Culture in Cuisine by LASA Ezine

Culture in Cuisine

Photo credits to creative commons

Table of Contents

Letters From The Editors

Exploring The Diverse Cuisine of Austin

Texas

Food Festivals For All!

Feeling A Little Hungry

Restaurants On Wheels

Food Trucks Around Austin

The Inside of Meal Kits

How To Make Xadrez Cake

Your Drink Your Choice

LASA’s Favorite Drink Sellers

Letters from the Editors Hello all my name is Noelia Rea! I am a freshman at lasa who loves to swim, watch netflix, and I love making others happy as well as helping others! Throughout this semester, I have really enjoyed working with my team and growing a bond with everyone. I can’t wait to keep going to LASA for the next 4 years!

Hi, my name is CeCelia Gay. I am the captain of the freshman volleyball team and the president of freshman student council. I love playing volleyball with my friends and watching TV at home. I am looking forward to playing club volleyball in the spring, learning how to drive, and spending more time with my friends. I hope you enjoy the book that me and the rest of my team created!

Hey guys my name is Juyeop Lee! I am a freshman at LASA and I play football. I love weightlifting, eating food, playing sports, and hanging out with my friends! I look forward to keep on working hard in my time here at LASA and to make lots of new friends! This has been a great experience for me to make friends with my groupmates and have a good time!

Hi, my name is Austin! I am a member of the LASA soccer team and besides for playing sports I love playing video game and am very busy studying. Throughout the semester I loved the bonds and the friendships I made with my teammates and im so glad to have been with them. I cant wait to keep on working with my team and wer really had a lot of fun making this magazine I hope you enjoy!

Hi my name is Beatriz, I am a freshman at LASA and I love rowing at the Austin rowing club. I love watching movies with my friends. I am really looking forward to trying out for the dance team next year. Thank you so much for picking up our magazine and I hope you enjoy it.

Hello reader! We are the team that brought you this magazine on food! There are articles on food festivals, different cultures of food, food trucks, and much much more! We would like to thank you for reading our magazine and hope you enjoy! Sincerely, Juyeop, Austin, Noelia, CeCelia, and Beatriz

Courtesy of Chilantro

Exploring the Diverse Cuisine of Austin What are the different cuisines we have here in Austin,Texas.

s you walk through Austin, you look around and see all the unique structures and people. You visit the Bob Bullock Museum and take a stroll through Zilker Park. After a long day of adventure you are starving, but you can’t decide between all the delicious options. Veracruz is a great option if you are craving some delicious Mexican food. Veracruz is run by two women, who also happen to be sisters.( Reyna and Maritza ). I talked to Reyna’s husband, Ryan and he told me that “as a girl Reyna always wanted to own her own restaurant. In Mexico Reyna always helped her mother in the kitchen, they even had a restaurant running in their kitchen”. Reyna started a food truck

Courtesy Reyna and Maritza Vasquez (owners and creators

By: Beatriz Pereira “The big challenge with a food truck, is very limited space and things are happening fast. Owning a restaurant is very fast paced you know?” -Rick Lopez

in 2008. A very important philosophy that Reyna wanted to emphasize is that they only use fresh and all natural ingredients in their restaurant. Ryan explained to me that the restaurant was named after Reyna’s birth country Veracruz, Mexico. Reyna came here when she was 16 years old with her mother. It was hard for her, since she did not speak the language.Veracruz is an all mexican cuisine resteraunt. It’s a new restaurant here in Austin, so a lot of

people have been talking about it. One of Veracruz’s most favored and sold out taco is the Migas Taco. It consists of egg, tortilla chips, tomato, onion, cilantro, monterey jack cheese, and avacodo. Veracruz is now spreading around America, they are already setting up a new restaurant in LA. If you are craving something more fresh and make-your-own type of food then you should go check out Chilantro. Chilantro is a Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant. Christina says that their food is inspired by Korean recipes. All of Cilantro’s proteins are marinated in Korean spices and then added with kimchi. In the Mexican cuisine part of the restaurant, they usually top their food off with roasted corn or guacamole. Chilantrowas founded by CEO Jay Ken in 2010.. Chilantro started just as a food truck selling off the street corner, but is

Migas tacos ( most favored taco ) Courtesy of Veracruz

now more successful with their own brick and mortar restaurant Christine tells me that “Jay wanted to make Korean food more accessible and less intimidating for anyone to just get.”

