Amusee magazine

AmusĂŠe

DEC 2011

for foodies

Red Meat: The Truth behind DELICIOUS

Breakfast: The Beneficial Meal

Family Dinners, Now and Then

FLIP HAPPY Food Trailer Makes Waves with Crepes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter from the Editor Editor Biographies

3 4

ENTRÉES Set the Table Always Flippin’ Happy Your Mama was Right, Eat your Breakfast!

Chau Down Going to Extra Mile The Yellow Light for Red and Green Diets Enchiladas Y Mas Y Robert Martinez Jr. Classic with a Side of Fries

5 6 8 10 13 14 16 18

SIDE DISHES Jump Page Flashback

20 21

Recipes: Holiday Treats

22

AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 2

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR irst of all, everyone here at Amusée magazine wants to thank you. Thank you for buying the first-ever issue of our magazine. We’ve been working the past four months to get this magazine out.

To go back to the starting point of this issue could mean going back to the day we finally sent it out for publication. Or before that, when we sent it off to our editors. Or the day when we all finished our media kit. Going even further back, to the day when we four learned we were in a group. How were us freshman going to come up with an idea for a magazine, let alone publish it?

Or even further back, to the first day of the school year when we walked into our EZine classroom for the first time. We’ve come a long way since then.

Now we have a full magazine. We have a cover. We have a table of contents. We each wrote an opinion piece and we each wrote a feature story. Throughout our magazine, we used the color scheme that Jack found. We used the font that Chris was always able to remember the name of. We used the toast symbol that I came up with. We have all the art that Sierra made, and then didn’t save, and had to make again. The title of our magazine we all found, looking up food words one day on the web.

I keep using the word ‘we.’ That’s because the four of us are all editors of this magazine, working together as a team to make this magazine, and of course, to pass this class. But I’m still impressed that we were all able to join together around the same goals, and get such a great final product.

This first issue of our magazine took a lot of love and care. It takes the same attention and care to cook food. You have to choose the right recipe and find the right ingredients. You have to put it all together and get messy and then cross your fingers that you didn’t forget anything, that you set the oven timer for the right time. You hope that it turns out okay. But if it doesn’t, you learn from your mistake, and improve so that your next dishes get better and better. This is the same way that we made this magazine, and we hope you can see just how hard we cooked.

F

EDITORS

ABBY KAPPELMAN CHRIS JONES JACK CLARK III SIERRA ROSALES

BIOGRAPHY PAGES

CHRIS JONES

Position: Head Kemosabe Height: 5’10” Favorite Food: Ice Cream Pie Favorite Kitchen Utensil: Spork Strengths: Creativity, Hilariousity Weaknesses: Extremely tickelish

SIERRA ROSALES

Position: Backbone Height: 4’11.5” Favorite Food: Cereal Favorite Kitchen Utensil: Bowl Strengths: Writing Weaknesses: InDesign, growing AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 4

JACK CLARK

Position: Culinary Hacker Height: 5’9” Favorite Food: Yellow Rice and Chicken Favorite Kitchen Utensil: Ceramic Knife Strengths: Winning, can touch rim Weaknesses: Cries during Titanic

ABBY KAPPELMAN

Position: Leader Height: 5’7” Favorite Food: Waffles Favorite Kitchen Utensil: Whisk Strengths: Designing, making lists Weaknesses: Shin splints

Se

le

e Tab h T t

We’re staying in tonight

By Jack Clark III

“Teens who have fewer thanthree family dinners per week are more likely to experience marijuana and other illegal substances.”

Always

flippin’ happy The inside of Flip Happy Crepes’ quaint Avion trailer is cozy, but has hardly enough room for two chefs, one of them being co-owner Nessa Higgins, another Rowan Gannon, a young chef in training and the son of co-owner Andrea Day-Boykin. Add in an interviewer to the mix and still nothing skipped a beat. The constant sizzle of crepes heating up in the pan played background to the calls of orders and the shuffling of the many accouterments from chef to chef. This is what Nessa hears everyday as she works.

When Nessa opened Flip Happy Crepes in 2006 on Barton Springs Road, she had no prior experience owning a business. She is her own boss who is confident in her work life and as her role as a single mother with her daughter Willow, who is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy.

BY CHRIS JONES AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 6

Nessa’s work day begins with her waking up, getting ready for the day by checking that she has the money which she is in charge of looking after and making sure she has her phone that plays the part of keeping her connected to her co-workers. She then runs by Sazon kitchen to pick up the dishes that were dropped off the night before to be cleaned and arrives at Flip Happy to unload the clean dishes and fresh food usually brought by Andrea.

The next forty-five minutes for Nessa consists of prep work and setting up for the day. After Flip Happy officially opens for the day at ten in the morning usually, the next 4-6 hours for Nessa is composed of cooking crepes and cleaning up the stove and five propane tank griddles that are inside the trailer.

