In the Kitchen

Eight words, straight from a busy, tasty kitchen.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 crumb noun
2. 2 platter noun
3. 3 sizzle verb
4. 4 stir verb
5. 5 tasty adjective
6. 6 crunchy adjective
7. 7 neatly adverb
8. 8 messily adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Crumb. A noun. I file it under the tiniest bit of bread or cake, the little piece that breaks off and lands on the plate. When you eat a cookie, the crumbs are the small bits left behind. One crumb is small, but I still keep a record of it. Sweep the table, and you gather the crumbs. State it precisely: a crumb is a tiny bit of bread or cake, and no more than that.

A single crumb of toast fell onto the clean floor.

Nelson's word

noun

Platter. A noun, and a useful one to file. A platter is a big serving plate, the wide dish you pile food onto for the whole table: a platter of cookies, a platter of bread, a platter of muffins. You do not carry out one small plate; you carry out a platter, heaped high for everyone to share. When the meal is ready, the platter goes to the center of the table and every hand reaches in. I keep a record of each one. A platter is a big serving plate, filed neat and clean.

Gramma set a whole platter of muffins on the table before lunch.

Vinny's word

verb

Sizzle! To hiss and pop in a hot pan, that is what this verb does! When the bacon hits the skillet, it sizzles, and you can hear it from across the room. That is the verb, and it is mine, loud and full of action! But watch close, because this word has a secret second hat. Say a sizzle, and now it is a noun, the sound itself: I heard a sizzle from the stove. Same word, two jobs. We sort those hats in Practice.

The bacon strips sizzle loudly in the hot pan.

Vinny's word

verb

Stir! To grab a spoon and mix, round and round, that is the job! When you stir the batter, you push the spoon in circles until everything blends together. That is the verb, and it is mine, an action you can feel in your arm! Stir the soup, stir the paint, stir the sugar into the tea. The moment you stop the spoon, the stirring stops. So keep it going, keep it mixing, and stir with heart!

I stir the soup so it does not stick to the pot.

Jake's word

adjective

Tasty. Oh, this one is a treat, and it is mine. As an adjective, tasty describes food that is full of good flavor, the kind you want another bite of right away. A tasty snack, a tasty lunch, a tasty bowl of soup. Its Frown is bland, food with no flavor at all. Could we be more specific than saying the dinner was good? We could say it was tasty, and let the reader almost taste it. Magnifique.

The warm soup was so tasty that she asked for more.

Jake's word

adjective

Crunchy. An adjective, and mine, describing food that is hard and noisy when you chew it. A crunchy carrot, a crunchy chip, a crunchy piece of toast: you can hear each one snap. Its Frown is soft, food that makes no sound at all. Could we be more specific than saying the cracker was good? We could say it was crunchy, and let the reader hear that crunch. Same snack, sharper picture.

The crunchy apple made a loud snap with every bite.

Benny's word

adverb

Neatly. An adverb, and it is mine, the way Nelson owns his nouns. Neatly tells you how a job gets done: in a tidy, careful way. When you set the table neatly, every fork lines up and every plate sits straight. Here is the good part, athlete: take the adjective neat, add -ly to the end, and you have neatly, which tells how. Neat becomes neatly, glad becomes gladly, brave becomes bravely. Make your work neat, then do it neatly, and I will be cheering from the sideline.

She stacks the clean plates neatly on the shelf.

Benny's word

adverb

Messily. An adverb, and mine, and the very opposite of neatly. Messily tells you how a job gets done: in an untidy way, with crumbs and drips left everywhere. When you eat messily, food lands on your shirt and the table both. It comes from the word messy, with an -ly clipped on to tell how. Now here is your coaching tip: knowing messily helps you spot when to slow down and do it neatly instead. You can always clean it up, and I know you can.

The puppy eats messily and drops food on the floor.