At Chilantro, a workers favorite food to cook are the quesadillas.”It’s like a large tortilla on the grill top with cheese, caramelized kimchi, onion, cilantro, and just whatever choice of protein you want, and then it’s just, you know, folded and Chilantro has had many different grilled served with magic sauce and types of food over the years but their salsa roja. And it’s something that original all time favorite are the a lot of people have been looking kimchi fries. The kimchi fry bowl forward to now that we have it as a limited time only special.” Christina says.

“The kimchi fries are deffinitly an all time favorite here at Chilantro” -Christine

is a delicious combination of ribeye bulgogi, spicy pork, spicy chicken, soy glazed chicken or marinated tofu, caramelized kimchi, cheddar + monterey jack, onions, cilantro, magic sauce, sesame seeds,and sriracha.

Chilantro kimchi fries Courtesy of chilantro

La Condesa is a Mexican restaurant. La Condeas believes in only fresh food from local farmers. As you can see on their website La Condesa is also a partner of “The Farm Project”. La Condesa

has been running for 13 years. It started with two of their owners. I interviewed Rick Lopez and he says that their “crispy pork carnita tacos is probably one of the most popular highest selling items here for the restaurant. ” The carnita Tacos consist of avocado, salsa cruda, and joe micro greens. There is a lot of different cuisine in Austin, Texas and a lot of different people. That’s what makes Austin special! All our differences make each and every one of us unique and special. Keep Austin Weird!

“I love working here because the people are so nice” -Rick Lopez

Courtesy of Chilantro

La Condesa Courtesy of La Condesa

La Condesa menu Courtesy of La Condesa

La Condesa article Courtesy of La Condesa

Texas Populations

Texas

29. Million

Texas became the 28th state of the union in 1845. Texas is the largest state in area other then Alaska.

Cultures in Texas Acording to Spectrum Local news Texas is one of the most diverse states in the nation

Austin La Madeline

Texas French Bread Tarka Veracruz

Chi’lantro

Mexican food is very popular here in Texas a lot of the locals enjoy heading down to the veracruz food truck during lunch hours at work to enjoy a taco and chill for a little bit with their coworkers

A great place to get Italian food is at Milano Cafe. If you are craving a pizza you should Sausage Pizza.

Although Portugese food is not popular here in America, it is delicious. Portugese food mainly focuses on fish cusine but I love there wild boarr dish.

Japanese food is very good, a delicious place to get japanese food is at the Nanami Sushi Bar And Grill. Something that is very delicious to order is there avacodo roll.

Food Festivals For All! What kind of food festivals do we have around Austin, Texas? By: Juyeop Lee

Photo Credits: Matt Paterson (Photographer for Dallas International Food Festival)

s you walk into the festival and take a deep breath, you breath in all of the delicious aromas around you. The sounds of all varieties of foods being cut up, fried, pan fried, seared, and cooked in all sorts of different ways that you couldn’t even imagine. Wurstfest could be a great place to start your food festival journey! Located straight in the heart of New Braunfels where you can experience German culture through their music, Fresh Wurst, and all sorts of other delicious foods! Going to food festivals to experience all about the culture and to learn about it through different aspects

like the food, music, history, etc is one of the most important things about going to a food festival. An example about cultural experience through food festivals would be Wurstfest! Mathew Halligan talked about how Wurstfest was something his father had dreamed about as a way for people to learn and experience German culture. “I remember as a kid he would tell me all about this crazy dream to make a food festival and to get people to be interesting in our culture but here I am now taking his place and organzing Wurstfest every year!” Texas Good Eats is a magazine that posts yearly about upcoming food festivals about Texas on a list that shows the most anticipated yearly festivals around Texas! Did you

know that Wurstfest and the Dallas whave been the top 3 on this list for the past 4 years? Thats a pretty impressive feat and something that can be backed up by their food and the experience of going to those festivals! The Official United States food festival association reported there was a 50% increase of food festivals around the United States the past 5 years! It has been a nationwide sensation sweeping across everywhere and states all over the country have their own state fairs, festivals and everything full of their most delicious and renowned foods! Its a great experience for everyone to experience different cultures, renowned foods, and learn about all sorts of foods!

