Student Tiffany Barber reads ingredients out. Marisa Giuffre prepping lemons.

Susan McKenna explaining cooking to students while Marisa boils water.



Susan -- Let the cooking magic begin!

TWO COOKING EXPERTS – THE FORMER OWNERS OF THE COMMUNITY ORIENTED CORNER STORE – BRING THEIR EXPERTISE TO WHAT BETTER PLACE – SAN PEDRO HIGH SCHOOL WHICH LOST ITS CULINARY CLASSES THIS PAST YEAR;

THE AWESOME TWOSOME HEAT UP AN AFTER SCHOOL COOKING CLUB THAT’S MET WITH MORE THAN DELECTABLE DELIGHTS; THEY KNOW THEY COULD RUN IT EVERY DAY AFTER SCHOOL IF ONLY THERE WAS MONEY, TIME AND MORE VOLUNTEERS; THERE ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH STUDENTS

By Diana L. Chapman

Squished side by side, the students practically crushed the culinary room with big eyes, good behavior and beaming interest in something San Pedro High School recently lacked for the past year – anyone to teach them how to cook.

Boil a pot of water. Break an egg. Cook up a plate of pasta. That’s what scores of teenagers wanted to learn, but their former Culinary Teacher Sandy Wood retired last year and no one was hired to replace her.

But as usual and just in a pot of time -- when it seemed the culinary scene for the high school was over -- Susan McKenna and Marisa Giuffre arrived with big hearts for kids and a dream to teach students how to whip up meals for themselves. The former owners of the popular Corner Store -- stepped up to the dish – and launched a “survival cooking club,” in May after school every Monday.

They plan to continue, with perhaps expanded plans, in the fall.

With not much time left in the school year and more than 57 students signing up straight away and more asking to join, the experts have already taught students how to make affordable delicious dishes from fresh lemon pasta to making their own salad dressings from scratch.

The first day of the class, Susan, who now owns a cozy eatery in downtown San Pedro called Nosh Café – asked student, Tiffany Barber, a junior, to read out the ingredients in a processed French dressing:

As Tiffany read: “Soybean Oil, Water, Sugar, Vinegar, Salt, Contains Less Than 2% of Skim Milk, Paprika, Xanthan Gum With Sorbic Acid And Calcium Disodium Edta as preservatives, Polysorbate 60, Dried Garlic, Propylene Glycol Alginate, Yellow 6, Yellow 5,” students gasped at the latter ingredients.

“There is absolutely no reason on earth to buy salad dressing,” Susan told the students as they boiled pots of water getting prepared to make pasta. “It’s easy to make.”

The gals – including their friend pastry chef Therese Dee–

showed students how they could blend mustard, vinegar and

“whisk in some extra virgin olive oil” to make a traditional

vinaigrette.

Susan and Marisa, who both came from Australia, share similar

beliefs on what students should learn to cook;

Summed up: it’s scrumptious made from scratch meals that

and not expensive to make – in many cases an entire course

can be made for less than $4.99 that a student would pay for

greasy fast food fare.

They wanted kids to get away from becoming sugar-aholics and fast-food addicts, and show them how the meaning of true food – cooked from your own ingredients – can be easy – and tasty. Call them both “foodies ” -- and it looks like many of their students will follow suit.

“We still thought there was a need to educate the kids as

fast food had become the norm for most kids and we wanted

to change this,” Marisa explained.  “There was a culinary

kitchen at (San Pedro High), nobody using it with the

possibility that it may have been taken over for something

else besides cooking. 

“Susan and I jumped at the chance to start our

after school survival cooking program, giving the kids

a chance to learn alternative ways of cooking and the

ability to turn a few simple ingredients into a meal for

one or ten.”

But don’t  even think of this as the “white-bowl,” 

everything chopped and ready to go as done on T.V.

stations like the Food Network, the women say.

Think of this as finding good things in your own cupboard

and learn what to do with them.

They especially want to target high school students leaving home and need this skill in their tool kit.

Get lemons free from your neighbors to make lemonade and other dishes, the women exclaim!

Buy a giant bottle of virgin olive oil from a cost-savings store that will last a long time and run about $13!

Shop at Numero Uno where the produce is good and often cheaper!

