There are four meals a day in an English home: breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is at about 8 o'clock in the morning, and consists ofporridge with milk and salt or sugar, eggs - boiled or fried, bread and butter withmarmalade or jam. Some people like to drink tea, but others prefer coffee. Instead ofporridge they may have fruit juice, or they may prefer biscuits.
The usual time for lunch is 1 o'clock. This meal starts with soup or fruit juice. Then followssome meat or poultry with potatoes - boiled or fried, carrots and beans. Then a puddingcomes. Instead of the pudding they may prefer cheese and biscuits. Last of all coffee -black or white. Englishmen often drink something at lunch. Water is usually on the table.Some prefer juice or lemonade.
Tea is the third meal of the day. It is between 4 or 5 o'clock, the so-called 5 o'clock tea. Onthe table there is tea, milk or cream, sugar, bread and butter, cakes and jam. Friends andvisitors are often present at tea.
Dinner is the fourth meal of the day. The usual time is about 7 o'clock, and all the membersof the family sit down together.
Dinner usually consists of soup, fish or meat with vegetables - potatoes, green beans,carrot and cabbage, sweet pudding, fruit salad, ice-cream or cheese and biscuits. Thenafter a talk they have black or white coffee.
This is the order of meals among English families, But the greater part of the people in thetowns, and nearly all country-people, have dinner in the middle of the day instead of lunch.They have tea a little later - between 5 and 6 o'clock, and then in the evening, before goingto bed, they have supper.
So the four meals of the day are either breakfast, dinner, tea, supper; or breakfast, lunch,tea, dinner.