Photo Credit: David Lauth (Official Wurstfest Photographer)

Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic most if not all food festivals had shut down in fear of spreading the virus and making this pandemic worse due to how contagious it was. Donovan says “Running a food festival was extremely difficult during the pandemic and not having that source of income for me and the rest of my family made things difficult for us.” It was such a disappointment to our friends, family, and community how we couldnt host an event that was valued within this city. Its a way for people to connect and try out all sorts of delicious foods from different cultures and to experience new things. With the Dallas international food festival there is such a wide variety of foods for everyone to try. Many people have stated that going to the festival was such a unique experience for them

as they got to try so many different foods and experience the beauty of so many different cultures. Jared Minter, a man who attended the food festival last year said “It was such a fun time for me and my family and it was the first time I had ever tried indonesian or indian food. I’d proudly like to say that I am a big fan of both those types of food and actually learned how to make it with my wife.”

“Its a great way to introduce yourself into all sorts of different foods and maybe even fall in love with them as I did.”-Michael Richard

With such a wide variety of foods and cultures there so many different ways to have a lifetime experience just by going to a food festvial. Social media has a had huge impact on food festivals as whats a better way to advertsie and get new people to come to your festival besides social media? Donovan Ritchell has stated himself “instagram and making our own website has been such a booster to sales and more people coming to our festival. Our sales team noticed a 37% increase in attendants after we created a website with our website about the Dallas International Food Festival.” Modern tech and social media has been a booster for buisness and advertisement for all sorts of food festivals and other buisnesses. It is a revolutionizing aspect of our society that people like Donovan use to its full extent.

Photo Credit to Donovan the Chef who made this and runs a stand in the Dallas International Food festival

Texas has had quite a past with very unique food festivals all throughout the state like Wurstfest, the dallas international food festival, and even the Austin Wine Festival. Shannon Richards is the manager of the Austin Wine Festival where people from all over the country and even internationall come to try out wine and hand out wine samplers around. It is quite a unique experience and is something that all people able to drink should try out.

Having your first experience at a food fesitval can be quite the experience but with great people like Mathew Halligan and Donovan Ritchell running these buisnesses, it can be a memory for your lifetime. For anyone who hasnt tried out a food festival please go as it should be an experience everyone should try at least once in their lifetime.

Photo Credit Juyeop Lee

Sweet dessert to sweeten up your life?

Ice cream lover?

Yes!

Deliciously baked, fried, or grilled food to fulﬁll your life?

“Der Suß Bakerei” is a delicious german bakery that freshly makes its cheesecakes everyday! With natural homegrown ingredients used to freshly bake their cheesecakes daily this is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth

Then you should try out this icecream sandwich from Dan’s ice cream parlor! They handmake their icecream and bake their cookies fresh every morning! A delicious sweet treat to cool off after a fun day at the wurstfest fair! Photo creds to creativecommons.com and Mathew Halligan (owner of Wurtfest)

OR If cheesecake isnt your vibe then try these delicious funnel cakes! Theyre crispy, warm, sweet, sugary, and delicious! What else could you want?

Yes!

Meat Enjoyer?

If so you should go to “Der Wurst Herr” in Wurstfest and try their charcoal grilled sausage on a stick! Its served perfectly seasoned and crisp with a fluffy fresh baked biscuit served under it! A delicious intro to german sausage! OR

Try these delicious turkey legs from “Sashas Fleisch Hause!” They serve freshly baked juicy succulent turkey legs. Full of delicious tender meat, its something nobody can even resist

These freshly fried potato panckes from “New Braunfels Rotary Club” are a delicious salty meal to fill yourself up on! Filled with potatoes, sausage, chives and other delicious seasonings

OR If those potatoe pancakes arent your thing then maybe these reuben quesadillas will be for you! With freshly made reuben and handmade tortillas topped off with fresh mozzarella cheese this will certainly please your taste buds!

