Lack of Food � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6Celiac Disease � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7Food & You � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8MSG � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9Cereal � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11Steve Sheets on Breakfast � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 12Breakfast is Important � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13Street Food Map � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 14-15Kale � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17Teacher Foods � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 18Los Bagels Tour � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19Freshmen Lunch Spots � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20$3�50 Challenge � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 21Philly Cheese Challenge � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 22Sushi Spot vs Tomo � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 23Diary of a Taco Bell Employee � � � � � � � � � � � � 24Date Night � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25Late Night Food � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 26Pizza Challenge � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �27-28

Box BriefsFFA Drive Thru BBQ: March 27Spring Break: April 1 - 5Star Testing Begins: April 22Early Dismissal: April 24 - 26

Want to advertise or buy a mail sub-scription to the Pepperbox? Email Business Manager Hawken Ritter at ahs�pepperbox@gmail�com�

Make sure to us on Facebook at www�facebook�com/AHSPepper-box

In The Box

Geena DamianErrol Funk

Steve SheetsKaitlin Tucker

Patrick PaytonSam WinterJamie MaherDayna Naish

Julia SloanJonathan Dedekan

Aidan CarrollAstaria Holland

Editorial Staff

Reporters

Gabe Schneider - Graphic DesignerHawken Ritter - Business Manager

Sam Freed - Media EditorBen McCreath - Media Editor

Grace Lovell - Art DirectorTami Conrad - Photo Editor

Aiyana Allen-Caldwell - Chief Photographer

Shea Lignitz - Copy EditorDay Robins - Online Editor

Forrest Lewis - Editor-in-ChiefElaine Cunha - Editor-in-Chief

Molly Salamunovich - Managing EditorAnna Nordquist - News Editor

Gillen Martin - Junior News EditorPiper Bazard - Junior News Editor

Sage Fanucchi-Funes - Feature EditorLauren McCoy - Sports EditorCalvin Ryan - Opinion Editor

Dakota Goodman - A&E Editor

DisclaimerQuestions regarding editorial

content of the Pepperbox should be directed toward its editors�

Opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Arcata

High School�

Danielle Lehman

The Pepperbox would like to thank Western Web, based in Samoa, for printing our paper at-cost� Western Web supports student journalism throughout Humboldt County and has made publications like the Pepperbox possible for decades� We appreciate their dedication to keeping print media alive!

Advisor

For this issue’s cover, graphic designer Gabe Schneider pho-tographed Arcata High’s leg-endary Cindy Condit using the Pepperbox’s new chroma key photo studio. He proceeded to photoshop the beloved biology teacher into a 1950’s pin-up model. Unfortunately, the featured “Salt n’ Pepper Box” cereal is purely fictional and not available in the student store. Sorry to disappoint!

From the Archives:

Editors’ BoxFood is overlooked with frightening consistency. From the quality we put into our bodies to the wastefulness of our ways,

food just seems to be lacking the proper attention. So that’s why, for the very first time, the Pepperbox is devoting an entire issue to the subject in order to shine a little more light on the substance that sustains us into continued growth and

success. A wide spectrum of views are taken in this issue: Junior News Editor Piper Bazard did in-depth interviews to get the scoop on high school students who sometimes don’t have enough to eat, while reporter Sam Winter documented Russ Taylor’s attempt to gorge himself in the Philly Cheese Steak Challenge. Sports Editor Lauren McCoy completed the arduous task of sampling many of the tasty cuisines found on the streets of Arcata and Graphic Designer Gabe Schneider used his mastery of Adobe Illustrator to create the amazing map of Arcata’s best street food. This issue is certainly a culinary masterpiece.

Editors-in-ChiefElaine Cunha & Forrest Lewis

Behind the Cover:Originally published January 11, 1950

Elaine Cunha/PEPPERBOX

Before After

Quotable�“Gay-Town, Gay-Town, Gay-Town!”

Fans of the self-proclaimed “Friendly City,” spoofing Arcata High’s “A-Town” chant in the championship of the Dick Niclai Tournament�

“It’s not my Big Fat Greek Wedding, it’s my Big Fat Greek Tragedy.”

AP English teacher Susan Buscher in an introductory lecture to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex� 5-10

Most common time, in minutes, spent waiting for food at lunch, according to 40 percent of students at Arcata High School

<5Average amount, in dol-lars, spent daily at lunch-time. Approximately 32 percent of Arcata High

School students respond-ed with this number.

90 10Percent of Ar-

cata High School students who

responded “no” to the question, “Are you a veg-etarian?” on a

recent Pepperbox census

Percent of Ar-cata High School

students who responded “yes”

to the que--stion, “Are you a veg-etarian?” on a

recent Pepperbox census

“It’s not that hard for him to put up a little note saying, ‘I’m gonna be making bombs today.’”

Mathematics teacher Kay Wozniak after being interrupted mid-lecture by loud noises coming from Earl Peters’ chemistry classroom.

Framable�Easy as pi(e): Arcata High celebrates Pi Day (March 14th) with pie�

P a g e 6

FoodMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

Teenagers are hungry - no, reallyPiper Bazard

Junior News Editor

Teenagers are obsessed with food. So obsessed, in fact, that we were able to write over 30 pages about

it. But what about those who don’t get enough food? While we’re de-bating over the best pizza and the coolest places to go for a late-night snack, there are people out there struggling everyday, just to get the nutrition that they need. Although we might not always see it, there is an epidemic of hunger that is grow-ing out of control within our com-munity.

Hunger is a huge problem every-where in the United States, and es-pecially in this county. 17.7 percent of Humboldt County residents live below the poverty level1 and it’s es-timated that another 13 percent are above the poverty level and are eli-gible for food stamps2. Even here at Arcata High, 53.31 percent of stu-dents are of low enough income to qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch3. To put those statistics in perspective, that means one out of every two students attending our school needs help getting enough to eat.

For many, these numbers are sur-prising. “I wouldn’t have known,” sophomore Aysu Solmaz said. “If you hadn’t told me, I never would have guessed.” For others, the im-pact hunger can have is more evi-dent. “It’s really an issue,” said an Arcata High student who wished to remain anonymous. “You usually see certain people asking around for food a lot.”

Inadequate nutrition can easily lead to poor health. “It’s through the vitamins and minerals that you stay

well, [and] that your body is able to keep itself well,” Norma Watson, AHS school nurse, said. When stu-dents aren’t eating enough, it can result in fatigue, inability to con-centrate, irritability, and a weak-ened immune system, which results in getting sick more often. All of these symptoms are difficult to deal with, as well as making it hard to do well in school.

Getting the right kind of food is also just as important as getting enough food. For a low-income stu-dent, processed foods are appeal-ing because they are almost always cheaper than a wholesome, healthy meal. “In the long run you’re not doing yourself a favor,” Nurse Watson said. “A bottle of coke and a bag of chips isn’t going to keep you from getting sick or give you the vitamins and minerals you need to grow to where you’re supposed to be.” While many are aware of the benefits of good nutrition, find-ing good food on a budget can be hard. An individual on food stamps in California receives an average of only $149 a month.4 Trying to feed yourself on that amount of money makes it difficult to make healthy choices.

Luckily, Arcata High staff are helping to solve this problem. The free and reduced lunch program of-fers healthy, low-cost and free food to students in need. Eligibility is based on household income, and it’s easy to apply for. “We try not to deny anyone who is in need,” Jackie Slattery, lunch program cook said. “We’re here to help.” Both her and Sue Cole, the lunch program direc-tor, work to provide food to those that need it. In addition to lunches, they offer breakfast and snacks dur-ing nutrition break, and bag lunches

on minimum days. The school lunches receive lots of

praise from students for being both healthy and enjoyable: “I really like the salad,” sophomore Kelly Ham-blin said. “It makes me actually like salad somehow, because I don’t eat salad at home.” Sophomore Shelbie Gaethle agreed, “It’s really healthy. I have a friend that doesn’t have a lot of money and she always eats here and gets a chance to get free food.” The school lunch program makes it possible for students who otherwise might not eat lunch at all to have a balanced and wholesome meal. “It just gives kids free food,” an anonymous Arcata High student said. “They do give out seconds and you can keep on going back if you need it, and that helps.”

