VC SocialTed Lasso season 3 has come and gone. Since this was one of our favorite shows at VC Social, Torrey Rodriguez and Ximena Alvear join Nick Norris to discuss the series, ranging from favorite moments to how the show has influenced their actual lives.
Follow Ximena on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/heyyximena/
Follow Torrey on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/torreyleigh3/
Connect with Nick on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjnorris/
Another semester at Ventura College is coming to an end, and I’m so proud of how far the Social Media Marketing program students have come. This is now just the third time that I’ve taught the Digital Content Marketing class, BUS V52, and the VC Social brand has evolved so much in the past couple of years.
The first time I taught this class was in Fall 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. There were only 11 students in the class, and when we met, we were all wearing face masks. The second time was last year in Spring 2022, and that course was fully online with 12 students.
This semester, we’ve been back in-person again, without masks (hooray!), with a classroom filled with 24 students. Considering the nature of this course, I’ve had to adapt and make some significant changes in order to keep up with the number of students compared to previous semesters. For example, I’ve had to give up some control over the social media profiles and draft vs. publish status of posts on the website, needing to trust that the students will follow the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics we studied in week 1. As you can imagine, this was a bit nerve-racking, as the blog and social media profiles are public. And I have to give it up to the students, they handled this responsibility with respect and professionalism. Not that I’m surprised.
Perhaps the biggest change I made, though, was giving control of the final project to the students. Rather than assigning a topic and making rules about groups, we agreed collectively to let the students decide what type of content they wanted to create and with whom. Some students decided to work in groups, while others opted to go solo. Content ranged from reviewing local businesses to showcasing artistic skills, with a variety of multimedia created for the blog, Instagram profile, and YouTube and podcast channels. From a quality standpoint, I didn’t micromanage, but instead asked students to push their boundaries and create something they could be proud of five years from now. This led to some incredible articles, graphics, videos and more.
I could ramble on about this semester forever, but since I know the students reading this are waiting for their prompt to reply to, I’ll bring this to a close by saying that I think Spring 2023 has been a huge success, and while I know I have a lot of work to do to continue making this class and program of value to the community, I believe this cohort of students is so incredibly talented and will go on to do great things in life. I only hope to be able to keep in touch with them over the years so I can continue celebrating their achievements.
Now here’s the question that I’d like students to answer in the comments section…
What is the one thing you learned from that class that you’ll take with you to the next stage of your career and/or education?
On this episode of the VC Social podcast, Professor Nick interviews student Caleb Scott live in class. They discuss Caleb’s recent travels, educational journey, and possible professional direction.
If you’d like to hire Caleb to teach you how to play the guitar, please email him at cscott013@gmail.com.
Growing up, the holidays were an interesting time for culture and religion in the Norris household. My dad’s side of the family is Jewish and my mom’s side of the family is Christian, but I never really went to church or temple. We celebrated with a focus on family, and our various backgrounds played out in the traditions that we set. For example, each Christmas morning we’d gather with the Jewish side of the family and eat lox and bagels while opening our stockings. The house was decorated with Christmas lights outside and menorahs inside. And for some reason, we often ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner on Christmas Eve because, you know, none of us are Italian but we love pasta!
Not to mention, when I was young, my mom and dad owned an Italian restaurant in Valencia called Pauli’s. Their marinara was based on an old family recipe that was enhanced by a chef that they admired. I’ve been cooking this sauce for nearly 20 years and have made some of my own modifications, too. A good recipe can change over time, as flavors evolve and new preferences influence tastes. This is what makes the culinary arts a practice in which creativity and experimentation are present. Before you get started, though, let’s set the mood…
Cooking is a unique process that can connect the past with the present. The techniques, aromas and sounds involved are simultaneously old-fashioned and modern. I read plenty of examples of this in Sylvia’s article A little bit of Italy on the Thanksgiving Table.
In my house, when I cook Italian food, my first step isn’t to gather the ingredients or pots and pans that I’ll be using. Before any of that happens, I put some Rat Pack songs on to create a certain feeling of inspiration. Dean Martin crooning “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie” truly is amore and sets a certain ambiance that lets me be at my best. If you don’t care for the Rat Pack, try your favorite Vivaldi or maybe even put on the wedding scene from The Godfather:
Music? Check. Next up? Wine!