Photo credit to Austin Peele of “The Picnic” Food Truck Park on Barton Springs Road

Restaurants on Wheels

Get an inside look at some of the weirdest restaurants around Austin.

ou’ve just arrived at your hotel in Austin, Texas. You go to grab some dinner, but all you can find around you are these restarants on wheels. You find them with tacos, burgers, thai food, and even vegan food. There’s such a variety in food trucks, you might think that people buy their groceries from them. Food trucks have been around in Austin since a boom of food trucks

By Austin Peele

in 2008, and they haven’t lost their popularity since. I wanted to find out what makes them so special to our city, so I went around Austin and asked food truck owners what makes them so unique to Austin.

are here around Austin. And there’s a lot of food truck parks, I think just the whole being of Austin is very accepting of random things, and you know, food trucks are one of those things. You see them everywhere.”

One of which is Tyler Bost, Manager and Pitmaster at Tinney Barbeque Food Truck. Tyler Bost has been working at Tinney Barbeque since their first food truck back in 2003, and now works at their food

I interviewed two other food truck owners and asked their views on food trucks in Austin. One was Joyce Ni, Owner of Plow Bao Food Truck, and Sara Segura, Owner of Revolution Vegan Kitchen Food Truck. They both own vegan food trucks, and they both started their

“There’s a pretty big community that follows food trucks, a lot of nationwide famous food trucks that are here around Austin.” -Tyler Bost, Manager of Tinney BBQ

“The Jalopy” Food Truck on San Antonio Street, photo courtesy of albedo20.

“I think that they’re(food trucks) important because they allow people to become entrepreneurs and follow their dreams.” -Sara Segura, Owner of RVK

truck that just recently opened on Mesa Drive in Northwest Austin. They had a bit of a slow start to their food truck, but after a couple weeks had many customers. There are never slow days for Tinney Barbeque anymore. Even during my 7 minute interview with Tyler, at least 5 customers came up, causing us to have to pause the interview. “Busy. It’s very, very busy. Very long days. I get here early in the morning and I stay late at night.” Tyler also had a great point about how food trucks are implemented into our city. “There’s a pretty big community that follows food trucks, a lot of nationwide famous food trucks that

first food trucks in Austin. They both decided to start food trucks instead of normal restaurants because of Austin’’s high property prices. Austin is known to have very high property prices, due to the constantly growing city. Both of them are vegan, giving them even less of a chance of growing a popular food truck. Food trucks by themselves usually don’t get much business, let alone a vegan food truck. Only 80 million people in the world are vegan, which seems like aot, but in retrospect, there are 7.75 billion people in the world. If we use that ratio, there are only about 8 out of 775 people that are vegan.

Sara says “So I think that they’re important because they allow people to become entrepreneurs and follow their dreams of owning say, like, a restaurant, right? Owning the food service, it’s so much cheaper than a restaurant.” “I know of people that have specifically moved to Austin to open a food truck because they know that this is like ‘Food Truck Capital’ of the United States.” -Sara Segura, Owner of RVK

This is one of the reasons why Austin has so many more food trucks than other cities. The cost of living in some cities might be high, but there isn’t enough space for food trucks. And in other cities, such as Houston, there are many lots of space, but it isn’t as easy to start a food truck in that city. “Because they’re so popular here, Austin as a city is more accommodating towards food trucks. I know that in other cities, they make it harder for food trucks to get permits” Joyce Claims. Food trucks are a very important part of Austin, helping people start their own businesses at a relatively cheap price. They can

bring in jobs for people around the city, help support families, and they can give meals to people who can’t afford more expensive food. “What people don’t know is that every city has different regulations for food trucks. Some cities make it impossible for you to have food truck in some cities. Just do not allow food trucks. So there’s no way you could ever open a food truck there.” -Sara Segura, Owner of RVK

An inside view of “The Picnic” Food Truck Park

All photo credits to Austin Peele.

“Tinney Barbeque” Food Truck on Mesa Drive

Food Trucks Around Austin By: Austin Peele

Here are some great food trucks to eat at around Austin! 1. Arbor Food Park, 1108 E 12th St

2. Tony’s Jamaican Food, 1200 E 11th St

3. The Happy Grilled Cheese, 1111 E 6th St

Arbor Food Park is the perfect spot to grab a quick lunch in down town. The food truck park has tacos, pizza, and many other options.