There are things we can do as

students to help solve the problem of hunger in our community. Lo-cal food banks and shelters are al-ways looking for donations and volunteers, and there are many canned food drives that take place through community organizations throughout the year. But one of the most powerful tools to combat the hunger epidemic is education. The more people are informed about what is going on, the more likely they are to help out, in any way that they can. As Nurse Watson said, “It starts with awareness.”

Sources:1US Census Bureau: 2010 Census2Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services3NHUHSD THRIVE Report4US Department of Agriculture

P a g e 7

PepperboxFoodMarch 22, 2013 T

HEAHS

Food fight: a civil war in the intestinesDay Robins

Online Editor

“Oh!” the Italian waiter said with a thick accent, his eyes bright-

ening with understanding, “celiac?”Sitting in a restaurant in Italy,

my family had just spent five min-utes trying to communicate what “wheat,” or “gluten,” or “bread” is in English. It was like charades: we pointed at the bread and then to my brother, Canyon Robins, and shook our heads “no” - attempting to ex-plain that my brother can’t eat any gluten. Our goal was to find some-thing gluten-free on their menu full of pasta and bread. One of us threw out the term “celiac” as a last-ditch effort to explain my brother’s food issue, and suddenly, the Italian waiter clearly understood the prob-lem.

Celiac disease is the most com-mon genetic disease in Europe. In Italy, all children are given a sim-ple blood test for celiac by age six. Yet, very few people in America have even heard of celiac disease. Consequently, it’s more misunder-stood here than in most developed countries. Without routine testing

in the U.S., 97 percent of U.S. ce-liac cases are undiagnosed, leav-ing many people suffering without understanding what’s wrong with them. According to the “Archives of Internal Medicine,” one out of every 133 Americans may have celiac disease. Here at Arcata High, many students keep gluten out of their diets, whether they have celiac or not.

“Gluten” is Latin for glue; it’s a protein composite found in grass grains like wheat that helps hold bread together. Los Bagels uses a

high gluten flour to give their ba-gels that special dense, chewy tex-ture. Gluten can trigger an autoim-mune reaction in the intestines of some genetically susceptible peo-ple, causing tiredness, abdominal pain, and diarrhea or constipation, or sometimes no symptoms at all.

Most people digest gluten prop-erly. But, to people with celiac, gluten is poison; their immune systems treat gluten as an invader and attempt to fight it off, causing

damage to the villi in their small in-testines. This damage can lead to an inability to absorb vital nutrients, among other things.

“I know that when it’s recog-nized and changed it makes a huge difference,” said school nurse Nor-ma Watson. Unfortunately, in the U.S., people suffering with symp-toms may never find out that they have celiac. It’s not uncommon for people to suffer for many years be-fore they’re diagnosed.

“I had crazy stomach pains for years,” said recent AHS graduate

Nadia Al-Yagout. “It took my doc-tors 17 years to find out what I had, which is incredibly dangerous. Re-cently, I have been hospitalized...some of the cells that are responsi-ble for attacking my small intestine found their way to my liver, giving me autoimmune hepatitis,” Al-Ya-gout continued. “Living with ce-liac is a constant struggle, because no matter what, I’m malnourished, and no matter what, I’m sick.”

Some people are luckier. “From

“It took my doctors 17 years to find out what I had, which is incredibly dangerous.”

-AHS graduate Nadia Al-Yagout

the time I started having symptoms, it took about a year or so to get diag-nosed,” senior Linden Gray-Rene-berg said. “I don’t go to the student store for lunch very often because all they have are sandwiches, pizza, burritos, bagels…” she continued. “Sushi is a favorite of mine…and I also like the fact that Los Bagels has a gluten-free bagel!”

To find out if Arcata High is a gluten-free friendly campus, I asked around to see where gluten-free stu-dents on campus like to eat.

“I don’t go to the student store,” senior Lucy Gahm said. “I normal-ly pack a lunch because my friends aren’t gluten-free, so it’s hard to find gluten-free food.”

Freshman Canyon Robins, who was diagnosed with celiac at age five, has found great gluten-free options in town. “I like Big Pete’s because they have gluten-free pizza by the slice,” Robins added. “I also like Esteban’s tacos.”

Seven years ago, while I was vacationing in Italy, I remember it being a big deal when the waiter brought my brother a bowl of rice pasta. Now, gluten-free products seem to be popping up on U.S. menus and in stores – and, hopeful-ly, eventually expanding the variety of our own beloved student store.

1242 G St. in Arcata1734 Central Avenue in McKinleyvilleOpen Mon-Sun 10AM-11PM The second intestinal biopsy shows damage to the villi, which causes poor ab-

sorption and malnutrition without a diet adjustment.

Photo courtesy of UCLA

P a g e 8

FoodMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

The evolution of food and youSam Freed

Media Editor

Shea LignitzCopy Editor

When we’re babies, we’re bizarrely con-tent with a bowl of goop which, ac-

cording to our cooing parents, con-stitutes dinner. We couldn’t know or care less what we were being served, as long as it was edible. There was no difference between pureed carrots or applesauce, oat-meal or yogurt; it was all a blend of energy and nutrients that we re-quired in order to grow.

As adolescents, we develop indi-vidual tastes. Now, we are able to recognize foods and distinctly re-member the flavors and textures of them. For a child, it becomes less about the food simply being food and more about what kind of food it is. A commonly disliked food group at this stage is vegetables; children are still trying to hide their broccoli

in their milk or brushing off their brussel sprouts to the dog when no one is looking. Children have no idea why one food is more nutritious than another, so the only important quality is that the food is tasty. Why should someone eat something that doesn’t taste good, even if mom says it’s good for them?

Once a person reaches their teen years, their view of food changes once again. Perhaps now the teen has a much wider knowledge of the different types of foods and flavors available in the world. But also they may be basing their diet on other factors, such as price or conve-nience. With so many things to do it is impossible to spend 10, 20, or 30 minutes on preparing a single meal. Additionally, most teens don’t have to worry about the nutritional as-pects of foods because, in general, most teens do not have diseases, aches and pains, and other problems that arise with older age that are af-fected negatively by food. The teen years are probably the most critical to the evolution of food from a need into a want, as a teen is able to have more independence and choice as to

what they are eating. Lastly, we become adults and our

tastes change once again. Health is oftentimes more important and more green enters the diet. Howev-er, some people never do lose that fond hate of leafy greens. Recently, though, it seems the world has been going through a health craze. Who knows if it’s the science or the me-dia that’s causing it, but either way it’s happening. Many attempt to eat vegan or vegetarian diets or try sticking with relatively few healthy options for meals in the hopes that it will cure them of all their prob-lems. Yet, strangely enough, the drive-thru line at McDonald's has not grown any shorter.

Food is a basic necessity, but why did it ever evolve past that? Why couldn't we be content with the “fruits” of nature’s labor? The answer is boredom. Boredom and a desire for luxury. To put it plainly, humans got tired of eating apples and corn every day. We decided eat-ing shouldn’t be a chore, something that simply had to be done but not necessarily enjoyed. It should be something better; perhaps even a

&

form of entertainment.The reason the food industry has

always boomed is that people fig-ured out how to turn a need into a want. Nowadays, people will spend hundreds on a fancy meal. Many believe food to be an art form, though we’re not so sure every-thing posted to Instagram could be considered art, especially when the photos are so often of terrible qual-ity. Fast food is hardly more than a first grader scribbling with a Cray-ola marker. Health food, while con-sidered admirable, is still merely an amateur’s rendition of the gourmet, the Mona Lisa of cuisine. Gourmet food isn’t just a “feast” for the eyes. It is a symphony for the ears as well. The sound of something sizzling in a pan is certainly enough to make our mouths water. And you know that your mother’s signature lasa-gna is dancing the rumba on its way to your stomach. This is why we left behind the era of hunter/gatherer; so we could experience something which transcends simplicity into a plane above reality in which each course is served on a gilded platter, and you dine with the gods.