“The goal of this is shop well, cook well, eat well,” Susan explained during an interview at Nosh. “Those three things go together and then you can’t go wrong. There’s this bit of knowledge that you just need a few ingredients and you can provide a meal.

“There’s a sense of accomplishment.”

At the first session, students zested lemon peel, used leftover pasta water to make lemon pasta and had a delicious meal afterward. They giggled when scraping the peel and delighted in tastes that some described as “awesome.”

Working with students is nothing new to these culinary

wizards. Both of them taught children in Australia and

Marisa has  a repertoire of cooking abilities coming from

an Italian family. Her parents , when they immigrated to

Sydney, ushered in their cuisine by opening a restaurant.

Both women are loaded with talents and are eager to share

it with students. Susan qualified as chef with London City

and Guilds and received a Cordon Bleu certificate. 

The students brimmed with pleasure in the class, many saying they would join again next year. Pots steamed. Dressing was whisked. And kids smiled.

One senior already plans to ask if he can come back even after he graduates; He’d even volunteer, he said.

“It’s really fun and the food is good,” said 15-year-old Caytie Briggs, who already plans to return in the fall and doesn’t cook at home. “The ladies are really nice and they explain everything so well. We made three cheese pasta. It was good.”

Rita Marquez, a 15-year-old sophomore, said she does cook at home, but mostly a Mexican cuisine of rice, meat and beans. Already, she has started making foods she’d never experienced before, such as pasta.

“Their food comes out really good,” she said, who added she was disappointed when she made it at home. But she plans to return anyway.

Two brothers, Leland, 16, and Marsalles, 17, Williams also enrolled.

“I like it,” Leland said candidly. “We are cooking all types of different foods and we get to cook it! They don’t do it for us.”

Added Marsalles: “What I like is if there’s enough, you get second helpings.”

As this point, the culinary sky is the limit, the women say. They have bigger plans for the future, perhaps going non-profit and teaching at more schools. But for now, they are pleased just to be at San Pedro High. They plan to do fundraisers, maybe teaching parents to cook or hosting a dinner.

The next thing on the menu: they’ll just have to let us know.

LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS HAVE SEEN THE SIGNS: IT'S TIME FOR AN AREA OF THE GREAT METROPOLIS TO SECEDE NOT JUST FOR US BUT THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN

By Diana L. Chapman

Living in the city of the angels reminds me of an old joke: A man sits on his rooftop as flood waters treacherously surround his home.

Three separate times, rescuers come by and offer to save him.

“God will save me,” he responds to all three attempts. When the man died and arrived in heaven, he asked God: “What happened? How come you didn’t save me?”

“I tried three times,” God replied.

As a Los Angeles resident, I feel like we – the residents -- are the man sitting on the rooftop -- ignoring all the warning signs that we are in dire trouble. The time to split up this monstrosity of a city is now. Not yesterday. This is for everybody’s benefit not just the nubs like the Harbor Area and the valley that seem sewn on like last minute attachments for one thing – money.

Even for those who want to remain, it must make sense to let areas go that want to secede. We are all getting less and less services as time goes on and a lackluster bureaucracy with excellent skills at out waiting and perhaps outwitting the City Council. How many more warning signs and slaps in the faces do we need before we wake up?

Let’s face it: Los Angeles is way too big for its britches – four million residents and the second largest city in the United States. In this case, I really believe for all of us in terms of size – less is more. Then add in this:

We have former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan claiming the city is doomed and may go bankrupt. No matter what you think of Riordan, I don’t doubt his theory.

We have a Department of Water and Power (let’s nickname them Drunk With Power) with so much authority – more it seems than the City Council – that someone needs to unplug their power grid so they’re not in so much control.

We have a council now saying they can no longer fix the city sidewalks and as a unit -- spent a lot of time boycotting Arizona for its latest immigration stance – when in fact, there’s much to do about a lot of things right here at home.

Yes, we’ve tried in the past and secession has failed. Times are different now that Los Angeles seems as though it’s falling apart at the seams -- and then some. The city’s budget crises is a nightmarish, sticky mess -- meaning more resources and city services will be heavily cut. Forget seeing your trees get trimmed anytime soon! Your local park may be closed. And forget day care at some of those facilities.