Tony’s Jamaican Food is a very unique food truck park. It offers a different kind of food from what you would usually see at a food truck.

The Happy Grilled Cheese offers a ery simple menu, with just a couple grilled chesses, sides, and desserts.

4. Las Trancas Taco Stand, 1210 E Cesar Chavez St

5. Palomino’s Food Truck, 1305 E Cesar Chavez St

6. Rainey Street Food Truck Lot, 82 Rainey St

Las Trancas Taco Stand has very flavorful tacos, for very little price. One taco is just $1.50!

Palomino’s Food Truck is a From crêpes, to wings, to family owned food truck with venezuelan, this food truck lot authentic food that tastes offers many different kinds of great. food.

7. 1776 Cheesesteak Co., 1516 Tinnin Ford Rd

8. Monster Bite Food Truck, 1502 S 1st St

9. The Picnic Food Truck Park, 1720, Barton Springs Rd

1776 Cheesesteak Co. has some of the best cheesesteaks in town, especially for a food truck

If you just want some classic American food, then Monster Bite is the perfect place to go.

The Picnic offers a wide variety of food trucks, and is perfect to eat after going for a swim at Barton

Photo taken by Jon Scotty and Heather Barnes showing a healthy meal made by Prep to Your Door.

The Inside of Meal Kits What goes into preparing meal kits so they can be delivered right to your door By: CeCelia Gay

ou see a person at your door holding a forest green bag with bold, white letters on them and a cracked door logo on it. They set the bag down and walk away. A few minutes later, you grab the bag from the front door, open it, and get ready to have a delicious, organic meal. Prep to Your Door is a local company that delivers plant-based vegan meals. They are located in Austin and Houston, Texas. Rather than delivering meal kits that people have to prepare, Prep to Your Door delivers meals that people can store easily and eat whenever they would like. Heather Emerson, the founder of Prep to Your Door, loves the decision-making part of her job. How-

“So it’s intuition, experience, and research. Those are the three ways that you make a decision… I guess the last way you make a decision is vision. So there’s… vision, intuition, experience and research.” -Heather Emerson

Emerson believes that having a quick mind, past knowledge, current facts, and a goal for the future is the key to making a good decision. You often don’t know right off the bat whether or not you have made the right decision, which can be hard for some people to deal with.

Photo credit to Domitille Parent of sample Hello Fresh box. ever, it took her a while to transition to that stage since Emerson had been in the task-completing stage for most of her life. She said that you usually know when you complete a task, but you don’t always know when you have made the right decision. When you complete a task, you usually have a set of steps to complete and you are done. When you make a decision, you have to gather all of the information you can and make the best move for the company and for your employees. “So it’s intuition, experience, and research. Those are the three ways that you make a decision… I guess the last way you make a decision is vision. So there’s… vision, intuition, experience and research,” Emerson said.

Faiez Rana, the co-founder and CEO, explained, “So in the early days, [running the company] meant doing everything from creating the website to cooking, packaging, delivering marketing, accounting and all of that. But now it is much more focused on [setting] and communicating the vision and strategy for the company.” While Emerson is more focused on decision making, Rana does more of the leadership and follow through aspects of the company. When

“everybody needs to eat. It’s a basic human need. But the way that most people eat in the U.S. now is really bad for their health and for the environment. And so we wanted to do it differently...” - Faiez Rana

Emerson makes a decision, Rana is responsible for carrying out that action and making sure everyone in the company knows what is happening. Rana has had to be flexible in what he has to do for the company over the years. When Prep to Your Door was just starting out, Rana had to do more basic work like cooking and packaging the food rather than CEO level work like coming up with goals for the company. Emerson worked at Whole Foods and used their standards to start her own food company by approaching “food at Prep your door… [in a] very simple [way]. It’s… simple ingredients that are super fresh because we’re sourcing from local farms because we want to support the community. But the customer wins too, because they get way fresher produce because it’s harvested within 48 hours of being made versus… [getting food from] the grocery store.”