Sam Freed/PEPPERBOX

P a g e 9

PepperboxFoodMarch 22, 2013 T

HEAHS

Monosodium glutamate: MSG

Do you know what’s in your food?

MSG or monoso-dium glutamate, is a

sodium salt of glutamate acid. The FDA does not require manufactur-ers who use MSG in their products to list it as an ingredient. As a food additive, it is used to enhance the key flavors in food. It is processed and comes from fermented sugar bees. There is about 320mg of so-dium in a quarter teaspoon of MSG. Consumers who don’t filter MSG out of their diet are catching a dou-ble dose of toxicity.

MSG can be found in many fast food joints, such as McDon-ald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Taco

Jonathan DedekamReporter

Bell, all of which Arcata High stu-dents eat at. The side effects from this product can cause a number of symptoms. These symptoms are skin rashes, itching, hives, nau-sea, vomiting, migraine headaches, asthma, heart irregularities, depres-sion, and even seizures. I person-ally don’t eat fast food for this very reason. It solved the mystery of my migraine headaches.

Filtering out the bad foods in your diet can also help you do better in school. I know from personal ex-perience. Chinese food would be on this list and other places, even res-taurants are known to carry MSG in some of their foods. Top Ramen is another well known food the carries this in its food. So think twice be-fore you serve yourself this harmful product.

Is MSG hiding in your home?

From my personal research, I learned that most “instant foods” cooked in three minutes or under have MSG in the product. Some popular instant foods are Ham-burger Helper, Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix, Progresso soups, Camp-bell’s soups, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, and processed parmesan cheese.

Filtering MSG out of your diet is not hard to do, many processed foods and very high salt foods con-tain this product. It’s as simple as

taking a few seconds to read what you’re eating. You may be surprised to see what’s really in your food.

P a g e 10

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DINNER

The Food Issue

page 11

page 14

page 22

P a g e 11

PepperboxbreakfastMarch 22, 2013 T

HEAHS

The super bowl of breakfast cerealsCalvin Ryan

Opinion Editor

The miniature milk water-fall raged. Cascading into the deep recesses of a ce-ramic bowl, it decimated

the chocolate rubble of perfectly round frosted boulders. The milk swirled and eddied around the de-bris, forming spirals of chocolate sediment. Waves crashed against the high cliffs surrounding the white sea and an unseen force shook the waters. With a final shock, the earthquakes stopped. Once the white waters had settled, a massive chrome-like oval glided down and scooped up the drowning boulders with unrelenting speed. In a mat-ter of minutes, all of the rubble was cleared and the ocean was drained. Every morning I enjoy a delicious bowl of cereal, but recently I have tired of the same old 2 percent milk and generally boring General Mills cereal. I’ve also become more in-terested in trying gluten-free, or-ganic cereals, scooting closer to my Humboldt heritage. I’ve decided to surprise my taste buds with a vari-ety of new combinations in an at-tempt to find a less contrived and healthier way of eating my bounti-ful morning breakfast.

I compared Envirokidz Leapin’ Lemurs to Reese’s Puffs and Envi-rokidz Koala Crisp to Cocoa Peb-bles with 1 percent milk and almond milk. The nutrition facts are fairly constant across the four cereals, but the main ingredients differ. Koala Crisp consists mostly of brown rice flour, Cocoa Pebbles’ main ingre-dients are rice and sugar, Reese’s Puffs contains mostly whole grain, corn flour and sugar and Leapin’

Lemurs are mostly cornmeal and whole grain cornmeal.

Koala CrispMilk:Almond milk:I had Koala Crisp for breakfast this morning. Upon pouring the milk, all of the color faded out of the rat turdish morsels and it basically turned into chocolate milk with kind of bland, faintly chocolatey rice pellets. The aftertaste was not very pleasant and lasted for about an hour or two after eating them.

Cocoa PebblesMilk:Almond milk:The pebbles were definitely eas-ier to eat than the crisp. Their fla-vor was not lost when they came in contact with the liquids. Paired with milk, they were definitely en-joyable, and slightly above average. The aftertaste was more chocolatey and much less chalky than the Ko-ala Crisp. I would eat them again. When I ate them with almond milk, the sliminess prevailed and docked a full star off of the taste.

Leapin’ LemursMilk:Almond milk:The Leapin’ Lemurs were much harder to chew than Reese’s Puffs and had a very rough texture which made them kind of hurt going down. I felt like I was eating peanut but-ter and chocolate flavored croutons. They were not the best alternative to Reese’s Puffs.

Reese’s PuffsMilk:Almond milk:Reese’s Puffs blew all the others

out of the milk. They were definitely supe-rior than the rest, with a much larger range of flavors than the Leapin’ Lemurs. They captured the salti-ness of peanut butter and the sweetness of chocolate much better than the Leapin’ Le-murs did as well. The slime of the almond milk was not quite as noticable because the puffs had a much more definitive taste that overpowered the flavor of the almond milk. They were much easier to chew than the Leapin’ Lemurs, and I didn’t feel like I was eating little rocks for breakfast.

My original plan included using orange juice as a third choice, but I couldn’t do it. After my experience with almond milk, I couldn’t convince my taste buds. Personally, I would not sug-gest almond milk in any way, shape

or form. Maybe I just bought a bad brand or something, but it was aw-ful. The fact that Leapin’ Lemurs’

top two ingredients were cornmeal and whole grain cornmeal probably didn’t help its taste either, not to mention that Reese’s Puffs are basi-cally just condensed balls of sugar, so the comparisons may have been a little skewed. I was quite sad to learn that I liked the gluten-free ce-real far less than the General Mills and Post cereals. You could say that the Koala Crisp and Leapin’ Lemurs thoroughly rustled my jimmies. Honestly, I was totally expecting to love the organic cereals and hate the trademarked, big name cereals. I desired uniqueness. I just really wanted to like Envirokidz before it was cool, but I guess conformity is my specialty.

You could say that the Koala Crisp and Leapin’ Lemurs thor-

oughly rustled my jim-mies.

My stiff pompadour was no match for the Leapin’ Lemurs rock-hard abs.

Sam Freed/PEPPERBOX

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DINNER

P a g e 12

breakfastMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

Steve SheetsReporter

Eating is hard for me in the mornings. I wake up around 7:55 every morn-ing to the sound of my

parents yelling at me to get up. Hold on! Let’s backtrack a little bit to me waking up. So my alarm clock is set for 7:20 on the dot every morn-ing, but I’m woken up by parents every morning. Oh, that’s because I go the extra mile and sleep through that wretched beep-beep-beep. How? I have no clue, but I do it every morning. What I do know is that I’m ready with brushed teeth in at least seven or eight minutes, then it’s time to make a cup of coffee af-ter that, and if I remember, I’ll grab an Odwalla bar-- usually a super food or super protein bar. Although, I forget to grab something to eat all the time due to my stupid staring contest with the clock! With under ten minutes until school starts, I’m out the door and still waking up to my cup of coffee in a daze of DMT still flowing through my brain. By the time I get to campus, I have already forgot about waking up and can’t even remember getting dressed. By the way, it takes skill.

Now that I’m at school and hun-gry, I strive for lunch time in good hopes that I’ll find something to eat or find something to keep my mind of the constant pain that is rolling throughout my gut. On a good day, I have already eaten my Odwalla bar during secind period and now I’m hungry again. Protein bars just don’t do it for me. By the time school is out, I have no energy and hate life, but now I have work. So,

I continue to hate life and be hun-gry. Once I get to work I’m dying

of hunger. If I have money, I’m at Smugs in Old Town in a flash! Fill-ing my tummy up so it will shut up!

