Southwest
Texas breakfast favorite, kolache, has fascinating backstory involving Czech immigration
In parts of Texas, a common on-the-go breakfast is a kolache. It’s a savory pastry that typically contains meat and cheese.
But the story of kolaches is far more interesting than one might expect for a breakfast item.
It’s a tale that weaves together immigration, clever business sense and a good-sized dose of Americana.
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True Texas delicacy
In the early 19th century, the first Czechs made their way to Texas, according to the website for the Texas State Historical Association. By the Civil War, there were 700 Czechs living in Texas, and Czech immigration to Texas rapidly increased at the turn of the 20th century.
By 1910, there were 15,074 “foreign-born Czechs” in Texas, the Texas State Historical Association said.
Among the numerous things those Czech immigrants brought with them to Texas was their traditional pastries, including kolaches.
In their original form, kolaches are a Czech pastry typically filled with fruit. They’re “almost like a thumbprint cookie but on a larger scale,” a Shipley Do-Nuts representative told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
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Kolaches account for a third of the sales at the Texas-based chain, Ashley Lennington said. She works for a Dallas-based public relations agency that represents Shipley Do-Nuts.
“Kolaches are one of the top breakfast foods here in Texas – and at Shipley. And we wanted to give our customers more protein-filled, savory breakfast options beyond our legendary doughnuts,” Kaitlyn Venable, executive chef at Shipley Do-Nuts, told Fox News Digital.
But the kolaches that are sold, eaten and beloved in Texas are savory and not sweet. Typically, there’s no fruit to be found.
And rather than a large thumbprint cookie, the kolaches in Texas look more like enclosed buns.
Technically, the Texas kolaches are a Czech-American pastry known as a klobásník, but kolache is still the word more commonly used for them.
“Being in Texas, we’re meat-heavy down here,” Lennington said.
Technically, the Texas kolaches are a Czech-American pastry known as a klobásník.
There’s also a slight pronunciation difference. In Texas, kolache is pronounced “ko-lah-chee,” whereas in Czech, it’s “more like ko-lahsh,” Lennington said.
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The Texas kolaches “started with a kielbasa sausage in a yeast roll,” Lennington said.
People seemed to enjoy the dish, “and it just kind of expanded from that.”
Shipley Do-Nuts began selling kolaches in 1995, Lennington said, as a savory breakfast (or lunch or snack) alternative to its doughnuts.
“They saw all the other Houston-based doughnut brands and other breakfast places [selling] savory kolache options, so they started selling them,” Lennington said.
Shipley Do-Nuts recently added egg-stuffed kolaches to its menu, Venable noted, and there are plans for even more.
“Our three new egg and cheese varieties that launched in early July have quickly become bestsellers and have set single-day sales records week after week,” she said. “Seeing this success, I’m already in the kitchen developing more new kolaches to bring to our menu.”
While kolaches are commonplace throughout Texas, the Kolache Factory, a Katy, Texas-based chain, has locations in nine states and ships its products throughout the United States.
Kolache Factory, founded in 1982, has a menu featuring both the traditional sweet fruit kolaches and the savory meat-filled Texas kolaches.
“Kolaches are self-contained and neat to eat,” the Kolache Factory website said.
“They can be conveniently consumed anywhere, from the car, to group or business meetings, to the baseball field.”
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Kolaches, it said, “are the ideal choice for a nutritious, ‘on-the-go’ meal.”
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Los Angeles, Ca
Man found guilty in rapper PnB Rock murder trial
A Los Angeles jury has convicted a man in the shooting death of rapper PnB Rock.
Freddie Lee Trone was found guilty of felony murder, robbery and conspiracy at a Compton Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon.
The incident occurred at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles in 2022.
PnB Rock, whose real name is Rakim Allen, was dining at the establishment when investigators claimed Trone sent his teenage son to rob and kill the 30-year-old.
Prosecutors argued that the 41-year-old father was the one who orchestrated the deadly robbery and was his son’s getaway driver.
Trone’s co-defendant, Tremont Jones, was also found guilty of robbery and conspiracy.
Sentencing for Trone is set for Aug. 27.
Southwest
Texas middle school bans students from wearing all-black clothing
Students at a Texas middle school have new restrictions on how they can dress for the first day of classes on Monday, as a result of a change in dress code that bans wearing black clothing from head to toe.
The change is taking effect at H.E. Charles Middle School, which is part of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD). The school’s principal, Nick DeSantis, claimed in a letter sent to parents reported by local media outlets that the color black is “associated with depression and mental health issues,” as well as “criminality.”
The school’s dress code from last school year, published in a student handbook on its website, said students could wear solid polo shirts in the school colors of green, gray and black, and black or khaki approved bottoms, with blue jeans allowed on certain days.
“We already bought the black pants, so we have to buy again, the pants,” parent Fabiola Flores told local KFOX. “They should ask. They [should] do like a ‘Hey, what do you think?’ Like, ‘We’re thinking about it!’”
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The district admitted to the local station that the announcement could have been made differently, but explained it is a result of concerns brought forward by parents and teachers who are a part of the campus improvement team.
While EPISD schools are allowed to create their own dress code, parents across the U.S. may struggle with availability and pay out of pocket for them, SmartAsset Financial Advisors says.
Charles Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8, has a student population of nearly 600, according to U.S. News. Of them, 87% are considered “economically disadvantaged.”
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At least one parent says the color change may be beneficial.
“It brings down, I think, the mood of the school, if it’s just black,” parent Nancy Rangel-Gomez told KVIA-TV.
Students at Charles Middle School will be allowed to wear black shorts for physical education and the color can be worn on “free dress day,” El Paso Teachers Association President Norma De La Rosa told KFOX. She also recommends parents read the school’s dress code in its entirety to avoid any confusion.
A mental health professional told KFOX that depression does not “have colors” or “outfits.” Rather, she said there are other signs to look out for in students.
EPISD Executive Principal Sarah Venegas told KFOX the district would love to have mental health professionals be a part of decision-making committees.
EPISD has not yet responded to a Fox News Digital request for comment, but a recent community message from the district’s superintendent, Diana Sayavedra, acknowledged that “dress code policies have recently garnered community attention at a couple of schools.”
“We see this as a valuable opportunity to foster a healthy engagement with the community in an effort to land on the values we share about safety and the success of students,” Sayavedra continued. “We are committed to continuing this dialogue to strengthen our collaboration.”
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Los Angeles, Ca
Toy hauler overturns, causes major delays on WB 60 in Diamond Bar
A toy hauler being pulled by an SUV overturned on the westbound 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar early Wednesday, causing major delays for the morning commute.
The crash was reported on the freeway shortly before 3 a.m. near the 57 interchange.
Video showed the toy hauler on its side in the middle of the freeway with the badly damaged SUV coming to a rest on top of the center divider.
The crash prompted the California Highway Patrol to issue a Sigalert for the closure of all westbound lanes.
As of 5:30 a.m., aerial video from Sky5 showed that freeway crews had managed to remove the toy hauler and the SUV but still had all but one lane closed as they removed debris.
The crash had already caused massive delays for commuters, who were backed up as far back as the 71 Freeway.
No details regarding the cause of the crash have been released.
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