to separation of some level or type.
Take for example, red ants and black ants. By all appearances they seem to be “separate but equal.” now look at the interactions or the attempted blending of the two. What happens? Any kid who plays outside near ants can and will tell you what they do. They fight to the death! This type of analogy will brushed off by adverse positions, but its only function is to allow self- delusion.
The idea of the founding fathers and the definition of the word melting are prima facie and are of the same spirit or intent or inference. What comes from the blending is labeled American, with loyalty and integrity thereto. The definition and the spirit of the founding fathers support the inference.
In the world of today, I think most people believe in a melting pot but spout salad bowl rhetoric for multiple reasons. Some come here thinking ideally, they will get exposed to “American reality” and sour. Subsequently, they go with the next best thing. Others come with specific intent to subvert or cause others to subvert. Yet others, native to here, find a reason to subvert. Usually it’s an economic spin.
Most U.S. citizens, I believe, are for better or worse still idealistic and hold to the original idea set forth in 1776. Corporate America as well as all other corporate entities worldwide can be and should be seen as adverse to the melting pot. One small example is Cinco de Mayo! This is a Mexican holiday. This day is historically known as Mexico’s Independence Day from France. A foreign country’s holiday is celebrated in the southwest U.S. popularly since at least the 1980’s. This is due to mass cultural migration without assimilation. Exploited by the corporate structure to undermine, and subvert laws for profit. It might be the same with other cultural holidays. I haven’t checked. The bottom line is people with all the issues they have lack integrity and perseverance and contribute to the corruption and degradation of the American structures and ideals. Hence the difference between Melting Pot or Salad Bowl.
Third story
________________________What Are Pros and Cons of War?_____________________
War is something that is not wanted by any sane person in this world. Some people think that war is necessary. Other people think that war is a wasted effort and as such is considered a waste of lives. The pros and cons of war are difficult to comprehend. One pro of war is that it can strengthen an economy by providing jobs and contribute to the market.
Winning a war can prevent many unwanted outcomes. When we defeated Osama bin Laden we stopped what could have been a global catastrophe, quoting Sun Tzu’s The Art of War “says that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. If you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one lose one. If you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. That’s why I believe the United States killed Osama Bin Laden. We knew our enemy.
The con is that innocent lives will always be lost. Wars around the world are fought for a variety of reasons including politics, resource control, and or religious views as with Osama Bin Laden. People die and many are wounded, but one side will always win a conventional war. Even though the pros of war may not always be visible, there are a few reasons why war could be accepted in certain situations. I believe to defend against an alien invasion would be one reason. I believe to preserve our American rights would be another reason. The point I am trying to get at is it is easier to go to war than to use your logic, but after all other forms of communication have failed, in that aspect the only reasonable answer would be war but only because there is no alternative solution.
Another con of war is the emotional damage that war has on the victims. Children lose their moms and dads,and families are demolished as a permanent result of war. The lives of the people are permanently altered because of what could be a very poor reason or excuse to go to war.
The next Con of war is devastating and tragic. It affects the daily lives and activities of the people of the nations involved in the war. It affects the economy of each nation involved and it can cause long-term affects on the soldiers involved in the actual fighting. Not to mention the con of environmental damage, oil spills, chemical weapons, and nuclear radiation damage. Justification for inhumanity, promoting hatred and rationalizing unlimited cruelty, creation of new grudges against the opponent's people, also division from within debate and polarization about decision to be at war, a nation divided can fall.
The pros of war are economic stimulus, increased activity, manufacturing and business increases, especially weapons and ammunition and products to replace destroyed ones. Another pro of war is not having to be under unconscionable rule by oppressive rulers, plus being in the position and power to write the history books, pervasively push biased perspectives and have the upper hand on propaganda. The last pro of war is accelerated advancement of technologies. To get ahead of the opponent’s technology, think of the super-fast increases in aviation technology from virtual zero to jet planes in less than fifty years.
In conclusion it is my opinion that war is very bad, although sometimes going to war is necessary in order to help people. The reason why I am saying this is because if there wasn’t war in the past I would probably not be free to write this essay or express my personal opinions. My reasons for saying that war is very bad is because war can cause us to lose our freedom or our country and fighting a war could cause us to lose our friends, family, relatives and yes, maybe even our own life.
i appreciate you taking the time to help me out,thank you and god bless.:thumbsup:
