Delicious Politics

Mother Of Hard Working Cooks

Why the King Cried by: Daniel K.

Eggs and Green Beef by: William P.

Eating Death

by: Geoff S.

by: Fidel C.

Culture, Debate, Recipes All About Food 1 WINTER EDITON ď‚– DELICIOUS POLITICS

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DELICIOUS POLITICS December 2009

DELICIOUS POLITICS...

all about food...

FEATURES 12 WHY THE KING CRIED

by Daniel K. 16 MOTHER OF Hard-Working Cooks

by Fidel C. 14 EGGS AND GREEN BEEF

by William P. 12 Eating Death

by Geoff S.

RECIPES 21 Song Pyun

by Daniel K. 20 Clasico Flan

by Fidel C. 26 Strawberry Cheesecake

by Fidel C. 9 French Toast And Hash Browns

by William P. 8 Deep Dish Brownies

by Geoff S.

OPINIONS 22 Racing For Great Food

by Fidel C. 8 Food For Thought

by William P. 20 Does The Cafeteria Lady Win?

by Geoff S. 6 Feed The World, Get More For Less

by Daniel K.

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The Crew...

Delicious Politics: the authors speak out...

I am William P. I am a freshman at LASA high school. I enjoy playing video games, watching TV, and cooking.

My favorite foods include macaroni and cheese, New York strip steak, and barbeque. I learned how to use in design and how to write journalistic pieces.

I don’t really want to ever do anything related to anything journalistic ever again but it was a learning experience. I learned a lot about using adobe programs and I enjoyed sharing recipes in my magazine. It was difficult for me to write journalistically but it was ultimately rewarding doing my interview was interesting and helped me work on a lot of important skills. I really hope you enjoy our magazine; we worked very hard on it.

DELICIOUS POLITICS  WINTER EDITON

Daniel K.

I am Daniel K. I was born in Incheon, South Korea in the middle April. I enjoy all kinds of foods; especially Korean dishes. I currently attend the Liberal Arts and Science Academy as a 14 year-old freshman.

In this class, EZine, we learned about how to write and design a magazine. I enjoyed the many challenges this course had to offer and learned a lot about effectively working with my group memebers. Although I do not plan to become a professional magazine designer or any job near that field, I still enjoyed my experience in this class.

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William P.

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I am Fidel C. I was born in Luvianos, Mexico. I moved to the United States when I was 8. I went to Cook Elementary for 3 years. Then I moved to Burnet Middle School. There I tried to improve my writing but I just couldn’t. So then I stayed there for my full middle school career. It was time to move on to high school and I decided to apply to LASA high school. Right now I am a freshman at LASA and so far I can say that this school is hard. E-zine helped me to improve my writing and my design skills.

I finally improved my writing skills! If you want to interview me I am available at LASA high school.

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Fidel C.

Geoff S.

My name is Geoff S. During this class, I learned that I cannot write anything interesting, and that sitting around doing nothing can be fun. In my free time, I enjoy reading, yelling at Will, or sleeping. I really hate creative writing, and hopefully SciTech next semester will actually be interesting. I sometimes find writing simple hard fact, but when I have to make up interesting ways to say things, I find it rather difficult. Some useful things I learned were how to use Photoshop somewhat properly, and to work better in a group, even if they all hate you, and how to do everything needed in this class very fast so you can put it off until later.

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Feed The World, Get More For Less

Feed the World, Get more for Less...

“the society simply cannot afford to leave 3 billion people to starve to death and barely feed the rest of the population.”

Y

ou walk into a grocery store and once again you have to decide whether to go organic or non-organic. The high prices of the organic foods makes you hesitate but the idea that organic foods are healthier for you is also convincing. You choose to buy the organic food, pay, and walk out of the store. What are the costs? As a consumer, I’ve always hesitated over this choice, but after observing for many years, it has come to my attention

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that many people think organic foods are better than nonorganic foods. But corporate farming has been a standard in the United States and many other countries around the world, reason being, organic farming simply cannot sustain and feed the growing population in today’s world. Although organic foods are supposedly better for the environment, the society simply cannot afford to leave 3 billion people to starve to death and barely feed the rest of the population. Corpo-

rate farming, undeniably, is needed for the sake of the human population and is indisputably a better route of agriculture than organic farming.

There are over 1.34 billion people living in China and over 1.17 billion people living in India according to GeoHive.

GeoHive predicts India would exceed a population of 1.8 billion people, China would exceed a population of 1.43 billion people, and the total world population would reach about 9,538,988,263 people by 2050.

With developing countries like China and India whose population grows everyday, the food supply needed to feed all 6.7 billion people in this world is becoming a more demanded issue. Although there are claims that organic farming can possibly support the growing population, so many people would be busy farming that the world wouldn’t have extra people to research and study further into subjects like science and technology which are crucial for the advancement in our society, thus slowing down the progression of our society. Also, people are arguing that corporate farming is hurting the soil, but we must do what we have to do to feed the people all around the world. According to ThinkQuest, every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger.

This is because not enough food is being supplied even with the corporate farming we have today. Without corporate farming, our world will be forced to live off the little supply of food that organic farming has to offer. Corporate farming is a crucial factor for development and further advancements in out society.

Even with the recession going on with our economy today, some people are only buying organic foods and simply ignoring the fact that organic foods typically cost a whole lot more than non-organic foods.

People are buying organic foods even if they are more expensive than non-organic foods mainly because they feel organic foods are healthier for them. But is paying those extra few dollars worth it? A recent study done by a scien-

tist in Danish shows the difference between organic foods and non-organic foods, nutrition wise, is so minute that the overall impact would not have much effect in one’s health.

This shows people can enjoy more for a lesser price without losing the health benefits of eating organic foods. Corporate farming also provides food for people who cannot afford the high prices that are associated with organic foods

solanine is a poison naturally found in potatoes for protection against insects, diseases, and predators that could be harmful to the human if consumed even in small quantities, and can be lethal to a human being if too much is consumed. Also the manure fertilizers used in organic farming, Klurfeld fears, might have the risk of contaminating the food with Escherichia coli which can cause serious food poisoning

so more people can be fed.

Many people believe organic food is safer and cleaner than non-organic food produced through corporate farming simply because of the synthetic pesticides used in conventional agriculture. Although the Environmental Protection Agency said that the manmade pesticide residues found in foods produced from corporate farming can be harmful, Carl Winter Davis, director of the FoodSafe program and a food toxicologist at the University of California, and many other experts argue that natural pesticides used in organic farming could be just as harmful to the consumer as the synthetic pesticides used in corporate farming. For example,

in humans. These studies being done are slowly beginning to contradict the idea, “organic foods are healthier for you.”

At the end, it all comes down to a decision between if you want to pay a few extra dollars and get organic foods, or simply get more, pay less, and feed the world’s population with corporate farming.

The answer is clear. Corporate farming is a technological advancement from organic farming that was meant to help the society and many people are just not willing to accept this idea. If everyone in the world supported organic farming, then the population would not be sustained and the society would be in a constant fight against starvation. █ WINTER EDITON  DELICIOUS POLITICS

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Food For Thought

Food

for Thought

n

ow, I never, ever thought I would say this but I think the hippies are right this time, no not about the government, or LSD. I have come to believe too that organic food is a better alternative to processed food. I have thought this for many years but as chef not an environmentalist; I have always thought that people should buy organic food because it tastes better not because it is better for our planet and us. Now all you corporate farming fans, don’t loose me hear, this won’t just be rambling, “I love the planet article.” This will be about “Over 15 some facts percent that even urprised of the sme.

I really world’s think that non-iced we should land is at buy more organic least food, for the partially good of the eroded...” planet, and we need to stop letting the corporate world bullying us into believing the opposite.

Corporate farming has three effects, soil erosion, extending their own power, and degrading personal health.

Over 15 percent of the world’s non-

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iced land is at least partially eroded, that’s almost 11 million kilometers squared (1). This erosion can be somewhat attributed to wind and

ing half the world would starve, if we keep destroying soil like we are, then everyone is going to starve.

These chemicals can also

water erosion, but an alarming amount can be attributed to dangerous farming techniques and the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. These dangerous chemicals can degrade soil, and as much as corporate fanboys would like to tell you that without corporate farm-

increase your chance for Leukemia, and other forms of cancer, as well as Neurotoxicity, Gangrene and Birth Defects (2). Another even scarier thing about this is that many of these dangerous pesticides are perfectly legal, but of course of course our wonderful government made

sure they were safe with there to say the least corporately influenced “safety test” without taking into account the fact that many pesticides will become more dangerous as they degrade over time(2). In fact according to Dr. J. Irwin, over 3700 chemicals can be legally concealed in pesticides (2b). If you are not convinced by the facts alone consider the basic logic, these chemicals are used to kill fungi, insects or weeds, basically deadly chemicals, just from a purely logical stance you must conclude that putting chemicals designed to kill other living organisms can only be damaging to our bodies. On the subject of personal health although many leading health organizations say that there is not nutritional difference between organic food and non-organic food, we must consider the health of the soil will influence the nutritional value.

