taste test

I've always loved the word "taste test". Yes, I love food and tasting it for a living would be a dream job. I had a student from India whose job it was to fly all over India - which has the best food in the world - and write about the food. AND SHE LEFT IT FOR A GUY! AND although she was this awesome journalist and of a higher caste, his mother didn't approve because - I'm not kidding here - she wasn't a doctor. There is an Indian improv player in Chicago at IO who has a routine because his family wanted him to be a doctor and he chose comedy. Well, probably any parent would disapprove of his career choice, but he sings this great song about how everyone in his family is a doctor even his cat! I love that. Where was I? I hope my dear readers don't mind my digressions...TASTE TEST! The reason I love this word is that it is a great minimal pair for my students, all of whom confuse /E/ and /ae/. Men/man, bed/bath, pen/pan. And the my student taught me something new, of course, because I learn something new every day teaching ESL. She talked about that food shows and asked whether they say "to the taste". No. They say "to taste" like adding salt and pepper to taste. She countered that they sometimes say "let's put it to the taste". AHA! They say" to the test". I explained the difference, how to put something to the test results in a win or lose.

Speaking of taste, I made an amazing gooey butter cake, a St. Louis specialty that is divine. She had never heard of it. It's so puzzling and sad how many immigrants don't know much about local culture. She tried it and begged for the recipe. I will be kind and share it with you.
Mix a cake mix- any flavor but yellow is most popular. Red velvet kicks butt too-with a stick of melted butter and two eggs. Spread this pasty gooey stuff in a cake pan. Then mix a package of Philly cream cheese that is softened with three eggs and powdered sugar. I only use a cup. If you like, you can add something you love like vanilla, chocolate chips, cinnamon - almost rhymes with synonym - nuts, or brown sugar. Pour this on top of the cake mixture.
Bake at 350 F for thirty to forty minutes until top browns. You can put a knife in the side to test it. I doubled the recipe yesterday in one pan (my kid didn't read the entire recipe and put all five eggs in the cake mix) and it took like an hour to bake. It may have been underdone and the cheese mixture went to the bottom of the cake. It was sinfully delicious.