45 4. Process Essay Sample

Take a look at the following student essay, which describes a process. Note the different tools the writer uses (Specific details; definition of terms; reasons; don’ts; possible pitfalls. It might be a good idea to actually print a copy of the essay and highlight the different process techniques used to develop each paragraph and to identify which pattern of development is used. Do you think you could rewrite this using one of the other two patterns we discussed?

Acine De Pe Pe Fruit Salad

Acine De Pe Pe Fruit Salad, a unique fruit salad sure to get you hooked after the first bite. This recipe has been passed down to me from previous generations in my family. The kids always request that I make this to bring to holiday or family gatherings because they can’t get enough of it! Even though this salad does take two days to make, the amount of time spent each day is minimal and worth the time spent preparing it. You will want to start the salad the day before you will be serving it.

The first thing that you will need to do is to go the grocery store to purchase the ingredients that you will need. Since this recipe has to be done in precise steps, if you forget an ingredient you cannot just buy it later and add it in, therefore, be sure to bring your shopping list of all ingredients with you to the grocery store. The list of ingredients you will need is:

·         ½ box Acine De Pe Pe

Note: These are small macaroni ball looking pasta – similar consistency to tapioca. You can find the box in aisle with spaghetti and other pasta. I have found that not every store carries the Acine De Pe Pe pasta, so you may have to visit a couple of grocery stores before you find it.

·         20 oz. can of Crushed Pineapple

·         16 oz. can of Mandarin Oranges

·         1 lg. container of Cool Whip

·         16 oz. jar of Maraschino Cherries

·         ¾ cup of Sugar

·         2 Eggs

·         4 tsp. of Flour

Once you have all of these ingredients, it is time start to prepare the salad. You will need a  5 quart pasta pan to boil the Acine De Pe Pe noodles in; a medium saucepan to mix ingredients together and boil ingredients to create your  sauce mix; a large mixing bowl to mix ingredients together; a wooden spoon  to mix ingredients together; a strainer to drain the crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges into your                                                       saucepan and also to drain and cool your pasta in once cooked; a can opener to open the cans of crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges; a paring knife to chop the mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries;  tin foil or plastic wrap to cover the bowl before putting into the refrigerator to sit overnight; and, a cutting board to chop the mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries on. One you have gotten all the above out on your countertop, you are ready to prepare the salad.

On the first day of preparation you will start out by filling your 5 quart pasta pan ½ way with hot water, put on the stove and bring to a boil on medium heat. Once the water is boiling, add ½ a box of Acine De Pe Pe macaroni balls and stir. Boil on medium for approximately 11-13 minutes. Remove from stove, drain by pouring into strainer over the sink. Let sit and cool while you are preparing the other steps. These noodles are very tiny, so you may see quite a few fall through the holes in the strainer. To prevent this, I usually put two strainers together, one inside the other.

While your noodles are cooling, use the can opener to open and drain 1 (20 oz.) can of crushed pineapple and 1 (16 oz.) can of mandarin oranges. Drain the juice from both the pineapple and the mandarin orange cans into the medium size saucepan on the stove. I usually like to use two cans of mandarin oranges as I like extra fruit in my salad, this is a personal preference. You will then add 2 eggs, ¾ cups of sugar, and 4 tsp. of flour to the juice in the sauce pan. Stir all the ingredients together with your wooden spoon. Cook on medium heat until it starts to bubble a little bit. Stir every every couple of minutes or so until it starts to thicken. The consistency that you are looking for is not too watery, but not as thick as pudding. Once it gets to this consistency, set aside to cool. It is very important not to add too much flour. At first the mixture seems very watery and seems like it will never thicken up, but it will if you stick to the 4 tsp. of flour. If, for some reason, you find it is not thickening up, you can add one or two extra teaspoons of flour, a little at a time.

While the sauce is cooling, place your cutting board on the counter, place your mandarin oranges on it and cut each slice of orange in half with your paring knife and then pour into your large mixing bowl.

Pour your crushed pineapple into the mixing bowl along with the mandarin oranges and stir together with your wooden spoon. Once your Acine De Pe Pe macaroni noodles are cooled, pour them into the large mixing bowl along with the crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges and mix with your wooden spoon.

Once the sauce is in your medium sized saucepan is cooled, pour over the Acine De Pe Pe macaroni noodles, crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges in your large mixing bowl. Mix together with your wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with either tin foil or plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator overnight. Even though this does not look like a large portion in your bowl right now, the noodles will

expand in size overnight in the liquid.

The next morning, take the mixing bowl out of the refrigerator and place on the countertop. Take the Cool Whip and the jar of maraschino cherries out and place on the countertop. Drain the jar of maraschino cherries and take the stems off of them. You will need your cutting board and paring knife to cut the maraschino cherries each in half. Pour all of the maraschino cherries, except 8 halves into your mixture in the large mixing bowl and stir with your wooden spoon. Stir all of the Cool Whip, except ½ cup, into the mixture in the large mixing bowl. Mix well. You can adjust the amount of Cool Whip accordingly, depending on how sweet you prefer. I use according to the recipe (if not more) as I like it sweet.

You can now transfer your salad in to a fancy bowl that you are going to want to serve it in on your dinner table and flatten out the mixture with your wooden spoon. Clean off your wooden spoon so that you can place the remaining Cool Whip on the top of the salad and smooth out over the whole surface, just enough to coat the top of the salad. You will then add the remaining maraschino cherry halves creatively on top of the cool whip to make it look pretty. I usually place them in a circle with about ½ inch in between each of the maraschino cherry halves. Put the salad back in to the refrigerator until you are ready to eat it at your meal.

Congratulations, you have now created a masterpiece sure to please all that sit at your dinner table! There are varying opinions on whether this salad is a dessert or part of a meal, we will let you decide after your first bite!