Corporate farming itself is a major problem because it oppresses the average farmer, in the poorest parts of the world. Massive verti-

cally integrated corporations can control the market prices. These massive farming corporations also promote social inequality and government oppression. I think that

if we buy atleast some organic food we can ease up on the Market prices(reducing corporate control, and help the people doing backbreaking labor for pennies on the dollar gain a little social equality

I believe that we need to buy more organic food and we need to do it now, we cant wait for half the worlds tillable soil to be eroded for cyanide to start showing up in our in our salads, or our apples to stop being nutritious, or one farming corporation to monopolize half of the third world, we need to act now and act fast. And it’s not hard to do, just buy some organic food, spend the extra dollar, and cook for yourself. And who know you might even like it better than the chemical filled, nutrient deprived, processed food you eat now.█

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DeepBrownies Dish

Desserts

1 ½ cups butter 3 cups sugar 1 Tbsp. vanilla 6 eggs 1 ½ cups unsifted flour 1 cup Hershey’s cocoa 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt

1. Blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla in mixing bowl.

2. Add eggs; beat well with spoon.

3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in separate bowl; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended.

4. Spread in greased 13x9x2 pan.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool and cut.

Variation: Add 1cup peanut butter chips or semisweet chocolate chips.

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French Toast and Hash Browns 5 Secrets to great Pancakes 1. You should make the batter with fresh ingrediants, and for higher quality pancakes use buttermilk.(not just a plain substitution, this requires a new recipie).

2. You should stir the batter so that is still has some lumps in it, these will disapeer after they are cooked. This will make the pancakes fluffy and delicous, 3. You should also make sure the oil in the pan is hot. You can do this by sprinkling water onto the oil, if it crackles, the oil is ready for the batter.

4. For the best pancakes you should serve them with a touch of pure maple syrup, this is potent so only use a touch of it for your whole pankcake.

2 large brown eggs 1 dash of salt

½ tablespoon of butter 1½ tablespoon of vegetable oil small saucepans Spatula ½ cup pepper jack

Rasberries(optional) 1 dash of pepper 1 potato 3 slices of Bread Small bowl deli cheese Custard(optional)

1.

Wash, and then skin the potato. Then grate it into small pieces.

Now put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan and wait until it is hot.

Then add the shredded potato and let it form together.

2. Cook it until it becomes golden brown on one side, and then flip it. After this add the cheese and fold it then after about 30 seconds break it up into smaller pieces.

3. Now let it cook for about 15 more seconds, then remove it from the pan.

4. Now whisk the 2 eggs in a small bowl add the cinnamon, salt and pepper and continue to whisk.

5. Now add the butter and ½ tablespoon of vegetable oil to the other saucepan.

6. Then completely soak each piece of bread in the egg mixture (so it is saturated not just coated) and add them on high heat to the saucepan. Flip them quickly but make sure each side is golden brown. Then remove the bread and Serve it with the hash browns.

5. When you see the face up side start to buble, you should wait about 30-45 seconds and then flip it.

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Why The King Cried

T

Why the King Cried

“

”

This is why the chef served this dish to the King, to restore his hope that the Joseon Dynasty will rise once again...

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By Daniel Kim

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he sharp knife cuts smoothly through the fresh beef. The boiling liquid begins to bubble over on the fire. Fresh vegetables and meat are added, piece-by-piece. Then come the spices. The result: a masterpiece that brings enjoyment to the dinner table. This happens every few weeks in Soomi Lee’s house.

Soomi Lee faces a challenging task: keeping Korean culture alive in the lives of her children.

“I hope my children will be able to grow up and be influence d by their Korean culture. I try everyday to remind them culture is something to be proud of,” she explains.

She does this through the art of food, introducing and sharing her talent in cooking Korean dishes like Yuk-Gae-Jang.

Yuk-Gae-Jang is a spicy beef and vegetable soup. It contains lots of protein and is widely served in South Korea. Soomi Lee serves her Yuk-Gae-Jang with rice and many different side dishes.

“They always tell me [my Yuk-Gae-Jang] is full of flavor and complements on it.

Some girl once called me the ‘Yuk-Gae-Jang Lady,” she said.

Soomi Lee moved to Santa Cruz, California in 2000 from South Korea with her family. She spent all her childhood and twenties in South Korea so she has a strong Korean cultural background, which she loves to share.

Soomi is a part time cosmetologist at Great Clips and a full time mom of two. Her days are packed. She wakes up at five twenty a.m. on a daily basis and starts the list of tasks she needs to do that day. Her schedule typically consists of working at Great Clips, providing rides, fixing breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and everything else that comes with

being a mom of two teenagers.

Even with her busy schedule, Soomi Lee works to preserve the Korean culture for her children because she has a strong belief that culture should be a very important part of anyone’s life. She argues one’s background should be proudly expressed and sympathizes with people

who have lost their culture.

Because she and her family moved to the United States when her children were young, (her daughter, at age 7, and her son, at age 4) her biggest concern was that they might lose their Korean culture and background as they shifted into living in the United States.

In order to help keep the Korean culture alive in her children, Soomi Lee cooks Korean dishes for them everyday. She believes food is a strong part of culture and helps express traditions.

She explains the reason why Yuk-Gae-Jang is one of her favorite dishes to share is because it is a very significant part of the Korean history.

Soomi says, “not only do I feel confident of my YukGae-Jang, but also the dish has a very strong cultural meaning… which I love to share.”

Before the Republic of Korea, there existed the Joseon Dynasty. As the last meal before the Japanese occupied the Joseon Dynasty, the King’s

stored away for years and still be good to eat. Kosari, Soomi explains, symbolizes a source of hope and strength in times of trouble. This is why the chef served this dish to the King, to restore his hope that the Joseon Dynasty will rise once again.

She tells this story every time she serves Yuk-Gae-Jang to remind her guests and family about the meaning behind this dish and the cultural significance the dish holds.

“Yuk-Gae-Jang always gives me strength when I am feeling down. I think this is why I love it so much!”

Soomi says with a chuckle.

“People tell me it’s refreshing and they enjoy it very much. I love it when they tell me that.”

Soomi tries to make sure everyone who she serves Korean dishes to is touched by the cultural meanings and significances.

Soomi Lee plans to continue on sharing the Korean culture through her cook-

“Some girl once called me the

Yuk-Gae-Jang Lady... People tell me it’s refreshing and they enjoy it very much. I love it when they tell me that.” chef made Yuk-Gae-Jang and served it to the King. The King wept while he ate this dish.

This was because the king knew the special meaning of this dish. Yuk-Gae-Jang is made with a special ingredient called kosari, which is widely available in South Korea because it can be

ing. Her passion in culture and love for cooking has made her the caring person she is today.

She says with a warm smile, “if I were given an opportunity to serve Yuk-GaeJang to everybody in the world, I would gladly accept.” █

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Eggs and Green

On a hot summer afternoon Mary Phillips sat in the Whistle Stop Café in Stringtown, a small Oklahoma town midway between Macalister and Oklahoma City. When her partner Donna Thomas ordered roast beef, it came. “It was green….

I had a revelation, I had thought about it before… I didn’t want to contribute to harming animals.”

So what drove her to become a vegan and why should you even think about it? How will it affect the earth? Do you think veganism is rare? Well think again.

Various Poll put vegans at about .3 to 1.3 percent of the U.S. population and about .24 to 2.25 of the British population. Veganism is on the rise all over the world,

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whether to protest animal cruelty, become healthier, or to help the earth; many people are flying the vegan flag. There are certainly cons to eating a vegan diet. B12 defi-

“I had a revalation” ciency and a lack of protein can cause serious malnutrition and the diet can even be deadly if not done right. But the pros are apparent as well, both ethically and physically.

Veganism can be extremely dangerous if done wrong but healthy if done right.

“I researched what I could eat in-

Beef

stead of Animal Products and I took supplements.”

Without animal products we loose many essential vitamins, like D, B12, calcium, iodine, and omega three fatty acids. Lack of these can cause anemia, rickets, and even neurodegenerative disease. Lack of vitamin D can be avoided by drinking fortified soymilk and iodine can be found in kelp. However, B, B12, and omega three fatty acids must be supplemented.

“I took supplements, I felt like a ate very well.”

One of the perks to being vegan is you know exactly what you are putting into your body, and that what your putting into your body is

healthy and nutritious.

“I felt a lot better, but not as good as I thought I would.”

She felt that many of the positive aspects of being vegan were exaggerated.

“My cholesterol didn’t go down as much as I thought it would.”

Local venues like Mr. Natural, and national chains like Whole Foods carry a large variety of vegan foods, supplements, and substi“ I only changed my diet, I never tried to buy vegan clothes or shoes”. Others take it to a new level though; some vegan websites even preach that your pets should be vegan.

Veganism is a commitment though keeping to a strict vegan diet can be painstaking, and true vegan dishes can be hard if not impossible to find in your average restaurant. For some like Mary Phillips being vegan was just too difficult to manage. “I just started craving eggs”. And for even more the strict vegan mantra seems on the extreme side “ I never could grasp the concept that free range animals

“I just started craving eggs” tutes for common animal products.

But finding vegan foods at restaurants can be difficult. “ It was hard trying to convince people at restaurants to make my food vegan”.

Many embrace vegansism as not only a diet but also a way of life. Some vegans buy specific products, particularly those that are made without harming animals in any way. Some people even buy their dogs vegan foods. Other more casual vegans like Mary have never bought into the full lifestyle

were cruelly treated”.

Veganism has certain clear health benefits, buts it is still not clear whether these are truly substantial Ronald Roth argues that people are generally healthier when they consume a mixed diet of meat and vegetables. But there is also clearly a lower rate of medical problems in vegans and vegetarians. “Veganism is credited with lowering the risk of colon cancer, heart disease, High blood pressure, Stroke, and Colon cancer”. But all health benefits aside, Mary Phillips said, “ It made me fell better but not as good as I thought it was”. I don’t know if it is worth it to become vegan, Mary Phillips doesn’t, but many people do. █

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Eating Death

Artificial sweeteners, colors, and preservatives are in just about everything.

Patti Shannon’s family was forced to do all of their food work themselves. If a person were trying to get rid of all artificial ingredients in their life, most of their staple food would be gone, unless they prepared absolutely everything themselves. Non-organic meat contains preservatives, and various acids to improve the taste. Bread and rolls contain potassium bromate, which is used to improve the volume of the bread. Some dairy products also include sweeteners, gelatin, and high fructose or normal corn syrup. (or both) All candies contain sweeteners, colors, acids, flavoring, and just about anything else. Most candies are even entirely artificial, with not even a tiny bit of natural ingredients.

“Certainly; the most common

Eating Death T

hey were telling me my daughter was dead. It was 4:20” a girl known only as Emily had died of anaphylactic shock. The sandwich she had just eaten contained trace amounts of peanut, which she was extremely allergic to. A similar story happened to William Phillips, who repeatedly threw up for a week, because he had an allergy to shellfish, and had eaten shrimp. “I went to a Thai restaurant, and my parents got a soup that had shrimp in it….I felt fine, then I threw up in the car.”

Food allergies cause many problems, including hives, swelling, nausea, behavioral problems, and death. Many of these allergies come from artificial ingredients, and since more and more food is being made with artificial ingredients, the problem only grows. Allergies to tree nuts, lactose, artificial sweeteners and colors, and salicylates can all cause reactions, and anaphylactic shock in extreme cases.

“We were forced to make almost everything we ate from scratch.

Making lunches is a huge challenge, because most of the “convenience” foods that kids like to bring in their lunches contain one or more of the ingredients that we remove. I also make our laundry detergent.”

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is peanut allergies” peanut allergies can occur whenever a person has a hypersensitivity to anything containing peanuts, consuming even a very small amount, or in extremely sensitive people, being around peanut dust, or a place that manufactures peanuts, or even touching something that held peanuts. Any of these can cause severe physical symptoms, even swelling, nausea, or hives in the most basic of reactions.

“Salicylates are chemicals similar to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) that occur naturally in many fruits and some other foods” some few people are allergic to salicylate, but preventing the reaction is more of a hassle than they actually are, unless they are abnormally severe. Having to eliminate berries, including pineapple, oranges, peaches, apples, grapes, and strawberries, which all have very high to medium levels of salicylate.

As fruits are a large part of any diet, getting the required vitamins and nutrients that come from fruit without actually eating the fruit could be a

hassle. Some vegetables have medium to low levels of salicylate, such as tomatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots, and broccoli.

Behavioral allergies, if you have them, are a major part of your life, and can affect anything else.

Having to live with behavioral

grades but few friends.” Mrs. Shannon’s daughter had bad behavioral reactions to certain foods. People tended to stay away from someone they found to be “weird” and thus she didn’t make many friends.

Food allergies are a big problem in many people’s lives. Having to live with allergies, or around someone with them can be a challenge. Allergic reactions can be very extreme, in Emily’s case, or just mild nausea. Artificial ingredients are a major cause. Most people, who might not even know it, have a reaction to artificial food, which remains a large problem because of the amount of artificial ingredients that are being used in food today. Almost all the ways to deal with allergies are time consuming and/or costly. It is also a challenge to find information on what to do if you have allergies.

Most people might think it was just a problem with one specific think, like that particular peanut, because food allergies aren’t very well-known, and behavioral allergies even less. █

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17

Mother Of Hard-Working Cooks

Mother of

Cooks HARD-WORKING

“Rosa, can you please take the carrot basket to the stand?” demanded Maria Rodriguez.

Rosa’s mother, Maria Rodriguez,Rosa’s sisters, [Reyna G, Valeria G, and Agustina G] Rosa’s brothers, [Felix G, Roman G, and Emilio G] and Rosa owned a stand in the arena of Luvianos, Mexico. They would wake up at 5 in the morning to prepare the vegetable stand everyday. At 9:00 a.m, Maria would stay to tend to the costumers and the 7 kids would go to school. After school the kids would run to the stand to help their mom.” ___________________________

“

By Fidel C.

There was lots of work the whole day ”Rosa stated. ”The few moments when a customer wasn’t around, we would straighten up the vegetables so that they would look cute.”Around 7 p.m. the family had to take down the stand and walk a mile, carrying the stand with them.

At age 15, Rosa married Fidel Campuzano, age 20. The couple went to live with Fidel’s family; they made her do homemade tortillas every day for all three meals. She had

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to make sure that there was a meal set on the table for every three meals.

“I had to wake up at 6 in the morning, cook 10 pounds of homemade tortillas and the food. After the food was ready I would put it in bags, my sister in law helped me take it to the farm.”

Rosa said. “We had to walk 30 to 40 minutes carrying the bags that had plates, silverware, and of course, the food.”

After the “peones”, which are workers, finished eating, Rosa and Aurora, Rosa’s sister in law, walked back home

to the town. When they got home, they just followed the same routine all over again. But the second time that they got home,Rosa had to clean the house, wash the dishes, hand wash clothes, and iron the clothes. Rosa got tired of walking distances to feed the peones, so Fidel and Rosa decided to construct a house in the farm. This would save Rosa time and it would be less work for her.

Now living privately in their own house, the family decided to have kids. They got the news that they

s

were waiting for a girl. 9 moths passed quickly and Rubi was born. 2 years after there was another daughter born.

They called her Maria Del Rocio. But Fidel and Rosa were not satisfied with 2 girls, they were waiting for the 1st boy.

Once again they did not have luck, Eva, a girl, was born. In the next pregnancy, the family was lucky. Finally, the first boy was born, they decided to call this human being Fidel Jr. Fidel was not satisfied with only 1 boy, he wanted another one. But Rosa had another 3 girls, Maria Guadalupe, Monserrat, and Jennifer. Monserrat was born with breathing problems and she died.

In the year 1999, the family noticed that they were not earning enough money so they decided to come to the Unites States. “I wanted my kids to have a better education so that they didn’t

have to be vacuuming offices like their parents”Rosa said. In the United States the family had to live with Rosa’s Family.

“There was about 14 people living in our house.”Rosa Stated.

The persons living in the house were: Felix, with his wife, Celia, and his daughter Melissa, Maria, Reyna, Valeria, and Emilio. The people in there were packed like sardines.

Rosa and her kids in one bedroom. Valeria, Maria, and Reyna shared another bedroom. Felix, his wife, and Melissa shared another bedroom. The house only had 1 bathroom. at the time

someone was taking a shower in the bathroom, others were yelling at the person inside. The United States brought luck to the family because they finally got the boy that they were waiting for. They Named him Daniel. fter 5 years of living like sardines, the family decide to rent an apartment. This time it was only Rosa, Fidel, and her 7 kids living in a 2 bedroom apartment. Chano and Nacho, Rosa’s Cousins, Asked them if they could reside with the family in the apartment. They felt too crowded in this apartment. So they decided to go

A

“I considered my job fun so I didn’t whine about cleaning” Says Rosa.

--------------------to a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment.

Rosa worked as a maid in Diana’s cleaning. But this job did not save her from having to cook at home. Whenever she came home, the house was dirty. So she had to clean everything including, wash dishes, sweep, mop, and cook.

“I considered my job fun so I didn’t whine about cleaning” Rosa said. “When you do your job with love, then everything is easy and fun. But when you don’t love your job everything is hard and boring.”

After living 2 years in the 3 bedroom apartment, Chano and Nacho decided to leave. Fidel and Rosa found out that they would save more money without them. They started lookRosa Gonzalez cooks paning for a house cakes. She does this every to buy. They Sunday to feed her family. closed the deal of that house on December 27th, 2007. Maria Del Rocio, Eva, and Rubi got married shortly afterwards. So now they only had Fidel Jr, Maria Guadalupe, Jennifer, and Daniel.

Photo By Fidel C.

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19

Eating Death With not as many people in the house, Rosa does not have to cook as much. Sometimes she gets home from work and she just sits and relaxes. But there is some days that when Rosa gets home, she finds the house made a mess.

“The days that I come home tired from work and find the house made a mess, I just rest for about 30 minutes and then keep working.”

This is the way that Rosa balances job work and home work.

“My Favorite meal is the beef soup with lots of vegetables”Rosa said.

