At midday everything is stopped for lunch. Most offices and small shops are closed for an hour and the city pavements are full of people on their way to cafes, coffee bars, restaurants. Factory workers usually eat in their canteens.
The English like what they call "good plain food". They must be able to recognize what they are eating. Usually they like steak, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and fish and chips.
Afternoon tea is taken at about 5 o'clock, but it can hardly be called a meal. It is a cup of tea and cake or biscuits. At the weekends afternoon tea is a special occasion. Friends and visitors are often invited to have a chat over a cup of tea.
Dinner is the most substantial meal of the day. It is usually eaten at 7 o'clock. The first course may be soup (though the English don't like it very much). The main course will often be fish or meat, perhaps the traditional roast beef of old England, and a lot of vegetables. The next course will be something sweet and often cooked, such as a fruit pie. Last of all there may be cheese, often with biscuits. It is common knowledge that the English are very fond of tea. They like to have "a nice cup of tea" 6 or 8 times a day, sometimes even more.
On Christmas Day a roast turkey is traditionally cooked for dinner. It is usually followed by Christmas pudding. Long before Christmas housewives begin to plan what cake to make for Christmas. Usually they make fantastic Christmas cakes.
As I spend a lot of time at school (usually six or seven hours) it's necessary to have a snack at midday just to keep me going. That's why I have to go to the school canteen to have lunch. Our school canteen leaves much to be desired. It has become a tradition with our canteen to serve chops and watery mashed potatoes every day with a glass of cocoa or stewed fruit.
But I enjoy my evening meal at home. My mother is a wonderful cook and her dinners are always delicious and various.
To begin with, we usually have some salad -- tomato and cucumber salad or mixed salad (I like it very much). For the first course we have some soup - noodle, mushroom or cabbage soup, or maybe some fish for a change. For the main course we have meat, chicken or fish dishes, for example, steak or fried fish with spaghetti or potatoes (boiled or fried). We also have a lot of vegetables - green peas, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers. I prefer meat to fish but my mother makes me eat fish from time to time. She says it's good for my brain.
For dessert we have some fruit, fruit juice or a cup of tea with a slice of cake.
On Sundays we sometimes go to McDonald's. I like everything there: cheeseburgers, hamburgers and Big Macs, cherry pies and fruit cocktails. But unfortunately we can't afford to go there very often, because it's rather expensive for a family and besides, they say it's not very healthy to eat at McDonald's.
So as you see, we have three meals a day and I think that if we eat less, it's much better and healthier for us.