And another average day in the life at work and I’m on my way home. Realizing that I’m still super hungry, I march in the door and put my back pack on the floor. Dashing to the kitchen, I ransack the Odwalla bars, help myself to some hummus, and sit on the computer for a bit, contemplating the last four hours of my day. Usually it goes some-thing like this: Step one, I would start with a hot tub and a shower.

Step two, if there is dinner I’m all over it! If not, I might cook but I’m pretty tired and lazy at this time. Step three, tired and lazy? That’s for sure. I’ll probably be so bored because I’m at home that I’ll just go to bed and call it a day. By this time my guts have usually only seen pro-tein bars, coffee, and tea. Oh, and maybe Smugs but that depends on my wallet situation. I’m sleeping in a matter of seconds. Nightnight world, I’ll do it all again tomorrow, and maybe I’ll find some breakfast in the morning.

Forrest Lewis/PEPPERBOX

On a good day, I have al-ready eaten my Odwalla bar during second peri-od and now I’m hungry again. Protein bars just

don’t do it for me.

Steve munching on one of his many daily Odwalla bars between classes.

No waffles for Steve

P a g e 13

PepperboxbreakfastMarch 22, 2013 T

HEAHS

The most important meal of the dayTami Conrad

Photo Editor

Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day, but un-fortunately, 30 percent

of adolescents no longer eat break-fast. Eating food in the morning provides you with the energy and nutrients that lead you to succeed in your day. Teens who have breakfast in the morning before school also have better concentration during class, so it can even improve school performance. “Breakfast sets you up,” senior Madeleine LaBlanca said.

As school nurse Norma Wat-son explains, many students say,

“‘I’m used to not eating breakfast, I don’t need it.’” Avoiding a morning meal can lead to health problems: “Students that don’t eat breakfast by fourthperiod, will often experi-ence headaches, loss of energy, and stomach discomfort,” Watson said. The ideal breakfast should be high in carbohydrates, rich in nutrients, and low in fat. There are many op-tions to have a good breakfast easy and fast. You can make good chang-es in your eating habits by picking two to three foods, including at least one from each of the following food groups: bread and grains like cereal, toast, or muffins; milk prod-ucts such as low-fat yogurt, or low-fat milk, and fruit or vegetables like bananas, apples, or carrots. Replace

or accompany that morning cup of coffee with a glass of orange juice or milk.

Often, students do not have time to sit down and have a healthy breakfast, but there is always the option of taking it to go. Pick up portable breakfast items when you go shopping at the grocery store like fruit, low-fat yogurt, whole grain breakfast bars, or granola bars for those mornings when you have to eat breakfast on the go.

There are fast recipes to have a good, healthy breakfast, but you have to plan ahead and decide what you are going to eat for breakfast before the next morning. You could add some variety to your day by making an omelette and shorten-

ing preparation time by chopping up your vegetables ahead of time, or you could save time on a quick meal by putting out the box of ce-real and cutting up some fruit the night before. In case you forgot to get up on time, you can easily fix and consume a healthy breakfast in 15 minutes or less.

There are many good reasons to have a good breakfast. It gives you an energy boost to start the day, sharper focus, reduces morn-ing crankiness, boosts metabolism, prevents starvation, keeps you from overeating, allows you to properly portion your meals, and helps lower the “bad” cholesterol. Breakfast is nutritious, delicious, and should be a part of everyone’s morning.

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HEAHS

NAAN OF THE ABOVEQUALITY

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THE TRAILERQUALITY

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FRITANGA NICAQUALITY

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ARCATA STREET FOOD GUIDE

PITA GRILLQUALITY

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THE PATTI-OHQUALITY

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PepperboxlunchMarch 22, 2013 T

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NAAN OF THE ABOVEQUALITY

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THE TRAILERQUALITY

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FRITANGA NICAQUALITY

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ARCATA STREET FOOD GUIDE

PITA GRILLQUALITY

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THE PATTI-OHQUALITY

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Page Design by Gabe SchneiderRatings by Lauren McCoy

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PepperboxlunchMarch 22, 2013 T

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Kale: All the cool kids are doing itAstaria Holland

Reporter

“What's kale?” s o p h o m o r e M o r g a n Johnson asks.

Kale is a dark leafy green, a name for over four thousand boys in the United States, and the new “su-perhero” of greens. Why is kale so good for people? Kale is low in cal-ories and high in fiber. Per calorie kale has more iron than beef, it is high in vitamins K, A, and C, anti-oxidants, and calcium. It is an anti-inflammatory food which means that it can help asthma and autoim-

mune disorders. It also is a great detox vegetable that will help keep your liver, skin, and blood healthy. Kale has become the new face of “green” health food, however it has been cultivated for the last 2,000 years. In Europe, kale was the most widely eaten green veggie until the Middle Ages because it grows great in cold climates such as Humboldt County and can withstand frost.

"Kale right um... it would be dank if it wasn't so kalie,” senior Bucky Foget said. Although some share this opinion, kale is still returning faster than Batman. There are so many delicious ways to prepare this green that one could never get too bored. Senior Gwyn Caughey loves kale because “it’s an excuse to eat butter and garlic and it’s healthy for you!”

One cup of kale has 34 calories, 2.6 grams of fiber, 9 percent of the daily calcium recommendation, 6 percent of magnesium, 9 percent vitamin B6, 354 percent of vita-min A, and 89 percent of vitamin C and vitamin K. Many restaurants in California now use kale in many of their dishes and it is the main green for all health foodists.

Here are some fun ways to spice up meals with kale:

A breakfast recipe for a kale smoothie: one cup chopped kale, one cup fresh or frozen strawber-ries, one cup honey greek yogurt, one banana, one tablespoon flaxseed oil and some crushed ice. Put all in-gredients into a blender and blend for one to two minutes. Yields one to three servings. “It’s my favorite vegetable to drink!” sophomore Chloe Maskill said.

Add kale into a stir fry for a healthy lunchtime meal: one bunch of kale, one package of tofu (sliced into cubes), one tablespoon soy sauce, one fourth cup vegetable stock, one fourth teaspoon salt, one fourth to one half teaspoon ground pepper, one tablespoon canola oil, one tablespoon minced garlic, one tablespoon minced ginger, one red bell pepper and one bunch of as-paragus. Put vegetables stock into medium saucepan, add the aspara-gus first then slowly add the kale, tofu and bell peppers. Then add the garlic and ginger, next put in the soy sauce and canola oil. For the last touch add the salt and pepper, lightly stir together and cook until asparagus has reached desired ten-derness. Yields three to five serv-ings.

For dinner, kale can be added to any soup. A recipe for minestrone soup with kale: one and a half cup

cooked garbanzo beans, one and a half cup gluten free pasta, one cup chopped tomatoes, parmesan cheese, one cup chopped onions, five to six cloves of garlic, one cup chopped bell pepper, two cups to-mato puree, three cups chopped kale, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and three and a half cups water or stock. Saute onions, garlic, kale, bell pepper, salt, oregano, and basil together in a soup kettle for five to eight minutes, then add stock, purée and cooked beans. Cover and sim-mer for 15 minutes, add tomatoes, and cook at low heat for 10 min-utes before you plan to serve. Then bring the soup to a boil, add pasta, and boil until pasta is ready, top with parmesan, and serve. Yields four to six servings. “It’s my favorite veg-

etable to drink!”-sophomore

Chloe Maskill

Forrest Lewis/PEPPERBOXSuperkale will help you achieve super health.

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P a g e 18

lunchMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

W hen in doubt, show-ing an act of random kindness directed to-ward the person who

determines your grades might just be in your best interest. Through-out high school you’ll be put into situations that could be solved quickly and efficiently if only you knew your teacher’s soft spot. This article is here for you: below is a list of your teachers’ favorite foods and/or drinks that might just come in handy in times of need. Having 150 students who depend on you constantly day after day starts to take a toll on teachers. And how do they go about dealing with all that stress? They come up with amazing snacks! Like Mr. Ghisetti and his draw of Little Debbies snacks and occasional salted carrots, or Mr. Filippini and the everyday Diet Pepsi. These are mechanisms which help teachers to stay sane. Note this article is in no way, shape, or form suggesting that you leave campus to gather your teacher’s favorite delicacies.