This is Rosa’s favorite meal because it is easy to cook and it does not have much fat. It has beef, potatoes, carrots, cilantro, corn, squash, jalapeno peppers, and any other vegetable that you would like to add. █

What’s Cooking?

___________________________________

Clasico Flan

Ingredients -----------------------------------------------------•1 cup granulated sugar •1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk •6 Eggs •1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk •1 tablespoon of extracted Vainilla(optional)

Instructions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo By Fidel C.

PREHEAT oven to 325° F. HEAT sugar in small, heavy-duty saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 5 to 7 minutes or until dissolved and caramel-colored. Quickly pour onto bottom of 9-inch deep pie dish; swirl around bottom and side to coat.

PLACE sweetened condensed milk, eggs, evaporated milk, and extracted vainilla in a container. Mix for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. Pour into prepared dish. Place dish in large roasting pan; fill roasting pan with water to about 1-inch depth.

BAKE for 55 to 65 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove flan from water.

Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

TO SERVE, run small spatula around edge of pan. Invert serving plate over dish. Turn over; shake gently to release. Slice and ENJOY! Look for another Delicious Recipe on page 26 20

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SONG PYUN

-3 cups of rice flour -water -washed pine needles -sesame seed oil (optional) -3/2 cups of roasted sesame seeds -8 Tbs of sugar -salt -wet cloth

Choosuck

The Korean Thanksgiving...

1. Add water into rice flour to make a soft dough and cover the dough with wet cloth.

2. Mix roasted sesame seeds, sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl and mix thoroughly.

3. Make a little ball with the rice dough, and use your thumb and press the ball to make a little bowl.

4. Put the sesame seed filling into the dip and close the ends of the dough to completely cover the filling.

5. Prepare and steamer and place the wet clothe in it. Then place the song pyun in, evenly spread out and put pine needles over it. Finally, cover the steamer with another wet cloth and steam the Song Pyuns for 30 to 40 minutes.

6. When the Song Pyuns are completely done, run them under cold water and let them cool. Brush them with sesame seed oil (optional).

7. Enjoy! You have made Song Pyun!

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Geoff S.

Does the Cafeteria Lady Win? Cafeteria food has been debated over for a long time now. Is it really that much of a problem? Could it be blamed for low performance?

The children carried the school cook over the edge of the volcano and dropped her in. What a nice dream. Some children today wish they could do this. Cafeteria food has been a big issue for children and administrators for a long time. There are some parents or political figures with no children that don’t care, and think it is fine the way it is. Many more people (with children) think that it is disgusting and the nutritional value should be raised.

I believe that while it brings students through school adequately, cafeteria food still needs some reworking. Students complain about the food being tasteless, or that it doesn’t help them concentrate well (if they are hungry) during class.

Some students even have allergic reactions to the artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or mold and bacteria that get into the food while it is frozen. Sometimes after eating foods that are high in corn syrup, red and yellow dyes, and low in protein, fiber, and the nutrients

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necessary for brain development and thinking, many students will return to class after lunch very hyper, unable to concentrate on schoolwork. Proper food gives you energy in little pieces, not all at once. However, the corn syrup and sugars in cafeteria food give you a massive sugar rush, and then you crash. If cafeteria food was better balanced, with the right amount of nutrients, fiber, protein, and calorie intake, students would be able to pay attention in class and their grades might improve.

For example, a typical

school cafeteria lunch consists of greasy pizza, fried foods (fries, meat) a very small, if any, serving of vegetables, and a roll. To the school district food administration, ketchup was once considered a vegetable, and vending machines offer cheap chocolate and granola bars loaded with corn syrup, artificial colors and preservatives, because they can be considered “healthy” according to district standards. Most of the food offered is mass-produced, bought in bulk and frozen for long periods of time. The food is some-

times not cooked properly, and not served at the proper temperature.

Some cafeteria workers who are not dedicated to their job, or feel that it is more of a side job, might prepare the food inadequately.

Low wages certainly don’t help.

However, there are some good things about cafeteria food.

It’s convenient, because parents and/or students do not have to find time in the morning rush to make their own lunch, which could then be forgotten at home.

It is less expensive than many lunches that can be brought from home. Many low-income families qualify for free or reduced lunch, so eating school lunches can save parents a significant amount of money and their children get easy meals at school that the parents do not have to be home from

work to prepare. The school district has been using the current method of feeding kids with cafeteria food for a long time now, and it works for many students.

It is my opinion that cafeteria food could use a lot of change.