The City Council has less clout, it seems, than ever especially over the DWP who seemed to call the shots on its recent 4.5 tax increase on residents and businesses – one that was done in darkest recession since the depression. The council realized how detrimental it is to allow the mayor (in this case Antonio Villaraigosa) and the DWP to decide this matter – and is now trying to change the City Charter so council members can get a handle on what the department does.

Good idea, but…

I can’t help asking: why wasn’t this done before? It’s never good to lay so much power in the hands of an agency and the mayor.

Earlier this winter, Antonio wanted to raise utility taxes even higher – ignoring that many of his residents are out of jobs and many adult children and their families are moving back in with their parents just to make it through this crises.

Antonio’s drive for the taxes for a greener environment lacks common sense at this time. Do we really want to feed one mouth and take it out of another?

I know thousands of us see it, but our mayor appears blinded byhis own ambitions.

“It will never happen,” my husband argues of any secession. “The rest of Los Angeles won’t let anyone go.”

I believe now – the time has come where many Angelenos will be ready to break up the city since it’s so down-trodden with woes from financial issues to giant sink holes – to overly powered departments – who often have more clout than the City Council itself.

They are waking up. And are, like many of us, sick of it.

Therefore, I’ve said it before – and I’ll say it again – it’s time to let a section of the city secede. Letting go of the valley or the Harbor-region, the remaining “Angelenos” as the mayor calls us might just see new and improved city services – a focus that’s culled down and a city in which we can at least see our trees trimmed, our streets paved – and a bureaucracy that not only answers to the council (which it appears do only sometimes), but its residents.

I know others have much faith in our Neighborhood Councils as the answer to our woes. But it’s been nearly a decade and there are still ridiculous things going on like having trouble getting park benches into parks (how difficult can this be?) and parking meters that work.

I can’t understand why this major metropolis can’t handle the smallest things without much debate and fiasco, numerous meetings and bureaucratic stall tactics just to get a bench placed at a park.

For all of us living in L.A., the time is now to make our own destiny and carve out a new future for Angelenos – one that actually works.

Jackie Gray writes her story at the Corner Store.


A 9-year-old Spins a Tale About a Greedy Little Chipmunk and Then Some; Kids Are Learning to Write at the Corner Store Every Wednesday; Here Is One of Their Stories

The Greedy Chipmunk

By Jackie Gray

Once upon a time, there was a very greedy Chipmunk named Chip. He hogged up ALL of the nuts from the squirrels and also food from all the other animals, like berries from the bears.

Everybody hated Chip.

“Even though he is small, he is mighty,” the bear said.

“He steals all my nuts,” the squirrel said.

They were attending the Wilderness Meeting organized by the Wise Owl.

“”I think we should do something about it!” said another bear.

“Yeah!!!” all the other animals shouted.

So they came up with a plan. They tied a rope around a tree and made a loose knot. The bear stayed in the tree ready to pull the rope. In the loose knot, they placed a bag of nuts for Chip to steal. They all hid, but they had to wait for two whole hours!! Finally, Chip came.

He scampered to the nuts, grabbed the bag and suddenly: “Zip!” Chip was caught in the rope and hanging by a paw. All the animals came out.

“Why do you keep taking our food all the time?” the bear asked.

“I’m never gonna’ tell you,” Chip said, while swinging.

“Then we won’t let you go,” the squirrel retorted.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s because you are always mean to chipmunks because they are so tiny,” Chip shouted, still squirming on the rope.

“Well, we would be nice to you if you didn’t steal our food,” the Wise Owl explained.

“I didn’t know you got mad,” Chip squeaked.

“Well we do get mad,” everybody said.

“Fine, I promise I won’t ever steal your food anymore,” Chip promised.

So he never did and everybody liked Chip from then on. They played with him and since he wasn’t stealing any food from other animals, the other animals shared their food with him and he shared back.

And the greedy little chipmunk was not called greedy anymore.

Derek Esquibel with K-1 Racing Coach Tim Breig above

A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY GOES PUBLIC WITH CROHN’S DISEASE AND COMBINES HIS LOVE FOR CAR RACING WITH AN EVENT AT K1 RACETRACK TO RAISE MONEY FOR THIS ELUSIVE AND OFTEN EMBARRASSING ILLNESS; THE FIRST EVENT LAUNCHES JUNE 12

By Diana L. Chapman

Last summer, as Derek Esquibel lay in the hospital for 28 days suffering from agonizing pain stabbing at his abdomen like an icepick, one thing that made him feel better was watching car races on TV with his mom and dad.