Angles: “Peanut M&M’s and/or a mocha from Jitter Bean”

D. Bagnall: “I live to eat; some of my favorites are San Pellegrino sparkling water and of course crepes, things I like locally are

Errol FunkReporter

A teacher food guide for that Renata’s and Larrupin sauce.”Bareilles: “Pizza any time of the day.”

Bown-Crawford: “My favorite food is potatoes.” The possibilities are endless.

Boydstun: “A Heart Attack from Porter Street”

Buscher: “16 oz white chocolate mocha no whip”

Campbell: “Mexican food, not limited to any type”

Condit: “Decaf from Starbucks or chocolate, but I would be happy if my students turned in their home-work name and date included”

Cox: “Regular chocolate M&M’s”

Ghisetti: “Little Debbie once a day.” He probably won’t turn down another.

Helms: “White Explosion from Jitter Bean and yes, I can be bribed.”

Hildebrand: “Coffee and dough-nuts - nothing specific, they’re all good.”

Johnson: “Bag of carrots or a peanut butter sandwich as a snack. Barbeque is always good, it’s making me salivate just thinking about it. Rumble in da Bronx is a favorite from Live, other favorites are mint chip ice cream and as funny as it sounds, a glass of ice water”

Lazaridis: “Double Vanilla Latte from Jitter Bean”

Lehman: “A Brio coffee, typi-cally”

Lovato: “Roasted pumpkin seeds”

MacDonald: “Vegetarian Haggis with a single malt scotch”

Mauro: “Homemade cookies”

Moore: “Starbucks, specifically a Venti Chai tea with two pumps of vanilla, no added water and very hot”.

Peters: “A burrito, nothing cheap, a super vegetarian would be ideal”.

Rosebrook: “Doughnuts - no spe-cific kind, just more doughnuts and if not, chocolate”

Schmidt: “A glazed doughnut from Don’s”

Simms: “It usually depends on how hungry I am, but either a bell pepper or a fresh juice”

Trump: “Dark chocolate”

Vollmers: “Grandpa Goren from Los Bagels”

Wozniak: “Chocolate Chip cook-ie”

Zamboni: “A good smoothie from Wild Berries, usually a mango blend. I also like the Deli Roll from Tomo.”

“[Hildebrand] is defi-nitely a man of tradi-tion.” - Earl Peters, referring to Greg Hilde-brand’s perfected break-fast of a banana, cheese stick, and rice crispy treat every day.

“Look at me.”- Troy Ghisetti on whether Lit-tle Debbies are affecting his figure.

“A vegetarian who drives a Hummer emits less carbon dioxide into the air than a meat eater that drives a Prius because meat produc-tion emits an enormous amount of greenhouse gasses. I am a vegetar-ian, well, 95 percent. I cheat once a month.” -Jason Simms on being a vegetarian

&

Kaitlin TuckerReporter

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PepperboxlunchMarch 22, 2013 T

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A local delicacy: the boiled bagelJulia Sloan

Reporter

Almost everyone that has visited or lived in Humboldt has tasted or at least heard of the lo-

cal delicacy, Los Bagels. It’s one of Humboldt’s many local busi-ness that has thrived in this amaz-ing community. Eating local has so many benefits, aside from the feel of community, your money stays close, so when you buy a bagel your money doesn’t go to pay for some big shot CEO’s beach home, you’re paying for the next days’ ba-gels. I had the unique opportunity to go on a Los Bagels tour. A lot of schools go on this tour, but getting to go now that I’m older was even more amazing, because I was able

to understand more and really ap-preciate seeing one of my favorite restaurants behind the scenes.

On the tour, my tour guide Bran-don Rasmussen, the marketing di-rector for Los Bagels, and I, went behind the scenes to the bakery. He told me all about how the bagels are made, delivered, and consumed. The baking starts at 10:00 pm when 300 pounds of bagels are mixed at once, containing 200 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of water, and a little bit of salt, yeast, and malt. From the gi-ant mixer, the bagels move to the board, where the dough is cut from 50 pound pieces to even smaller slices. Next they move to “Klink” which is a big machine that cuts the bagels into one half pound “worms” and rolls them into the bagel shape. Then they move to tall shelves with trays to hold 720 bagels while they

proof, or rise. After they rise, they are individually put into boiling water, used as proof alert to make sure the bagels have risen enough. The bagels are put into the freezer

to make sure they don’t rise any-more than is necessary. After that, the bagels that have seasoning on them get seasoned. Then all the ba-gels move into a giant oven, with three rotating shelves. They only go in for a quick ten minutes. They are then taken out and put in bas-

kets where they cool and then get dispersed to the different sale plac-es.The deliverers get to the bakery at 3:30 am and it takes an hour to an hour-and-a-half to get their de-liveries all ready. Then at 5:00 am they are sent out and delivered to be ready and waiting for us to eat when our favorite Los Bagels carri-ers open up.

For the past two weeks, Los Ba-gels was celebrating their 29th an-niversary. Many of their most pop-ular bagels were on sale, and they had sweatshirts and a hand drawn flip book ad brought back from the ‘90s. This was a big celebration for Los Bagels, but not as big as next year’s 30 year anniversary. So keep an eye out next March, and remem-ber when you’re eating your favor-ite bagel, it went through this entire process right here in Arcata, CA.

When you buy a bagel, your money doesn’t go

to pay for some big shot CEO’s beach home.

Photo courtesy of Los BagelsBalls of dough get shaped into bagels during the final stages of the baking process.

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lunchMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

Feeding as a freshman: Lunch

Marcus Stachel

Patrick: Where do you go for lunch?

Marcus: The Shell station - it is the closest place to get a Rockstar. They used to get me really hyped up when I was like nine. I have to drink like three or four to get the same buzz. Oh, and they have Strawberry Pop Tarts, $1 for 2. They have fruit in them. They only let four high schoolers in at a time and you have to leave your backpack at the door.

How much do you spend?$7-$10

What do you get?A Rockstar, chips and Pop Tarts.

Where can you not wait to go when you can drive?Taco Bell, because it is freaking awesome. They have crunchy tacos with beef and slushies.

KC Grandfield

Patrick: Where do you go for lunch?

KC: Subway and Philly Cheese Steak. The line is long and you have to wait outside with the door closed. I set the sandwich down in Subway before leaving, get one half out, wrap it in a napkin, and then eatit while walking back to school. I took a girl there once and she only got a six inch, so I felt fat and gave ahomeless man the other half of my sandwich.

How much do you spend?$8

What do you get?Spicy Italian sub at Subway and a classic cheese steak at Philly Cheese Steak.

Where can you not wait to go when you can drive?Toni’s, because the food and milk-shakes are really good.

Delaney Rice

Patrick: Where do you go for lunch?

Delaney: On Thursdays I hitch a ride with Elaine Cunha and Me-gan Viña and go to Toni’s… every Thursday. And on any other day, I go to Hey Juan’s, Los Bagels, or Smugs. If I have enough time, I take a back alley to get ice cream at the Scoop and then walk back.

How much do you spend?Um, well my parents give me like $5 a week sooo... yeah about $5 a week. I have pretty good friends.

What do you get? At Toni’s I get a normal cheese-burger and, depending on how hard practice will be, a small or large mint chocolate shake.

Where can you not wait to go when you can drive? Well… I will be definitely going to Toni’s more than just on Thursdays.

Maddy Hapgood

Patrick: Where do you go for lunch?

Maddy: Well, normally I go to Wildberries but every Thursday I go to Japhy’s with my friend Au-tumn Simpson.

How much do you spend? I spend $3-$5 when I have the money, but usually I mooch off my friends.

What do you get?Well at Wildberries I just get a Hon-est Tea and at Japhy’s I get a little noodle chicken salad thingy... oh and a cookie for Autumn.