Nessa, Andrea, and Andrea’s husband, Patrick Gannon who is a chef that helped design Flip Happy’s menu, often go back and forth on the idea of opening a Flip Happy Crepes restaurant. Nessa enjoys the trailer, but after five years of being couped up inside of it day after day, she is open to the idea of the addition of a permanent restaurant.

Nessa spends her day at Flip Happy doing many things, but she typically finds herself making the sweet dessert crepes. She enjoys making the dessert crepes because there is a lot of freedom in it and she does not like working with the meat involved in making the savory crepes.

However, her favorite crepe to make is not the same as her favorite crepe to eat.

She would rather work in a restaurant version of Flip Happy because she feels that “a change of pace is good.”

“After making the sweet crepes for years, it’s understandable that I don’t eat them anymore,” Nessa says.

She goes through “favorites in phases,” formerly being the ham and cheese crepe, but since giving up meat for good she has developed a fancy for the scrambled egg crepe.

Flip Happy Crepes was picked up quickly by local media including Austin Monthly, The Chronicle and Texas Monthly.

More publicity ensued with being mentioned in an article about Austin in the New York Times and an appearance on the popular Food Network show, “Throwdown with Bobby Flay.”

Nessa is not exactly surprised with Flip Happy’s success and reasons it out like this, “two moms making your lunch is kind of appealing. If I’m going out for a grill cheese, or something yummy to eat mid afternoon, I think I would like it if someone’s mom made it.”

With their success, Nessa and Andrea often are invited to other food trailer parks such as the one on South Congress, but they always politely decline the offer.

Flip Happy Crepes moving to a park with other food trailers “makes no sense,” Nessa says because it would just add competition and besides they want to “preserve their name and stand alone.”

Though she loves most of her job, there are certain aspects of it that are not her favorite. Nessa does not like it when business is slow and they are not making any money, but what she hates even more is when it is overcrowded. She feels proud that so many people want to eat their crepes, but most of all she gets scared of the long lines because she does not want her loyal customers to be unhappy.

“Loyal customers are just generally an owner’s favorite, but you still want new customers to be happy because hopefully they’ll be a loyal customer someday too,” Nessa says.

On weekends, with lines around the block and hungry costumers, Nessa feels “there are definitely days with no light at the end of the tunnel.”

When shifts that never seem to end are encountered, Nessa and her staff sometimes like to ponder where they would be in life without Flip Happy. “We’ve talked about being fireman, animal sanctuary owners, E.M.S. drivers, dancers, and bank tellers,” Nessa says.

With all the time spent wondering about it, she likes to think they have talked about every possible job out there.

Though her mind wanders to other professions from time to time, she always comes out of her thoughts saying “I am always thankful I have the job I have now,” loving the freedom she has in her schedule and the accomplished feeling she gets when she can make a product, sell it and then see it through.

Your Momma Was Right,

Eat Your Breakfast!

BY SIERRA ROSALES AMUSﾃ右 窶｢ ISSUE 1 窶｢ 8

T

his morning I woke up from the sound of my screeching alarm. I woke up rushing to get to school, so I got dressed, got my books, and headed out the door. By the time I got there, I realized that I forgot to eat breakfast! For the rest of the day I could find myself falling asleep in class and my stomach growling like a bear. The clock mocks me ticking slowly.

Four more hours until I can eat lunch. I had to learn the hard way that eating breakfast can be important.

Breakfast gives people a great source of energy to help them start their morning off right. According to an article from September 3, 2009 called “6 Reasons You Ought to be Eating Breakfast,” breakfast gives you the energy you need to get through the morning. Your body has gone 7-12 hours without food, putting it in fasting mode. Breakfast consists of two words, break and fast.

Breakfast breaks the fasting mode with it’s energy. In an article from 2008 called “Why You Shouldn’t Eat Breakfast...Again,” most people seem to be skipping breakfast because they think it will make them sleepy. But breakfast actually refuels your body with nutrients you need for energy. In his article from January 26, 2006 Indy Stewart says that glucose is your body’s energy source and is broken down from the carbs you eat. When you wake up and you have gone without food for about 12 hours, your glucose levels have dropped. This causes your body to release glycogen. After the body uses the glycogen, it breaks down fatty acids to produce energy. He says “without carbs, fatty acids are only partially oxidized, which can cause reduced energy levels.” Reduced energy levels can cause you to feel really sleepy, and less active.

Not only does breakfast give you energy, it also helps you focus. Your brain cannot concentrate properly when you lack energy. One study done in 2008, by the American Academy of Pediatrics, reported that the high school students in the study were more alert and had positive short-term effects on their cognitive functioning be-

Students also perform better on tests, have a longer attention span, have a better attitude, a better memory, and solve problems better if they have breakfast. cause they ate breakfast. Students also perform better on tests, have a longer attention span, have a better attitude, a better memory, and solve problems better if they have breakfast, according to an article called “Breakfast, Your Teen’s Most Important Meal of the Day.” I definitely

agree with these factors. I personally, have a better attitude, and zone out less when I have breakfast. Breakfast can be very beneficial for children. It has many nutrients to help them develop, and perform well in school.