“I’d watch a race or two and feel like I was getting well,” said the aspiring race car driver and San Pedro High School sophomore. “It would really lift my spirits. And my dad would tell me when I got out of the hospital, he’d take me to K1,” an indoor go-kart track in Torrance.

His mind brimmed with ideas—despite the raw abscess in his bowels, an on-and-off fever that reached 103 degrees, and the loss of 20 pounds. About 1.4 million Americans—150,000 of them children—are afflicted with this embarrassing and dangerous disease. At the hospital, Derek vowed that no one, especially a child, should suffer like this. He decided to become part of the solution in the “race against Crohn’s disease.”

Three hospitals, four near surgeries and many intense medications later, Derek decided to go public with his chronic illness, peddling his first fund-raising events at K1, where his passion shined as one of the speediest drivers. He ranked 32 out of 880,000 K-1 drivers. His first event – with all proceeds going to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America – will be Saturday, June 12, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Jo Bender, a foundation spokeswoman, said she’s delighted with Derek’s efforts because most people with Crohn’s try to hide the disease. But more children are stepping forward.

“It’s not a glamorous disease whatsoever,” Bender said. “We are trying to raise awareness. With awareness comes money. Oftentimes, children are our biggest advocates. They are very brave. We have had a hard time trying to get celebrities to sign on.”

This is the first racing event Bender knows of that benefits the foundation. She noted that Scott Speed – a professional driver who also has Crohn’s – has stepped up to support the group.

Derek says he drew courage from Speed’s story after reading his autobiography.

Diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2005, two days before his 11^th birthday, Derek often kept himself preoccupied with racing as it drove away the negative aspects of the disease – especially stress. Crohn’s often attacks the intestinal track and can lead to intense abdominal pain, bloody stools, weight loss, fevers and an immune system that erroneously attacks the intestinal lining, triggering complications that can be life‑threatening.

His father, Gil, a Los Angeles police officer, took turns with his mother, Jean, spending the night with their youngest child at the hospital. Gil takes him to as many races as possible, including the Long Beach Grand Prix, where he watched Boris Said, a professional racer and part owner of the six K1 tracks.

“I enjoyed being able to watch you battle the Corvette,” Derek wrote to Said when requesting K1’s participation in the fundraiser. “As you probably already know, a driver needs two things: talent behind the wheel and marketability. I have the confidence to talk to people and the willingness to learn more and expand my knowledge ... This is a great way to show people that I will not let Crohn’s disease slow me down, on or off the track.”

Although Derek didn’t hear back from Said personally, managers at the Torrance K1 track, having come to know the 16-year-old and his deep-rooted love of racing, wished the corporate office would permit him to launch the fundraiser. When Derek first called the corporate office, employees there didn’t take him seriously because, after all, he was a kid.

When his mother called, she was told it would cost $2,000 per hour to use the track as a fundraiser – defeating the whole purpose. Jean queried back: Would it be okay if Derek handed out fliers advertising that K1 would donate $5 (per race?) to fight Crohn’s disease for each racer who brought in the flier?

A few phone calls later, K1 agreed.

“I had read his letter (to Said) and it really touched me,” explained Daniel Santos, one of the general managers at the Torrance track, who was delighted that K1 agreed. “He’s a strong kid for everything he’s going through. It’s good because he never gives up. He’s got something going for him. He believes in himself.”

As for Derek’s racing skills, Santos said: “You don’t see too many kids able to drive, but he’s got it in him. He has a lot of talent and not a lot of attitude.”

Fliers for Derek’s fundraiser – which could become an annual event at all six K1 tracks – can be found online at http://online.ccfa.org/goto/RacingAgainstCrohnsDisease or www.k1speed.com. The track is at 19038 S.Vermont Ave., Torrance (near 190^th Street).

Prior to his diagnosis, his mother said, Derek was “an old soul” as her eyes filled with tears because of how proud she is of his determination to fight Crohn’s and raise funds.

“Last summer when he got so sick, it really threw us for a loop,” Jean said. “We didn’t understand the magnitude of it. You never think it’s going to be your kid. It was an eye-opening experience for Derek and our whole family. You don’t know what will trigger it.

“But you can’t live your life in fear. And that’s the whole purpose of this fundraiser.”