Where can you not wait to go when you can drive? I can’t wait to drive to the Tako Fak-tory (truck) down on Samoa by the Texico gas station with my friend Kendall.

Patrick PaytonReporter

The students of Arcata High have, without a doubt, the best array of lunch choices in Humboldt County. With diverse ethnic street food options (see map on page 16), as well as a plethora of pizza shops, there should never be a day when you don’t know where to go. The freshmen of AHS are no exception, and although they are oftentimes limited by the spring in their steps, their unique lunchtime leanings are interesting nonetheless. Chronicled below are these fascinating habits. Perhaps there are some “fresh” ideas for you, too?

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PepperboxlunchMarch 22, 2013 T

HEAHS

Feeding as a freshman: Lunch

The resounding ring of the bell at 12:25 pm at Arcata High is arguably the most highly anticipated point

of any given school day. Students pour forth from their classrooms in record time; in a hurry to make their sacred lunch plans and get off cam-pus for a mere forty minutes. As freshmen, the whole concept of go-ing off campus for lunch is entirely foreign and exciting, and throngs of thirteen and fourteen-year-olds head out each day with wads of money in hand, unaware of how much they're actually spending. Local businesses thrive off of high school students, no matter what age because if we have money we spend it.

Arcata High has an incredible lunch program. The cafeteria locat-ed in the MPR has a diverse menu that serves balanced, good-sized portioned meals for only $3.50. Not enough students take advantage of this program, partly because they are unaware of just how much they would save, and how much more food they would receive by din-ing on campus. On February 28th, 2013, the school lunch was: baked chicken, potato salad, unlimited salad bar, fresh fruit, and milk. No other place in Arcata is capable of giving you that amount of food for $3.50, and if they are, that food has little to no nutritional value.

Wildberries is a popular place to shop for lunch simply because it of-fers great variety and it is in close proximity to campus. However, if one had only $3.50 to spend on a lunch, they would find themselves pressed to find something sustaina-

What $3.50 can get you for lunchMolly Salamunovich

Managing Editor

ble. A 12 oz special at the smoothie bar is $3.29, and therefore unless a friend loans you a couple of bucks to buy actual food, you're out of luck. Two small egg rolls can be purchased at the deli for $3.00, as well as other miniscule portions of different dishes for under $3.50. Half of a veggie sandwich goes for $3.49, and although various pastries are sold at Ramone's, the only thing remotely filling is the pesto cheese roll, which many students gravitatetowards.

Los Bagels is known for it's huge array of quality food, and therefore it attracts many studentscome lunch hour. However, it is not particularly cheap, and if you are buying a full meal you would be lucky to come out spending less than $6 or $7. A bagel with cream cheese is $2.75. That is one item for over half of a school lunch price.

Live From New York, one of the best pizza places in town, has a student price that makes a large cheese slice just $1.89. For $3.50, one could probably buy a slice of their choice and a 65 cent Caprisun beverage, as soda goes for $1.25 or $2.25, depending on the size. Three pieces of homemade garlic bread can be purchased for $2.25, and other than that, everything is more expensive than a school lunch.

Stars, the much-loved burger joint located just a few blocks from campus, would be extremely disap-pointing if one had only $3.50. A plain burger exceeds that price, and so one would be forced to spend their money on either fries or onion rings, or maybe a shake.

Lastly, the much-loved and much coveted food of Esteban's: Burritos range in price, and noth-ing worthwhile can be purchased

for the amount of a school lunch. A taco perhaps, but that can hard-ly be called a lunch. Although the food is a little more expensive, it is certainly quality, and you do get a good amount of sustenance for your buck.

Popular places that students gen-erally go to during AHS lunch are great businesses, and they have

great food, however, please don't overlook the cafeteria option. It is amazing how much food one can get for just $3.50 in comparison to off campus locations, where one might be able to get one thing for the exact same price. Next time you go to lunch, reevaluate your op-tions. Your stomach, and your wal-let, will thank you.

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dinnerMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

Russ Taylor vs. Philly Cheese ChallengeSam Winter

Reporter

On a cloudy Saturday af-ternoon, 18 people stood in attendance to watch potential history in the

making. Arcata High’s very own Russ Taylor was about to attempt the impossible: the PhillyCheese Steak Challenge.

THE CHALLENGE:

Eat eight 9-inch Philly Cheese Steaks and a side of fries in under two hours.

THE RULES:

1. No outside assistance2. No vomiting3. Water is allowed4. Must finish within two hours5. No visiting the restroom6. Additional food allowed

(ketchup, mustard, etc.)

THE REWARD:

If the challenge is completed, the winner receives a $100 gift card.

THE COST:$36.95

Taylor began preparation for the upcoming challenge the night before by employing a strategy of binge eating. Taylor explained, “I ate 12 slices of pizza last night, and then didn’t eat breakfast or lunch today.” This tactic was an attempt to maximize stomach size while minimizing actual food content in-side the stomach.

At 3:00 pm on the day of the

challenge, the many onlookers pos-sessed mixed feelings about Tay-lor’sability to finish the challenge. “He’s got it,” sophomore Jay Larson said. However, there were several who did not believe in Taylor’s eating ability. Senior Kasey Cather was seen starting a chant of “Russ can’t even eat!” Senior Pearse Narum be-lieved in Taylor, but for a differentreason, stating, “I think Russ can finish it because he will have some room in his body that is left from a nonexistent soul,” in reference to Taylor’s ginger hair color and abun-dant freckles.

After 20 minutes of waiting for the food to be made, Taylor finally began. He started at a high pace, downing three sandwiches in six-minutes. He then slowed down and tried several different methods, in-cluding eating the meat with a fork and eating the bread separately, and also by piling fries on top of the sandwich to maximize productivity and add flavor. Taylor even poured waterover the bread to make it easier to eat.

After over 45 minutes of effort, and five Philly Cheese Steaks and a side of fries later, Taylor decid-ed he needed a break. After lying down outside, all he could manage to say was, “It literally tastes like [expletive]. I’m never eating here again.” With the encouragement

of the crowd giving him a second wind, he managed to attempt to be-gin again. When asked how he felt, he responded, “This is [expletive]! They changed the rules on me.” It is unclear what he meant, as no rules were changed and Taylor refused to comment further.

After another brief break, he decided to make one final ef-fort toward becom-ing one of the most prestigious students to ever walk the halls of Arcata High School. He man-aged to take one bite before vomiting re-peatedly into a trash can. Spectator Pearse Narum commented, “He puked so much. It looked like chili. I like chili.” Personal eating coach Will Taylor said, “I’m dis-appointed, but we’re

Forrest Lewis/PEPPERBOXTaylor struggles between defeat and his stuffed stomach.

“It literally tastes like [expletive]. I’m never

eating here again.”-sophomore Russ Taylor

Forrest Lewis/PEPPERBOXTaylor begins the challenge, facing down eight sandwiches and a side of fries.

going to continue to train in the off season.”

Although he will continue work-ing, Taylor asserted, “I’m never go-ing to again. It was the worst expe-rience of my life.”

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Arcata’s sushi standoff Jamie Maher

Reporter

Calling all sushi lovers! The debate is on. Where do you go to satisfy your sushi cravings? The new-

est popular place, Sushi Spot, or the older beloved restaurant, Tomo? Both located on the Arcata Plaza, these two Japanese restaurants would be expected to create tough competition for one another. But let’s take a closer look at these com-petitors.

First off, we have Tomo Japanese Restaurant, located inside the Hotel Arcata on the Plaza, 708 9th Street. Tomo was originally founded in 1984 by Fukiko Marshall in Eureka, but has since changed locations.

Not far down the street is our sec-ond competitor, Sushi Spot, located at 970 9th Street in Arcata. Sushi Spot was founded in 2007 also by Fukiko Marshall. Sushi Spot was in fact created by the owners of Tomo to have a place for the “overflow” of customers at Tomo.