One reason people seem to be skipping breakfast purposely is because they believe it will help them lose weight or keep from gaining any. In an article called “7 Reasons why you should not eat breakfast,” they believe that breakfast does nothing but make you “sleepy and fat.” I completely disagree. In her July 23, 2011 article “Breakfast: How does it help Weight Control,” Katherine Zeratsky says that breakfast is a great way to be healthy and maintain your weight. It reduces hunger so you won’t eat too much during the day, and people also tend to eat healthier foods for every meal. To add onto this, I believe that breakfast also gives you important nutrients you need that you can’t find in other meals. You can get vitamin C from your orange juice, or eat whole wheat from your toast, and also, if you were to eat fruit you can get a good source of glucose. I think that the only way you could gain weight is if you eat an unhealthy breakfast. In addition to weight gain, skipping breakfast lowers your metabolism causing you to gain weight.

Eating breakfast can be very important. The best solution to make sure you have breakfast, might be to wake up 15 minutes earlier than usual. This gives you enough time to wake up and prepare it. Healthy breakfasts such as cereals, eggs, fruits, and nuts will provide you with a good source of nutrients and energy.

You will feel a lot more alert, happier, and healthier throughout the day by eating breakfast.

CHAU AMUSﾃ右 窶｢ ISSUE 1 窶｢ 10

DOWN

By Jack Clark III

“S

tarting a business is one of the most stressful things that I have ever experienced,” said Michael Chau. “So many things can go wrong in such a short amount of time, and at this time, everything was going wrong.” His customers kept driving by, he could not find a cook who could perform as well as he could, and the money that he was spending on advertising was not bringing in customers and stirring interest the way he had hoped.

“When I opened Tien Jin, US 290 wasn’t there and business was good, but when it was built, all my customers just kept driving by.”

In 1980, Michael Chau came to Austin from Hong Kong to seek his dream. One year later, he moved to Florida to help a friend open a Japanese restaurant. When his friend no longer needed his help, he traveled back to Hong Kong to learn Chinese cuisine from master chefs, and then in 1993 he opened Tien Jin back in Austin.

When Michael was in the eighth grade, his father was head chef of his own restaurant. Michael was always by his side picking up as many tips as he could from his father. That summer, Michael had a job at a restaurant. He did chores like washing dishes, but when he was lucky, he got to spend time in the kitchen learning to cook from the head chef.

“They liked me a lot and eventually I got a job as a cook,” says Michael. “This was when I really got an interest in the cooking business.”

“For

find any help in the kitchen or on the floor, there were no customers and the depression was just setting in.”

Around the time that Michael opened his restaurant the depression had just started. Much of the traffic that Louisiana had recently had was gone. Almost all of the shipyards that brought in new, hungry customers were closed, and not many people wanted to go out to eat because they wanted to conserve their money; it was just the worst time to start a business.

Michael then went back to Hong Kong to learn how to prepare gourmet dishes, from master chefs. In 1993, he moved back to Austin and opened the one and only Cantonese restaurant “Tien Jin.” “Starting Tien Jin was stressful, there were many fights that involved all members of the family, we were arguing all the time but we somehow managed to stay together.”

Ever since the opening of the restaurant, there have been many problems that have restricted the growth of the restaurant. .

“The highway that passes by, US 290, didn’t used to be there so we had much customer traffic, but now the highway goes right by and it has cut customers by half.

They just cant find the restaurant.”

Michael has tried many things to increase customer traffic. He has tried things such as advertising, and he has even tried to put up a larger sign in the front.

With the advertising, he spends so much money every year on his website and articles in all kinds of print but the customers cannot find the restaurant. Michael was not allowed to put up a larger sign to allow customers to see his restaurant from far away but the property owner denied him.

the first fifteen

years we didnt even

have one day off...”

Michael would cook a lot and he became very good.

He says, “I love to cook; I started cooking for my entire family when I was in the ninth grade. My favorite thing to cook was a rack of slightly seasoned ribs with a black bean sauce. This was one of the first things that my father taught me how to cook, and everyone who ate it absolutely loved it.”

In 1973, Michael Chau traveled to Houston, Texas to open an Asian restaurant. He decided to close his restaurant in 1980 due to the lack of customers that were coming into his restaurant.

Not getting the word out is not the only thing that is restricting customer traffic; the other competing restaurants in the area have a big influence as well.

In 1980, Michael traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to open a Bar-B-Q restaurant.

“Having the other restaurants near us is very stressful as well. When a new restaurant gets built out business goes down and then after a while it gets normal again and then when another one comes in we lose customers and so on.”

“My restaurant did awfully from the start. I could not

(continnued page 20)

AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 12

Going

away from the communities that they service, but long distances are traveled for transporting meat, which means more emissions and less fresh food. Buying meat from sustainable local farms is the preferable alternative because it cuts out the long distances needed for the meat to travel and the green house gas emissions that go along with that, which is better for the environment.

The Extra Mile A

By Chris Jones

study conducted by the University of Minnesota showed that sustainable local farms with “gross incomes of $100,000 or less made almost 95 percent of farm-related expenditures within their local communities” which contributes to more growth in the local economies of those communities. The same study also showed that large factory farms “with gross incomes greater than $900,000 made less than 20 percent of farm related expenditures locally” which results in the communities with factory farms having high rates of unemployment and very minimal economic growth. Buying meat from sustainable local farms is overall less expensive, better for the environment and healthier for the consumer than buying meat processed in factory farms.

Meat that reaches our tables today from factory farms is less fresh and causes high greenhouse gas emissions because of the long distances it travels to reach us. To produce the food that we eat, it takes 17 percent of the fossil fuels consumed in the United States, which is three-quarters of a ton of carbon dioxide emissions per person, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. The fuel used to bring the products to market also has to be considered because “food travels an average 1,500 miles before it's bought and eaten,” says Meaghan O’neill, the founding editor of treehugger. com. With the popularization of automobiles and the introduction of railways, farms can now be located far

Not only is purchasing meat from far away factory farms costly on the environment, it is also costly on the wallets of consumers. For years now, people have tried to make the argument that the practice of factory farming and industrial agriculture is the solution to the growing demand for food in the world because it produces large amounts of cheap food, but this is just not true. According to Rachel Hine and Jules Pretty from the University of Essex Center for Environment and Society in their summary, “Reducing Food Poverty with Sustainable Agriculture: A Summary of New Evidence”, methods of industrial farming have resulted in large of amounts of waste while hundreds of millions of people around the world still experience hunger. Though people have argued that the cheap prices of non-local meat products in grocery stores make it seem like buying meat processed in factory farming is the way to go, these cheap store prices do not reflect the hidden costs of production. And it is in these hidden costs that make buying from sustainable local farms worth it. The extra hidden costs of indus-

“Between 1995 and 2006, the U.S. government spent more than $177 billion in taxpayer dollars on agricultural subsidies.”

trial production paid for not by the owner of the factory farms, but instead the American taxpayers pay the price. With data gathered from the United States Farm Subsidy Database, it was calculated that these public subsidies fuel the success of prosperous industrial farms because it allows them to keep their (continued page 20)

THE

YELLOW

LIGHT

FOR RED

AND

GREEN

DIETS AMUSﾃ右 窶｢ ISSUE 1 窶｢ 14

By Abby Kappelman

Depending

on how you slice it, there are between 35 and 120 different possible cuts of beef. Some cuts are boneless, some cuts are more marbled, and others are supposed to be grilled. And then some cuts are lean. In 3 ounces of lean meat, there are 164 calories, 60 of which come from fat. In regular red meat, the caloric value is the same, but 96 of the calories come from fat, an increase of more than 50%. People need to lower their consumption of red meat because too much is bad for their health and the environment, and should instead eat a more balanced diet, which includes lean meat.

Red meat contains higher levels of fat than other meats, which raises cholesterol, placing people who eat it often at higher risk of heart disease and diabetes than those wis also a correlation between the consumption of red meat, and cancer in men and women.

A 2004 report published in Diabetes Care says that people who eat more red meat have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Diabetics must monitor their diet anyway, so why not keep a balanced diet from the beginning and not put themselves at risk of disease?

A 2000 study in Italy by the International Journal of Cancer reported that meat intake also puts consumers at a higher risk of digestive tract and colorectal cancers. In every case, non-meat eaters showed lower rates of mortality, and red meat was worse for people than poultry or fish, stated the American Association for Cancer Research, based off a study from April 2004. If all of this is true, then why do people still eat red meat?

People can, and still, eat red meat because when it is consumed as an element of a balanced diet that also includes poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables, people can stay healthy and still eat it. In an NPR interview, Dr. Michael Thun, an epidemiologist for the American Cancer Society, puts it simply. “Consider [red meat] a treat.”

A population with a diet where red meat plays a significant role does more dam- “Non-meat eaters age to the environshowed lower rates ment than a vegetarian population. of mortality, and red This damage can meat was worse be hard to picture. people than Most would think for growing more poultry or fi.” plants takes a larger toll on the environment than just raising and then slaughtering some animals. In fact, an animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) responded in 2001 that animals that are raised in the United States consume 80 percent of the corn and

95 percent of the oats that are grown. All of these crops are intended to fatten the animals up, so that businesses can get more meat and thus more money from each animal. If everyone in the world became vegetarian, the US alone could harvest enough crops for the entire world population. We could feed the world because the caloric needs of the popula- “Animals that are tion are more raised in the United than covered by the amount States consume 80 of calories the percent of the corn world’s cattle eat. In 2007 and 95 percent of the for the Global oats that are grown.”