When Emerson lived in New York and decided to create Prep to Your Door, she wanted to create a business that could benefit people that wanted to lose weight and people who were vegetarian and vegan. Emerson also really wanted to help the environment by limiting the amount of food people wasted by creating a business where people could get exactly how much food they needed and when they needed it so that it didn’t go bad. Many of these dishes come in regular sized jars with layers of different food so that you can mix them up to create one big dish. When Rana was asked why he wanted to create a culinary company, he said that “everybody needs to eat. It’s a basic human need. But the way that most people eat in the U.S. now is really bad for their health and for the environment. And so we wanted to do it differently… [by] serving our customers nutritious

“It was like going through a black tunnel, blindfolded, you know, because there was no precedent, right? There was no way to know if by telling our people to come to work if they’re in a pandemic, are we… putting their lives in danger? We don’t know,” - Heather Emerson and delicious meals that make them say wow with every bite.” Rana wanted to help the obesity problem in the US by creating an organic based food company where people could eat healthy, delicious meals. Rana and Emerson shared this idea of reducing the wasted food through Prep to Your Door. Another way they did this was by re-using the jars and bags that they delivered to customers. After the customer

Photo credit to SITS Girls

was finished with the meal in the jar, they would put it back and the Prep to Your Door bag and someone would come pick it up, wash it, and use it again reducing the amount of plastic and overall waste. This process became a bit harder due to COVID-19, but they still managed to make it work. “It was like going through a black tunnel, blindfolded, you know, because there was no precedent, right? There was no way to know if by telling our people to come to work if they’re in a pandemic, are we… putting their lives in danger? We don’t know,” said Emerson COVID-19 was an unexpected problem. Business didn’t know how to run because the world had never experienced something like this before. At the very beginning of the pandemic in 2020, people had no idea how deadly COVID-19 was and the long term effects of this disease. There was no treatment for it and no way to stop it. Food businesses like Prep to Your Door had to figure out ways to keep their business safe and running during the pandemic. Most businesses were taking every precaution they could, but they didn’t know if that was enough. “So on the week of lockdown, you

“So I do think a pro is that you can probably eat a lot healtheir, and a lot more balanced diet. ... [We also] don’t need giant meals,” -Carey Sweet

Photo taken by Jon Scotty and could see our sales… doubled in one Heather Barnes of what the inside of week because everybody was terrimeal kits look like. fied. But then as lockdown… extended, there were some people that stayed with us. And then there were others that thought to themselves, ‘well, now that I’m home so much more, maybe I should learn to cook now.’ And so that’s why it was… a balance. It was neither beneficial nor harmful,” said Rana. COVID-19 did different things for businesses. When COVID-19 first hit, a lot of people were scared to go out of their house to get groceries which caused a rise in customers for businesses that deliver meals. However, as COVID-19 progressed, people started to learn how to cook causing a decrease in customers for businesses like Prep to Your Door. Hello Fresh is a meal kit company like Prep to Your Door, that offers a wider variety of meals and delivers the ingredients that the customer needs to make the recipe. Hello Fresh also had a hard time staying in business during COVID, but gained some customers during that time. “So I do think a pro is that you

probably eat a lot healthier, and a lot more balanced diet. … [We also] don’t need giant meals,” said Carey Sweet, a Hello Fresh customer. Sweet thinks that meal kits offer healthier options and have the right portion sizes, so there isn’t a lot of wasted food. Sweet said that she liked using the meal kits because she didn’t have to figure out what she was going to make and didn’t have to spend time going to the grocery store and picking out ingredients. Meal delivery services are very beneficial to many people. Running these companies comes with great challenges from a health standpoint by making sure the food is safe to eat and not contaminated with bacteria or disease. These companies are in place to help people save time by giving them prepared meals that they can eat whenever they want. Emerson and Rana are working hard to reduce food waste and make more people have a healthier lifestyle.