Originally, Sushi Spot was to be seen as a second option if Tomo was too busy. Now, Sushi Spot seems to be just as packed, if not more packed, on a weekend night as Tomo. “I usually go to Sushi Spot and put my name on the list, but if the wait is too long I’ll try Tomo,” sushi-lover Kylie Tatro explained. The difference is, unlike Tomo, Sushi Spot does not accept reserva-tions.

As of now, Sushi Spot and Tomo have the same founder but currently have different owners. Joe Doherty, longtime employee, now owns Tomo and Eric Stark holds the role of President at Sushi Spot. So if Su-shi Spot was created by the owners

of Tomo, wouldn’t they serve the same type of sushi rolls? Fortunate-ly, no. Sushi Spot has invented their own variety of rolls. “I go to Sushi Spot for the Klamath roll, I always get the Klamath roll,” junior Abby Puzz said. What it comes down to is which restaurant has the best selec-tion, but you can be certain no two people will agree on which.

But the difference in sushi isn’t the only factor that comes into play when comparing these two. They both create a very different atmosphere. On one hand, Tomo provides the feel of a larger restau-rant. Not only because of the size advantage, but because it accepts reservations. At Tomo, you have the ability to plan a dinner date by call-ing ahead. On the other hand, Sushi Spot gives off a more lively vibe. Because of the fact that they do

not accept reservations, most likely you’ll have to leave your name on a list and wait for your table. “I usu-ally see a crowd of people in line at Sushi Spot,” Tatro said. This makes it feel like it’s super popular and al-ways busy.

In the end, Tomo and Sushi Spot are both incredible Japanese restau-

rants here in Arcata. “It’s no com-petition, Tomo wins,” senior Nigel Wallach said.

“Sushi Spot for life,” stated se-nior Maddy Kinder.

So where should you go to have the best sushi experience on the pla-za? That’s up to you to decide for yourself.

Forrest Lewis/PEPPERBOX

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dinnerMarch 22, 2013PepperboxT

HEAHS

Saturday, September 29thFirst Day of Work10:02 amThe boss tells me that I’m going to work the cashier. He shows me how to do it once and then leaves me on my own. I mess up nearly every or-der and we have to give at least a dozen refunds.

Sunday, September 30th Making Tacos2:59 pmI put an open-face flatbread with cheese in the grill instead of the steamer. Melted cheese gets every-where and the whole kitchen smells like burning rubber.

Saturday, October 13thWalking to Work3:35 pmI leave my house wearing my fast food-smelly uniform and begin walking to work. A crow swoops down from behind and grabs my hair in its disgusting, vicious claws. I scream.3:39 pmThree more crow attacks. I fear for my life.3:41 pm I call my dad: “Is it theoretically possible for very angry crows to kill a small human girl?” My dad sighs and hangs up on me.

Sunday, October 28thLobby Cashier2:36 pmA man comes in with a two-year-old boy and complains that the lobby smells of dog poop. I am command-ed to mop the floor, even though the

Diary of a Taco Bell employee Grace Lovell

Art Director

floor is completely clean. 2:48 pm The floor is clean. The lobby still smells.2:50Aforementioned little boy runs up to me and excitedly promises to tell me a secret: “I did a little poop in my diaper and it fell out and now it’s in my pants.”

Wednesday, November 8thDrive-thru Cashier4:17 pmMy friend’s boyfriend comes through the drive-thru. This is awk-ward.4:21 pmA girl from P.E. comes through the drive thru. This is awkward.4:32 pmMy sister’s best friend’s mom drives through. Really?!4:34 pmA boy from P.E. drives through. Still awkward.4:35 pmI announce to the world that if I see one more person I know, I will spontaneously combust. 4:43 pmThe girl who sits two seats over in orchestra comes through.4:44 pmI am dead on the inside.

Monday, December 17thDrive-thru Cashier4:17 pmI’m having a bad day so I tell my sob story to the old lady at the win-dow and we have a good ten-minute heart to heart. 4:19 pmShe tells me my service was very good and gives me a four dollar tip.4:21 pm

The next lady in line screams at me for taking so long and refuses to leave until she talks to my manager.

Thursday, January 10thSteamer5:55 pmI am allowed to be the steamer for the first time. I read the order wrong and make twelve Dorito tacos in-stead of two. 6:02 pmThe next three orders get made, but not by me, because I am too busy sitting on the floor laughing like a maniac, for no apparent reason.6:07 pmI can’t breathe.6:08 pmThe boss comes in. 6:09 pmI am deemed too pathetic to even be yelled at. 6:09 pm

Everyone feels sorry for me. 6:10 pmI’m still laughing.

Thursday, Febuary 14thCashier5:45 pmApparently nothing says love like taking that special someone to Taco Bell? 6:00 pmTHERE ARE ACTUALLY PEO-PLE HERE,WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD?!

“I announce to the world that if I see one more person I know, I will spontaneously

combust.”

Photo courtesy of Brian LovellDid I mention my favorite part of the job?

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Sage FanucchiFeature Editor

Geena DamianReporter

Date night: Romance and rice &

F irst stop, Three Foods: As we stepped in the hard-wood entrance, the smell of lavender and goldfish

crackers overwhelmed our senses. The hostess welcomed us with a warm smile, and sat us down, hand-ing us two dinner menus with cre-atively named dishes. We selected to taste the Golden Nuggets, tater tots with two dipping sauces: a honey lavender mustard and a chi-potle BBQ sauce, and the Light and Lovely salad tossed with candied pecans and crisp apple slices, sprin-kled with apple cider vinaigrette for appetizers.

As we waited for our appetizers, we fed our brains with their food for thought quote: “Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the se-riousness of a child at play.” The darker lighting made us feel closer and provided a sense of intimacy. We began to snack on the goldfish crackers they provided us.

Within five minutes of ordering our appetizers, the waitress set the plates in front of us. The tater tots were a perfect golden brown, and the Light and Lovely salad turned out to be sweet and delicious.

“Excuse me, can I get apples on my salad?” Geena proposed to the waitress, after noticing the Light and Lovely salad was missing the essential component. The waitress returned with half an apple chopped up. Upon receiving the extra apples,

Geena realized that the apples were underneath the lettuce, a rookie mistake, and she ended up with a whole apple atop her salad.

We placed orders for our dinner; we both ordered the “What the...?,” a creamy mac n’ cheese with apple and bacon sprinkled on top (Sage ordered the vegetarian version sans bacon, Geena went with the bacon). The apple proved to be a sweet contrast to the savory flavor of the cheese while the bacon provided a hearty subsistence to make a per-fect dichotomy of taste for any food lover.

Overall, we spent 25 dollars on our whole meal, which included three appetizers and two entrees. However, the buck didn’t stop there, and we both took home de-cent amounts of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Three Foods proved to be a de-lightful place for a date. However, it tends to be an older crowd going out there, so you may run into your Planned Parenthood education di-rector or an AHS alumni. But it does

provide a great date for first timers, as well as the regular customers. We would suggest this restaurant for the sultrey couple, as the mood here instills a need to stare deeply into one another’s eyes. The foods are unique and tasty, as well as eco-nomically pleasing and healthy.

Next stop, Carmela’s: there we walked into a night of eccentric music, and high spirits, we were

greeted promptly by the waiter, and given the offer to sit wherever our hearts desired. We chose a booth with a stunning sunset view over the bay and the parking lot of Wild-berries, while enjoying the compli-mentary chips and zesty salsa. The menu proved to have a broad spec-trum of food, including everything from nachos to grilled cactus. There was no need to order appetizers at this restaurant, since we knew we would be fit to burst at the end of our entrees. Instead we ordered drinks and our main meals, then prepared for the feast to come.

There was no lapse in our enter-

tainment as we waited for the food: taking in the walls that were deco-rated in authentic Mexican style pictures, and the waiters bustling by kept up a flow of a spectacle. The only buffer in the night was the waiter forgetting Sage’s drink, yet soon after our food arrived, just as we ordered: Geena’s sope with no tomatoes or sour cream and beans and cheese on the side, and Sage’s plain but pleasing bean and cheese burrito, a perfect meal any day.