Warming Survival Guide of TIME magazine, Brian Walsh writes that vegetarians emit 1.5 tons less of carbon each year than meat eaters do. This is because the environmental toll for raising cows includes overusing resources, water and air pollution from nitrous oxide and methane, and soil erosion, thus making it worse for the earth than growing crops. If the world‘s population simply became vegetarian, concludes a 2008 German study, world hunger could be solved, and green-house gas emissions would decrease by 18%.

Now, if eating red meat is so bad for your health and the environment, then why aren’t we all vegetarians right now? Even though red meat can be dangerous, both vegetarianism and veganism can be dangerous as well, if one does not get enough calories or nutrients.

While red meat diets may have more fat, a 1995 study for Science Direct magazine determines that vegetarian diets can have less protein and with more energy coming from carbohydrates. In addition, vegetarians often have much lower levels of vitamins, sodium, and calcium than nonvegetarians do. Vegetarian diets do not include B12, an essential mineral for the human body.

Being a teenage vegetarian can be especially unsafe because nutritional deficits can occur. Anemia is a shortage in iron, a mineral that is very commonly found in meat. ‘The Cons of a Vegetarian Diet’ writes that meat also has protein and calcium, which are very important for developing strong muscles and bones. The most dangerous thing about becoming a vegetarian is being a “junk food” vegetarian. These are vegetarians who think that their new lifestyle means passing on the burger and just eating the fries. These people do not plan their diets carefully, and can get very sick from not getting enough to eat. Of course, there are healthy vegetarians, too. But a healthy vegetarian or vegan must be careful and watch what they eat, (continued page 20)

Enchiladas Y Mas Y Robert Martinez Jr.

BY SIERRA ROSALES

AMUSﾃ右 窶｢ ISSUE 1 窶｢ 16

H

e opens the door to be hit by the smell of fresh

“It was long hours and very tiring but well salsa, homemade beans, and of course, enchiworth it,” Rob said. ladas. He walks into the kitchen and hears the

He works really hard training the employees. He sizzling of the fajitas, and music coming from a small mostly trains them how to handle the dish out area. He radio they have. He clocks into the computer and puts shows them how to cook food on the grill, how to work on his blue apron. He then checks to see if all of his evethe salad bar, and how to serve and make hot plates. ning shift employees are present, washed up, and ready

“When I train employees, I train them to do to work. He hears the chattering and laughing of the what they are supposed to do, and I try to be a good excustomers, and he feels psyched and ready to go. ample.” Rob said.

Rob Martinez Jr. is 35 years old, and has been

Rob works for about 6 hours a day and most of working at Enchiladas Y Mas for 13 years. He works full those hours are spent in a steamy, hot, crowded kitchen. time at the restaurant, putting in about 40-50 hours a Rob says that he manages to stay on his feet for so long week. He’s not just any employee, he is the co-owner and by staying busy and focused. a cook at the restaurant. With help from his fellow em “It really makes time fly,” Rob said. ployees, he is able to balance the roles he plays for the

But Rob believes that the most important thing restaurant with ease. is that the customers leave the restaurant satisfied.

“These days it’s hard to find good help, where

“I enjoy producing a product that keep customthe people actually want to work.” Rob said. ers coming back to the restaurant. To me, it’s the best

According to Rob, since the restaurant first part of the job.” Rob said. opened, they have gone from having four employees,

As he is cooking, he is also squeezing in time to to about forty four employees. Rob is the son of Robwalk around the restaurant to check on his employees, ert Martinez, the founder of and chat with some of the customthe restaurant, along with his “It takes a lot of hard work ers to make them feel comfortable brother in law, Roumaldo Herand welcome. He smiles at everyone nandez. Robert Martinez was to be successful,” said Rob. and asks if they are enjoying their approached by Roumaldo Hermeal. nandez to start the restaurant in 1994. They were both

The hardest part of the job for Rob is dealing unemployed and they needed the money. According to with unhappy, picky customers.

Rob it took them about four months to open it.

“They’ll come in having a bad day, make a scene

“I don’t think they thought it would take off the and let everyone know what’s going on,” Rob said. way it did. It was just to make a living.” Rob said.

The worst memory Rob has about a customer

Robert and Roumaldo have been so successful was when one day in the evening, a guy came in the reswith the restaurant that they were able to retire, and taurant drunk. He continued to drink at the bar, and still make money. Now that they have retired, they have was being very loud and obnoxious to other customers. left it up to Rob and a few of his cousins to run the resThere were many complaints so Rob had to go over to taurant. him to ask him to quiet down. Rob ended up having to

“It takes a lot of hard work to be successful.” Rob call the cops because the guy started getting physical said. with him.