HOW TO MAKE

XADREZ CAKE

This is a recipe of how to make Xadrez Cake, a traditional Portuguese cake. Xadrez means “chess” hence the chess like pattern on the inside of the cake. All recipes from foodnetwork.com. 3 CUPS- FLOUR 1 TBSP- BAKING POWDER 1/2 TSP- SALT 2 STICKS- UNSALTED BUTTER

1 1/4 CUPS- SUGAR 4 EGGS 1 TBSP- VANILLA 1 1/4 CUPS- WHOLE MILK

Directions:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 2) Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl 3) Beat butter and sugar in another bowl 4) Beat in eggs and vanilla 5) Combine in flour mixture and whole milk 6)Butter two 9-inch round pans 7)Evenly divide the batter into the pans

1. Make the vanilla cake recipe above. Then, set aside. 1 3/4 CUPS- FLOUR 2 CUPS- SUGAR 1 CUP- COCOA 2 TSP- BAKING SODA

1 TSP- BAKING POWDER 1 TSP- SALT 1 CUP- BUTTERMILK

1/2 CUP- OIL 2 EGGS 1 1/2 CUPS- WATER 1 TSP- VANILLA

Directions:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 2) Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt 3) In another bowl, mix buttermilk, oil, eggs, water, and vanilla 4)Combine the wet and dry ingredients 5)Butter two 9-inch round pans 6)Evenly divide the batter into the pans

2. Make the chocolate cake recipe above. Then, set aside. 30

3. Put the cakes in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until they become cooked.

4. Let the cakes cool and take

2 different sized circular cookie cutters and cut all 4 cakes evenly. Then re-arrange the cake pieces so that you don’t have the same color right next to each other.

5. Make chocolate buttercream frosting. Directions:

Ingredients:

COCOA POWDER- 3/4 CUP 1) Combine butter and cocoa with an electric mixer VANILLA EXTRACT- 1 1/2 TSP 2) Add vanilla and salt SALT- A PINCH 3) Add sugar and milk, alternating 1 cup at a time, CONFECTIONERS’ SUGAR- 4 CUPS while continuing to mix MILK- 6 TBSP 4) Mix until smooth UNSALTED BUTTER, METLED- 6 TBSP 5) Put on cake or refrigerate

7. Put the frosting on and enjoy! Store in the fridge.

6. Stack the cakes so the

colors are alternating. Put a thin layer of frosting in between each layer.

Photo courtesy of nick.amoscato

Your Drink Your Choice

A peek into Austin’s best places to get healthy, delicious, organic, tasty, sweet drinks. By: Noelia Rea

ou are waiting in line looking up at the menu posted on the wall just above the cashier. You wonder what drink you should get, a sweet drink, a refreshing drink, an energizing drink, or a healthy drink. It’s always your choice to try something new or to go with your original order. You’re intimidated by trying a new drink, but your stomach is telling you to try it.

JuiceLand is a juice company founded in 2011 by Matt Shook. Since 2011, JuiceLand has been a huge success selling smoothies, healthy

plant-based food options, shots for digesting, energy, and more. As you walk into JuiceLand, you get the sensation of being in a healthy, comfortable environment. Alex Himes, an employee at JuiceLand for four years, mentioned, “A big thing about JuiceLand is coming in and getting that homey kind of feeling. Very welcoming, warm, very fresh smell, definitely sets apart the rest of your day.” JuiceLand is a quiet and calming place to go to if one is stressed out, wants to work on homework, hang out with friends after school, etc. Many people were bummed out due to the pandemic restraining them from being able to physically be at JuiceLand, but Juice-

Land continues to strive and keep their spirits high. JuiceLand is very busy considering they are a worldwide business. Himes said their busiest days of the week are Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Sundays are busy due to the after-church crowd. Mornings tend to be slow since no one is fully awake. The busiest time of year differs depending on the location. Music festivals such as ACL cause a bigger fluctuation in customers. At JuiceLand, their best and least selling drinks depend primarily on the location. ‘The Wundershowzen,’