The kitchen kept up a constant stream of tantalizing smells, mak-ing the whole restaurant seem like one big spice shop. We then dug into our meals, both of us using our best table manners: complete with forks, knives, and an absence of phones. As we looked around the restaurant, we noticed that between the merriment and rambunctious conversation there was a sprinkling of those who were focused more on their phones than their friends or food, so we made a point to not be preoccupied on those little contrap-tions, and focused on things that were actually in front of us.

As for us, we would recommend Carmela’s for a larger group, since the noise level is at least a few deci-bels higher than Three Foods, and with booth seating, the environment definitely calls for a double or triple date. While Three Foods provides a more intimate environment, perfect for a special night.

Overall these two restaurants, while varying in aura and food, are great for taking that someone spe-cial on a date. For all those girls hoping for an exciting date, and all those boys too nervous to ask, we have found the perfect places for your next date. Now go and enjoy!

Elaine Cunha/PEPPERBOXGeena and Sage enjoy holding hands while waiting for their food at Carmela’s.

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Arcata’s late-night food dilemma Gillen Martin

Junior News Editor

Brio for breakfast, Hole in the Wall for lunch, Tomo for dinner. There are endless combina-

tions to suit every taste and every need. It’s a beautiful feature of our hometown. But after 11 pm, the op-tions dwindle to several late-night venues. The gut-wrenching reality of midnight cravings in Arcata is that you have limited options, but besides that, as far as greasy late-night meals, we are blessed.

Arcata Pizza and Deli (Open

to midnight on weekdays and 1 am on weekends): Nestled in between bookstores, obscure clothing stores, and bath supplies, this late-night hotspot has a huge selection of food. From burgers and sandwiches to pizza and salads, Arcata Pizza and Deli (APD) has something for everyone. One of its most defining characteristics is how huge all the food seems to be. A large fries from APD roughly equals two and a half large fries from Toni’s or other nor-mal-portioned restaurants. A single slice of pizza sometimes compares to two slices from Smugs. Unfortu-nately, the price of APD does reflect how much food is given. And yet, although APD is more expensive than your average late-night dive, the quality is also higher than av-erage. Senior Mason Bell agreed, “Great burgers, great fries.” Aside from the occasionally burnt slice, the food (especially the fries) is some of the best of Arcata’s post- 11pm food.

Don’s Donuts (Open 24 hours): The beauty of Don’s Donuts is how

many cravings this one-stop can satisfy. Three of the most common cravings (ice cream, donuts, and pizza) can all be found at Don’s, along with all sorts of sandwiches, hot and cold drinks, and bagels (even including the rarely-found pizza bagel). Along with the great selection of food is the usually quick, friendly service and the all-night hours. The downside to Don’s is the lack of healthy food. There is also a strange aspect to Don’s due to its proximity to the Plaza and the all-night hours. Anytime you go to Don’s after eleven, there is guaran-teed to be at least three questionable people. This could be a downside if the homeless or strange population of Arcata scares you. The upside is that if you’re looking for entertain-ment along with your food, Don’s is the place for you. “If you’re look-ing for a good time, go to Don’s past twelve, the culture’s ragin’,” sophomore Tasha Babich said.

Toni’s (Open 24 hours): This traditional, cow-themed diner has one of the best burgers in Arcata according to popular review and annual newspaper contests. Along with the great burgers are an im-pressive selection of milkshakes, pies, cookies, and traditional thin-cut fries that will stuff you full and leave you still wanting more. Any-time I’m hungry after eleven, I find myself craving Toni’s (my personal favorite). Another beauty of Toni’s is the convenient location. Halfway between McKinleyville and Arcata, Toni’s seems to be a favorite for both towns. “Toni’s is the bomb,” sophomore Madalyn McCreath stat-ed. Equipped with more pictures of cows than you can handle and a pin-ball machine, the only downside is

that Toni’s sticks to basic fast food and doesn’t offer as many options as other late-night venues.

Alma’s (Open

on weekends until 2 am): Al-ma’s, the Mexi-can food truck by Pacific Out-fitters, is one of the lesser known late-night ven-ues. AHS stu-dents and online f o o d - r e v i e w s (from Yelp.com) both agree that the food quality varies from item to item. Arcata is blessed with many delicious Mexican food restaurants, and yet Alma’s is the only one open past midnight. In my opinion, Alma’s is no compari-son to Esteban’s or Rita’s, but for late-night Mexican food Alma’s is a great option.

Denny’s (Open 24 hours): Den-ny’s is the only chain restaurant (and the only restaurant in McKin-leyville) I chose to include in these reviews, and for good reason. Den-ny’s may not be the best quality of food, but it deserves to be here simply because of how many high school students go to Denny’s past eleven. Most every time I make a late-night Denny’s stop, I see teen-agers I know. It is also the only place to get breakfast food in the middle of the night, and there is nothing

better than a stack of midnight pan-cakes. Along with the cheap, huge portions of breakfast, lunch, and dinner available at any time of the day or night is the friendly, usually entertaining, and sometimes down-right hilarious service. It seems like the later you go to Denny’s, the fun-nier your waiter will turn out to be. Although Denny’s offers lunch and dinner, their breakfast and brunch foods are where they really excel. I can’t imagine why anyone would go to Denny’s and get anything but breakfast, because honestly there isn’t much to be said for any other meal available there. But if you’re in the mood for a greasy, huge, deli-cious, somewhat disgusting break-fast at one in the morning, then Denny’s is the place for you.

Gillen Martin/PEPPERBOXSome of Don’s usual late-night clientel.

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The Arcata Pizza Challenge: The JudgesHawken Ritter

Business Manager

Live From New York, Smugs, Big Pete’s, Dutchies, Westside, and the Arcata Pizza and Deli (from the Student Store). These are the six pizza places students of Arcata High embark on each lunch, and they are subject to continuous debate when it comes to which pizza is best. In response, on Tuesday, March 5th, the Pepperbox set out to resolve the hanging question. In order to accurately assess the quality of each of the six pizza places in Arcata, we performed a blind taste test to eliminate preconceived bias from the judges. Together the esteemed judges

analyzed and rated the crust, sauce, smell, cheese and overall craftsmanship of the six local pizzas.

Pizza judge Nathan Heidrick, who proclaimed prior to the taste test that “all pizza is dank,” was among two freshmen chosen to help offer unique insight into the eyes, brains and taste buds of the Class of 2016. His counterpart, Collin Townsend, was a strict judge with critical opinions resulting in sur-prisingly low ratings for four out of the six pizza samples.

Senior Andrew Dehart, a food enthusiast who’s enrolled in three pe-riods of culinary, was an obvious choice to judge in this local contest. Dehart was accompanied by senior Latrell Wilson, (also a member of the fifth/sixth period block culinary class) as well as culinary arts teacher Tanya Trump. The diverse trio of culinary experts came eager and prepared to help determine the pizza champion.

Pizza judge Claudia Spinelli is Arcata High’s very own Italian ex-change student who was chosen as a judge naturally because of her unpar-alleled knowledge of Italian food. Pizza, which originated in Italy, is one of the many staples in Arcata High students’ diets. Spinelli’s foreign flair provided a perfect fit for completing the list of critically acclaimed judges on our panel.

Lunch ladies Sue Cole and Jack-ie Slattery were also chosen to join the Pepperbox for the Arcata Pizza Challenge. These two wom-en, who are responsible for provid-ing healthy and delicious lunches daily to the Arcata High campus, were delighted when o f f e r e d an opportunity to rate some of their off-campus com-petition.

The smell reminded me of love, but the rest of the pizza screamed

break up- Latrell Wilson

Smelled like gasoline and baby food but tast-

ed better.- Andrew Dehart

I like [pizza] D.- Collin Townsend

ARCATA PIZZA CHALLENGEThe

1st

2nd 3rd

4th 5th 6th

The Pepperbox Presents

Westside

Live From NY

Big Peteʼs

Smugs

DutchyʼsAPD