When the restaurant was first opened, business

“It was really embarrassing and scary and very started off very slow. They had gotten help from the Ausintimidating. My adrenaline was pumping and there tin Chronicle to draw in some customers. A few of the was nothing I could do. It was embarrassing.” Rob said. employees from the paper had eaten at the restaurant “I enjoy producing a product that keep From situaand were so impressed that tions like these, they wrote a few articles customers coming back to the restaurant. Rob has learned To me, it’s the best part of the job,” Rob said. to keep his cool, about it.

“And here we and tries to listen are 18 years later winning to the customer awards for the best enchiladas in town.” Rob said. so they will be satisfied. This is also a lesson that

In the kitchen, Rob is busy cooking orders, trysome of the employees have learned from Rob. ing to make them the way his dad had taught him. His dad trained him for a year to make sure he cooked all of (continued page 21) the food correctly .

with a side of fries

BY ABBY KAPPELMAN ierra walks in the door of her Mighty Fine and punches her card. She scans her fingerprint at the door, puts on an apron over her work clothes and washes her hands in the infamous Hand Jacuzzi. She signs into the front register and checks that she has a Sharpie, a highlighter, and a pen, all lined up by the cash register, which has been organized with proper change. She fixes her hair in a net and puts it up under a cap. At 10:30am, a customer walks in the door. Sierra puts on a big smile.

They ask her how she is doing. She replies, “Mighty fine!”

Sierra Amaro is seventeen years old and a junior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin. Her job at Mighty Fine Burgers and Fries is not her first; she has also worked as an assistant cupcake decorator and as a waitress at Hooters. Starting at Mighty Fine this past summer, she works weekends so that she still has time for her demanding schoolwork, dance team, and friends. Even though she’s only been at Mighty Fine for four months, talking to her she seems like she has been there for years.

For example, see how she thinks of customers.

“We call them guests,” she says. “We treat them as if they were friends or family – you know, we’re casual, we’re polite. It’s just your basic etiquette.” And it’s not a one way street. The guests at Mighty Fine seem to love the food and employees, too. “We have a lot of raving fans that come in,” Sierra says. “We know a lot of people’s names.”

Not only do many employees and customers know names, but employees memorize the orders of regular customers. Customers also say that the mostly young staff was very friendly, and the restaurant was open – AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 18

there were no secrets about how the food was cooked, because the customers had a direct view of the grill master in the kitchen. The employees were very educated on the restaurant’s food, and were comfortable with all orders, especially those that were sensitive because of customers with allergies. The customers also loved the food and gave Mighty Fine very high reviews, generally four stars. Sierra loves the food, too. She first applied to Mighty Fine because she wanted a stable job, but also because she was often at the restaurant and loved the food. She knows exactly why people like the burgers so much, and why all the food tastes so good. “We have our own farms, which means that none of [the meat] is taken from other companies,” Sierra says. “There are no trans fats. It’s ground by hand every morning, nothing is frozen.”

Sierra isn’t afraid to say that she works at such a burger joint. She’s also quick to defend Mighty Fine from any fast-food hate. “It’s actually not fast food. It’s called casual dining, and it’s completely different. It’s not fast food, even in the slightest.” She laughs. “That’s why it’s six dollars a burger.” This doesn’t stop the customers, even if some claim it’s a bit extreme. If they like the food, they’ll buy it. Sierra says the most common thing people order is a basic cheeseburger with everything but tomatoes and onions, with a side of fries.

The guests think of the food so highly, Mighty Fine rarely gets any complaints. But whenever Sierra encounters a rowdy customer, she keeps her cool. “We take [complaints] as constructive criticism because you can’t take anything personally, especially from someone you don’t know, that you just helped.” If there are complaints, Sierra says that they come during the lunch rush, often when there are lots of customers who are short on time and patience. And Sierra feels like she’s learning how to deal with these people and more types, good and bad, too. She says that not only is she learning great time management balancing school and a job, but she is also acquiring knowledge “to deal with awkward situations, or how to tolerate a bunch of different kinds of people. You just learn how to deal with everybody.”

Sierra feels that she’s getting a lot of real-world experience out of this job. But even as a woman and teen in the workforce, she doesn’t feel like she’s treated any differently. In fact, she thinks that teens and women have an advantage. “Most of the older people look towards [the four] teens [at this Mighty Fine] as the energy, and the freshness of the company,” she says. “The women are held in high regards because we’re nicer than the boys.”

Even if Sierra might have an advantage at her current job, and is doing well at it, she stills stays grateful.

She understands that she is a teen with a job at a time

when a lot of adults who actually need to support families are out of work. This doesn’t get her down, however.

“I don’t believe in no jobs [existing],” she says, “it’s just about what you’re willing to do.” Mighty Fine doesn’t just cook burgers and fries. They also have an expansive community impact program, building shelters and gardens.