although basic, is one of JuiceLand’s best selling smoothies. “It’s bananas, peanut butter, spinach, protein, all the milk, nice and creamy, sweet drink,” Himes explains. The Recovery Punch is their best selling juice, Himes mentioned, “It’s like a healthy Gatorade whenever you break it down.” JuiceLand’s least selling drinks depend on the person and what they’re looking to try. A little more to know about Alex Himes is that his favorite JuiceLand drink to make is, “The Soul Boulder because it has a lot of supplements in it, so it requires a lot of movement and it keeps you familiar with everything as well.” Himes’ least favorite drinks to make are the “Rehydrator” and the “I Dream of Green.” Himes said, “It requires all these extra steps of running back and forth to each end of the room. It’s a time-consuming drink to make.” Despite the amount of time it takes to make the drinks, Himes says, “I think it’s a good overall place to work. The pay is good, the way they treat everyone is good, and it’s very tight knit, so you’re constantly seeing a few people stop by for whatever reason. Thankfully I’m working here.” Arynna Schommer, an employee at Jamba Juice for 3 months, also shares the same ideas as Himes. Jamba Juice was founded by Kevin Peters, Kirk Perron, Joe Vergara, and Linda Olds Jamba Juice is known for their signature smoothies and juices. The pandemic has changed businesses worldwide on how they operate. Schommer said, “Definitely wearing the masks, working in food

service made me realize, why are we not doing that anyway with food.”

Jamba Juice’s busiest days of the week are Thursdays and Saturdays because of catering orders. During this period, Schommer and her co-workers have to make 120 orders of smoothies! The busiest time of the year at Jamba Juice is the summer. After all, customers need a refreshing drink after a long hot day.

favorite drink to make is anything that contains peanut butter in it. Schommer stated, “I try to do them as fast as I can just to get the orders going. So when I have to take an extra couple seconds just to get the peanut butter out, it’s supposed to be done.” Schommer does not have a favorite drink to make, but she does enjoy making the weird drinks that have many substitutions. “The Apple N’ Greens” smoothie contains the most variety of fruits and vegetables in them. The most organic drinks are the juices because they contain a variety of different fruits and vegetables like fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh carrot juice. Working in the smoothie industry can be tough having to remember all sorts of recipes. It takes practice and time to memorize all the ingredients a smoothie contains. But once one gets the hang of it, it can be quite the pleasant experience!

Not only do Juice lands and Jamba Juices tasty drinks attract customers but their welcoming environments “Mango A Go Go” and “Watermelon as well. Francie Sarrat, a freshman at Breeze” are the best selling drinks LASA encourages people to try their and are constantly being made. drinks. Schommer says the least selling drinks at Jamba Juice are the “Pink Star” and “Citrus Squeeze”. Schommer recommends the “Aloha Pineapple” to new customers if they like greek yogurt, it’s her favorite. Schommer’s favorite part of work is making smoothies. Schommer said, “Making smoothies is really fun. I like making the bowls. Also I’m training to be a shift lead right now, so getting to make higher up decisions is really cool.” Her least

“The Wundershowzen had a different taste you wouldnt normally expect. The drink was so delicious”. -Beatrice Pereira

“The Clementine tasted like orange juice but with mango in it and it was really good.” - Leo De Los Santos

“I thought The Wundershowzen smoothie was very rich in flavor and protein.” -Juyeop Lee

Photo credit to Noelia Rea

LASA’s Favorite Drink Sellers LASA’s Favorite Drink Sellers By: Noelia Rea Starbucks is a big inﬂuence for many other yummy drink places in Austin, Texas. Sonic sells their delicious food but crazy drink combinations as well. JuiceLand is known for their fresh juices and smoothies as well as Jamba Juice for being organic. Mcdonalds is mostly known for their food although their drinks are simple yet still refreshing.

3.5%

33.3%

15.8%

43.9%

Starbucks JuiceLand

Sonic

Jamba Juice Mcdonalds

3.5%

Yummy Drink Quiz! Are you feeling tired?

Yes

Do you feel like having a anti-inflammitory drink?

Yes

Do you feel like having a healthy yummy drink that contains many different varieties of fruits and vegetables?

Try the “Rehydrator” at JuiceLand!

Yes

No Do you feel like having a delicious drink with protein and immunity in it?

Try the “Apple ‘N Greens” smoothie from Jamba Juice

Yes

Try the “Bam Bam” at JuiceLand

Do you feel like having a cold and caffeine containing drink?

Yes Try and Iced Latte from Starbucks!

Photo courtesy of plumandjello Photo courtesy of plumandjello

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Thank you so much for picking up and reading our magazine, we hope you enjoyed it. Have a good day! Liberal Arts and Science Academy