Things I would do better include

using locally grown and/or organic meats, fruits, and vegetables in the lunches, preparing it from scratch at school, and eliminating corn syrup and artificial ingredients. Then students can return to class after lunch calmer, and more energized for another afternoon of learning. █

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Fidel C.

great Food for

I

am in Geometry Topics at LASA High School, counting down the seconds left for lunch to start. I think of that flavor-full rice with turkey on top. Don’ t forget about those French fries with ketchup or ranch. Finally the bell rings, I rush to the cafeteria without going to my locker. There are so many things to choose from. Those savory chicken tenders, the enchiladas, the pizza, the burritos. Everything looks good. I choose the homemade line. There is rice with turkey, my favorite, strawberries with cream, also delicious, the French fries, and chocolate milk. This is the best-combined meal and it only took me 10 minutes to go to the cafeteria, go through the line, get my lunch, and

Racing

start eating. While enjoying my perfect lunch, I see many students eating sandwiches from home. I wonder why they bring food from home when they can be eating flavorful meals from the cafeteria. Is it because of price? Perhaps line length, or maybe they think that this food is bad for their health.

Many students at LASA high school are eating lunches from home and not from the cafeteria. They think that cafeteria food is unhealthy just because it looks gross. The other day I was holding my chicken wrappini when a girl asked me to open my delicious meal to look at the ingredients inside. I kindly opened my wrappini and she said “Ewe, that looks gross,” and she just walked away.

Photo By Fidel C.

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Do not judge somethings taste by its appearance.

I think that AISD nutrition service is the most nutritious and healthy in Austin. They are improving the food and its conditions so that the students have an even more healthy lunch. The Austin Independent School District stated “lunch menus are designed to meet one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for calories, protein, iron, calcium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C.” Students may also wonder how many nutrients they are eating in a meal.

AISD has a new feature that tells how many nutrients a lunch meal involves. Just go to the website, www.austinisd.org, and start exploring the health bar. I promise, it will take you on a great adventure to discover what you are offered through AISD.

Many students look at the food and say

They are enjoying their meal. I think that lots of the meals have great taste. So hopefully, after you taste the awesome wrappini, you will think the same.

Other students whine about the prices.

AISD has lowered their prices. Their actual price, listed in www.austinisd.org, is $1.25 for breakfast at all schools. For lunch at elementary schools is $2.10 and at high schools is $2.25. The district has now reduced 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for the lunch. Plus they also have this really helpful program that you can apply for and then you just receive reduced lunch.My family qualifies for this program and it really makes it easy on my parents. Your parents can always try to apply.

If they don’t qualify for this, OK. If they do, great!

Do you want to stop carrying that lunch

--------------------“The actual price, listed in www.austinisd.org is $1.25 for breakfast at all schools. For luch at elementary schools is $2.10 and at high schools it is $2.25.”

--------------------that it looks gross. But they don’t know what they are missing. I personally think that you should not judge a flavor by the appearance. The chicken wrappini looks weird, but I think that it is the best meal in the cafeteria. I believe that they mix lots of ingredients, such as American&mozzarella cheese, Southwestern ranch homemade by AISD, pico de gallo also homemade by AISD, chicken fajita that is cooked and then cooled, all wrapped in a flour tortilla. The outcome is a yummy chicken wrappini. Don’t expect it to look cute, but expect it to taste awesome. I see those students that eat cafeteria food.

bag from home to school and then back home? So are you worried about money? Do not hesitate to ask for reduced school lunch. You should probably start getting lunch from the cafeteria. It looks really mixed but it tastes awesome. I think that all of their meals are tasty. Take the good thing about this. You will find the meals yummy! So rethink your opinion about school lunch, stop worrying about bringing lunch from home and make your life easier by starting to eat healthy lunch from the cafeteria. █

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Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

-----------------------------------------------------For Crust: •1 1/2 cups BIMBO Bread Crumbs •6 tablespoons butter , melted •1/3 cup granulated sugar For Filling: •2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese , at room temperature •5 large eggs •1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ LA LECHERA Sweetened Condensed Milk •1/4 cup NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk •1/3 cup all-purpose flour •1 tablespoon lemon juice •Fresh strawberries , stemmed and cut in half •1/2 cup strawberry jam , warmed •Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

Instructions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PREHEAT oven to 325° F. COMBINE bread crumbs, butter and sugar in medium bowl. Press onto bottom and 2 inches up side of 10-inch springform pan.

PLACE cream cheese, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, flour and lemon juice in blender; cover.

Blend until smooth. Pour into prepared crust.

BAKE for 50 to 60 minutes or until center is set when shaken.

COOL in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate until completely chilled. Arrange strawberries over top of cheesecake; drizzle with jam. Garnish with mint.

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Liberal Arts and Science Academy Cafeteria Food...

For a Podcast about Lunch at LASA, please visit www.foodfornon.blogspot.com and check it out!

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