“People really can’t be picky just because you don’t get $25 an hour,” she states. “[That] doesn’t mean you can’t support yourself.” Sierra makes ten dollars an hour, and works a minimum of sixteen hours a week. This money that she, and other teens make, goes towards their extracurricular activities and college tuition, making the burden on their parents smaller. And it’s possible to have a job, even if school work is busy. Sierra gives a tip. “I don’t work during the week, just work weekends if you can. But it’s definitely do-able.”

For the people who work at Mighty Fine, eating there is common as well. They even get half-price on the menu items. And the things they eat are technically on the menu – but definitely different. For example, Sierra’s favorite thing to eat at Mighty Fine is a half-pound burger with no bun, times 2 mustard and mayo (although at Mighty Fine these are referred to as “yeller” and “white”), no onions but three times lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and jalapeños. When she orders this, she laughs. “That’s really weird,” she admits. “But you get creative once you work here.”

Sierra might know exactly what burger she orders, but she doesn’t help back in the kitchen. She works as the cashier, taking orders and making quick items like lemonade and shakes. The Mighty Fine lemonade has completely natural ingredients and is “stomped” on site over ten times daily. Sierra also is the person who hand dips the milkshakes, made with Blue Bell ice cream. Blue Bell has old, Texas roots, having been established in 1907 in Brenham, Texas as a creamery. Mighty Fine was established one hundred years later in 2007, but one of Mighty Fine’s main goals is still to make their burgers the way burgers have been made in Texas for generations, “in the highest quality way” possible.

Even if Mighty Fine tries to emulate a classic burger, they are a very modern company. The restaurant is open every day. Often, Sierra works until close, so her day and shift end at the same time. When Sierra’s day is just about over, she cleans “all the front of house, which is just like the registers, the shake machines, the prep room, the dining room.” After that, she locks up her cash register, takes off her apron and punches her card on the way out the door. Then Sierra heads off after a long day. It’s 9pm on a school night, and she’s got to get back home.

Goal : to make burgers the way burgers have been made in Texas for generations

JUMP PAGE CONTINUED PAGE 5 FROM ‘SET THE TABLE’ They are also two and a half times more likely to use alchohol.

Children that sit down and eat a good healthy meal every night will be much healthier than if they did not. When families dine together, they tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, and fewer fried foods, and sodas. This means that kids that sit down for dinner will less likely to become overweight, than if they were eating at a fast food restaurant every night. Eating dinner at home is better for the health of the child because it will allow that child a lesser of a chance to be obese. Since one in five children, ages 6-19, are overweight, they have a much higher risk to have health problems later in life such as heart disease, and even diabetes.

Children that sit down for dinner every night will ultimately do better in school and in their lives. A family dinner provides opportunities for assigning chores and responsibilities. Children need to learn that being part of the family means sharing the work as well; such things like setting the table, pouring drinks, cleaning plates and washing and putting away the dishes area all things they can do to help. If the children are doing these chores then they will get the habit and they will take these skills on to life with them and they will get along better with people if they can “carry their weight.” A study by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) reveals that middle and high school students who partake in less than three meals a week with family are twice as likely to receive grades of “C” or lower than students who partake in five and seven meals per week with family. This means that children that sit down and talk about their school work will receive help from other parts of the family and they will listen better in school because they won’t be distracted with problem from home, so they do better on their homework and tests, which means better grades.

Families should sit down for dinner every night and talk about the days events because it allows the parents to be more involved in the lives of the children. It lowers the likelihood for the children to be obese, and it gives the children manners and skills to use later in life.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 ‘CHAU DOWN’

Inside the restaurant Michael has many duties that he must perform to make the restaurant run efficiently but also to make the customers happy.

“I like to show my cooks how to do something and then go out to the customer and see how they like my creation. One of mine and the customers’ favorite dishes in the General Tso’s chicken.

CONTINUED PAGE 13 FROM ‘GOING THE EXTRA MILE’ ...meat priced impossibly low at supermarkets while still making a profit. With all the calculations made, buying meat from sustainable local farms is overall less expensive.

When you buy meat from factory farms, you are putting your health at risk. Factory farms keep thousands of animals confined in high stress, confined spaces to produce meat, for AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 20

American consumers in the fastest and cheapest way possible, which lowers the quality of the food we eat. The opposing side might argue that it is these cheap methods of industrial farming that make it affordable for many families, but as I discussed earlier, the hidden costs make it more expensive than food from sustainable local farms. Factory farming is creating virulent and highly contagious avian flu strains that, with the frequent flow of goods within and between countries, have a high potential to spread. Not only is the space that the animals are in hurting the food quality, but it is also what the farmers are doing to the animals. Farmers are injecting multiple kinds of growth hormones into their livestock to help them grow faster which should produce better food, but this actually poses a threat to the health of humans. The presence of six hormone residues, Oestradiol, Progesterone,Testosterone, Zeranol, Trenbolone, and Melengestrol, in animal meat has been thought to disrupt human hormone balance causing developmental problems, interfering with the reproductive system, and even leading to the development of breast, prostate or colon cancer. Renu Gandhi, Ph.D. Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors Research Associate and Suzanne M. Snedeker, Ph.D., Research Project Leader of Breast Cancer Environmental Risk Factors Program in New York State say that “...currently available evidence does not indicate a link between eating meat, from hormone-treated animals and any health effects.” There is not enough accurate evidence to blame the hormones in the animals that we eat for health issues in humans. To this, I would argue that there is plenty of research done on this topic and that even national organizations such as the EPA and the USDA has recognized that hormones and pesticides used in factory farms can be linked to human health problems. Local farms are just about the complete opposite in that they produce fresh, high quality meat raised in green pastures without the aid of growth hormones.

