Club Corner: Cooking Club serves new experiences for students

Senior+Elizabeth+Cortez+helps+to+make+a+delicious+smoothie+by+peeling+a+grapefruit+into+the+blender+in+the+Cooking+club+on+Feb.+13.+Cooking+Club+meets+every+Friday+or+Thursday+during+lunch+to+make+yummy+drinks+and+desserts+in+Room+19.

Maribella Ambrosio

Senior Elizabeth Cortez helps to make a delicious smoothie by peeling a grapefruit into the blender in the Cooking club on Feb. 13. Cooking Club meets every Friday or Thursday during lunch to make yummy drinks and desserts in Room 19.

Maribella Ambrosio

The doors are open to an exciting new club, with students peeping in to see what the Cooking Club is cooking up next.
Club President Zack Vezina started the Cooking Club for students who have a passion for being in the kitchen and making food to share with friends and new people.
“I was working at Chipotle. Now I work at Chick-fil-A, and since I’ve been working at restaurants, I started to enjoy learning how to cook and make things,” Vezina said. “I want to make other people want to learn how to cook and be creative.”
Vezina’s goals for the Cooking Club are to make food and desserts that correspond to the month and upcoming holidays. Vezina creates his own special recipes to share with the club or gets inspired by recipes from Buzzfeed’s Tasty.
Because students are not allowed to bring certain kitchen appliances such as toaster ovens and mixers and don’t have access to a stove or oven, Vezina has to prepare the food at home. However, he still hopes that even without these items, people will still enjoy their experience.
“I have to prepare things ahead of time, for example, the French toast. I had to do it at home because we can’t cook it (in the school),” Vezina said. “It would take longer, lunch is only 30 minutes, but everything is going good so far.”
The Cooking Club had its first meeting on Feb. 6 and made a delicious strawberry cheese French toast. On Feb. 13, the chefs made a flavorous smoothie, which they named “Pink Flamingo Smoothie,” made with watermelon, grapefruit, strawberries, and yogurt.
“It’s been a fun experience. I got to learn how to make French toast and smoothies. It’s just like a fun get together,” senior Elizabeth Cortez said. “I get to meet new people and we get along with each other.”
The Cooking Club used to meet every Friday during lunch in room 19 in Spanish teacher Marta Rodriguez’s class. Meetups were moved to Thursdays on minimum days, Fiesta Fridays, or days where there was school at all. Due to school closure, the club can no longer meet at all.
“I just want to put it out there and make others want to cook and be creative,” Vezina said. “Think out of the box.”