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Royale Cookies People ask me all of the time if my job is as fun as it looks. I love my job. I really do. If you are one of those people who can’t stand your job, stop here. Don’t even bother reading this be- cause you will be jealous. One of the rules of working on this magazine — really, for working at Rouses — is that you have to be a food fan (don’t be envious that I get to eat the food leftover from the photo shoots; someone’s got to do it). One day we started arguing, I mean talking, about what separates us from the competition, and that’s how the 60 Things That Make Us Rouses came about. We all have our own favorites. There’s one Rouses item that tops my personal list that didn’t make the cut — our Royale Cookies. They are one of a small handful of recipes we don’t share, but our Bakery Director, Michelle, gave me one that comes close. ½ cup sugar 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup shredded coconut ¾ cup chopped macadamia nuts 1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips HOW TO PREP: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in each egg one at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients from the first bowl and beat on low speed until just combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl if needed. Stir in the coconut and macadamia nuts. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop out 1½-inch sized balls of dough and place them on the parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the cookies are just golden on the edges. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack. They should be chewy with crispy edges. Makes 18-24 cookies WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1½ cups brown sugar 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

Letter from the Editor by Marcy Nathan, Creative Director

How did a small, family-run grocery store in the town of Houma, Louisiana, grow to 64 stores throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama? That’s the story my team and I set out to tell in this issue.

On the following pages we’ll show you how our brand was born and bred on the bayou, and how we reached our 60-year milestone with the help of some famous friends like Community Coffee, Camellia Brand beans and Abita Beer. And how we are heading into tomorrow with new offerings from upstarts like We Dat’s and Cotton Blues (which makes the best cheese- cake I’ve ever eaten). Grocery stores don't just shape the way we eat; they shape the way we live. Matt Saurage, fourth-generation owner of Community Coffee, told us his first job was in a grocery store, the summer he was 13. I wonder how many of you had your first real job at a Rouses Market? How many of you followed in your parent’s footsteps and found jobs here? How many have been with our company since our first few stores opened decades ago? Every member of the Rouses family and most of the people in our store support offices started their working life at Rouses, some as teenagers stocking shelves, pushing carts or running a cash register. My first job was restacking books and refilling disks at Tulane Law Library. My dad taught

at the Tulane School of Law, which is how I got the job. I’m afraid I spent most of my time there flirting with another law professor’s son. There are students still looking for the books we restacked… good luck . I spent most of my career on the advertising agency side helping a variety of local brands before I crossed over to Rouses full-time. I knew I wanted to work here long before I did, maybe from the first time I drove down the bayou. Back then, the Rouses corporate office was in the old “Rouse house,” where Mr. Anthony and Miss Joyce raised their kids. People worked in the kitchen and former bedrooms, and the family’s rumpus room became the conference room. We’ve come pretty far since then — we’re now 7,000 employees strong — but the same tenets that guided Mr. Anthony at our start in 1960, and drew me to join the company decades later, still guide us today: our continuing commitment to providing the best product at the best price, and our unwavering dedication to every hometown we serve.

This magazine is a celebration of our first 60 years. I hope you enjoy it.

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