Buying meat from sustainable local farms is healthier for the consumer and more beneficial to the economy of the community than buying meat processed in factory farms.

Purchasing meat from sustainable local farms is overall less expensive, better for the environment and healthier for the consumer than buying meat processed in factory farms.

Meat is a luxury that costs more than we think when we get it from far away factory farms. It takes a toll on the environment, our wallets and our health. However, this heavy toll is reduced severely when the meat is wholesomely raised and purchased from local farms.

CONTINUED PAGE 15 FROM ‘THE YELLOW LIGHT’ ...or else their health can suffer just as much as it would by eating too much red meat. World consumers must cut down on the amount of red meat they eat because it is distressing their health and the environment. People should only convert to allout vegetarianism or veganism if they feel that they can watch their diet closely enough to make sure that they get enough nutrients, because otherwise it will affect their health. Overall, consumers need only to eat a more balanced diet, which can include red meat, but should have leaner cuts as well as fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits and grains.

FLASHBACK CONTINUED PAGE 16 FROM ‘ENCHILADAS Y MAS’

As the manager of the restaurant, Rob has to be a leader. He believes that his position has made him a better person. He said he has a really good understanding of business, a better attitude, and he it’s taught him how to be responsible.

“It’s really made me more of a humble person. “ Rob said.

In the future, Rob would like to see the business grow and franchise. If it does, he would want every Enchiladas Y Mas to be successful. The restaurant has been very successful for Rob and his family. It helped them all grow, and in a way it helped create the person Rob is.

Thanks to our teacher Ms. Richey and our mentor designer Mrs. Banner for all their help for this final magazine product!

amuseeforfoodies.weebly.com

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1 (cover). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Flip Happy Crepes by yi, Flickr 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kitchen Utensils, by Abby Kappelman 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Editor Photos by Abby Kappelman, Chris Jones 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table Setting by Jack Clark III 6. . . . . Design of Flip Happy Crepes sign by Abby Kappelman and Chris Jones 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flip Happy Crepe photo by kathyphantastic, Flickr 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Happy Breakfast by Sierra Rosales 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Orange Juice Glass by Sierra Rosales 10, 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tien Jin by Jack Clark III 13 . . . . . Road Sign by Chris Jones, Train by Chris Jones and Abby Kappelman 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hamburger Toppings by Abby Kappelman 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Enchiladas Y Mas art by Sierra Rosales 18, 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Star Designs by Abby Kappelman 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vintage Couple Photo Strip by -Snapatorium-, Flickr 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Apple Pie A La Mode by Marshall Astor, Flickr 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .‘The Happy Egg’ add design by Abby Kappelman 24 (back cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Toast Design by Abby Kappelman

RECIPES: HOLIDAY TREATS APPLE PIE A LA MODE : A History

Apple pie dates all the way back to the Middle Ages. The first apple pie recipe is from The Forme of Cury by Samuel Pegge. This cookbook was complied in 1390.

In the United States, apple pie a la mode dates back to the 1890s. A professor named Charles Watson Townsend would always order ice cream with his apple pie at the Cambridge Hotel in New York, and one day a diner there dubbed the order Pie a la mode. The dish spread rapidly and received lots of publicity as famous restaurants picked it up when guests came in asking for it.

CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE RECIPE - instructions Spread nuts on baking sheet and bake 6-8 minutes at 350° until lightly browned and fragrent. Then remove from oven and raise temperature to 400°.

In medium bowl, beat eggs lightly. Mix in brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, chocolate, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread pecans in chilled piecrust. Slowly pour egg mixture over nuts. Bake 15 minutes at 400°. Then reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue baking about 25 minutes, or until pie is slightly cracked near crust and slightly firm in center. If edges are browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil.

When done, let chill and serve with whipping cream!

AMUSÉE • ISSUE 1 • 22

ingredients Filling: 1 ½ cups pecans, chopped 3 eggs ¾ cup packed brown sugar 4 tbsp butter, melted 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 chilled pie crust, 12 inches

the

free range eggs

happy egg

allergy advice: contains egg storage: store in a cool dry place or keep refrigerated sold at your local

allergy advice: contains egg storage: store in a cool dry place or keep refrigerated sold at your local