When cooking with wine, always use a bottle that you’ll enjoy drinking with your meal (spoiler alert, there’s wine involved in this recipe). And while an Italian red like a Chianti is great for marinara sauce, I prefer using local ingredients because it creates a bond between the food that you eat and the place that you reside. I’m fortunate to live in California, where the wine that comes out of places like Napa Valley and Paso Robles are award-winning and delicious. Chianti is only from that region in Italy, but it uses the Sangiovese grape, which is prevalent here in California. So in place of a Chianti, give a Sangiovese by Eberle or Niner a try, you won’t be disappointed. For more ideas on which California Sangiovese to try, check out Vivino.
Now that we have a soundtrack in place and the wine is flowing, we can begin…
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
28 ounce can tomato sauce
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 ounce can tomato paste
14 ounce can vegetable broth
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
generous glug of red wine
Directions
Pour olive oil into a large pot over medium heat. When warm, add garlic and let aroma unlock for 30 seconds, then add onion, carrot, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Two notes… 1) don’t let the garlic burn, and 2) carrot is used to make the sauce sweet and reduce the amount of sugar needed. Let these ingredients sweat and brown for up to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Increase heat and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring gently so that the bay leaves don’t break. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce heat to a simmer and place a lid on top of the pot, leaving a 1/4-inch opening for steam to escape. Stir gently every 20 minutes for 2 hours.
The recipe that I’ve shared has been adapted from its original form to accommodate my amazing wife, who happens to be a vegetarian. If you’re a carnivore that wants to add some meaty flavor to your sauce, you can brown a pound of sweet Italian sausage along with the onion and carrot, and replace the vegetable broth with chicken broth.
Once your marinara is done simmering, it’s ready to serve. For a simple meal, you can boil some spaghetti noodles and ladle sauce over it, topping with parmesan cheese. For more adventurous cooking, you can use it with your chicken parmesan, sausage and peppers, and even on pizza in place of regular pizza sauce. Pizza sauce is usually just a watered down marinara recipe that uses less ingredients and is cooked for a shorter amount of time. Personally, I want all of the flavors in my pizza so I always use marinara instead of pizza sauce.
So there you have it, a (not so world-famous) Norris family marinara sauce recipe that can easily act as the foundation of your escapades into Italian cooking. Give it a try and feel free to add or subtract ingredients as you see fit. If you come up with a groundbreaking revelation that you have to share, you can do so in the comments section below and I’ll be happy to try any suggestions out. Buon appetito!
Many of you know that VC Social is the class brand for Digital Content Marketing (BUS V52) at Ventura College, and that I spent many hours getting this course approved by curriculum, not to mention the time it took to build the website on WordPress. This wouldn’t be possible without the amazing folks who work at Ventura College, and in particular, I’d like to thank my fellow Business Department faculty and my Division’s Dean.
As the first semester of this class comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect on what we accomplished and where our opportunities lie in the future.
To begin with, I couldn’t be more proud of the first ever cohort of students that went through this course together. Each week, they brought enthusiasm and creativity to the classroom. Whether it was a group or individual project, students were truly contributors and I’m excited with the direction that this brand is headed.
Did everything run perfectly? Is the website completely done? Are our social media profiles complete? Probably not. But then, I was never in a rush, so these questions are moot.
Was there collaboration amongst students? Did quality content get created? Was a standard set for future iterations of this course? Yes. Without a doubt. I even got a chance to do a food review of my own!
I will continue spending time on this project over the holiday season, in anticipation of the Spring 2022 section of Digital Content Marketing (BUS V52). To make sure that my time goes towards relevant actions, I’d like to pose the following questions to the current students:
The best pizza in Ventura is not at a pizza joint. It’s not at an Italian restaurant and it is most certainly not at Costco (in Oxnard).
Believe it or not, the best pizza in town is at a local beer garden on Main Street called Fluid State.
Fluid State is a modern gastropub that I hear has great drinks, but I’ve only ever been there for the grub. Their pizza crust is actually sourdough and is “made with spontaneous and indigenous yeasts, organic flour, EVOO and sea salt.” Anyone obsessed with bread will love the tangy flavor of this dough.
Pizza at Fluid State is generally sold by the slice, and my favorite is the Dr. Pepperoni, which comes with a variety of different cheeses, including fresh mozzarella, aged gouda, and topped with freshly shaved parmesan. Slices and whole pies are served with sides of spicy oil and a super-potent garlic dipping sauce, which I can still taste in the back of my mouth days after my visit.
I hadn’t been to Fluid State since before the pandemic, which means it’s been over a year and a half, and I was afraid that this business might have shut down like so many others, but I was happy to see that they are still there and still make the best darn pizza in Ventura.
Check them out at the info below:
Fluid State
692 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001
805-699-6467
http://www.fluidstatebeer.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/fluid-state-beer-garden-ventura
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