Welcome to the American story. Mostly true stories about what it is that makes America beautiful.

Heartbreaking, funny, inspiring, and endlessly interesting.

This is Chris Flannery with the Claremont Institute. I call this one.

Make Cakes During peak hours in the 300 block of Brand Boulevard in the

city of Glendale, in what is called Metropolitan Los Angeles, you might see a line of eager people

of all ages and backgrounds, making their way into Porto's bakery and cafe.

You might see a similar scene in Buena Park, Burbank, Downey, or West Covina.

Portos is a many-splendered gift to the Southland, and is not just the empignadas.

It's the spirit of freedom and enterprise. Rosa and Raul

Porto and their children brought this gift to America from Cuba a lifetime ago. In 1959,

Fidel Castro had just imposed communism on Cuba and made private businesses illegal.

In the town of Manzanillo, this put an end to the jobs held by Rosa and her husband Raul.

Raul was forced to work in a labor camp cutting sugar cane for $8 a month.

Rosa was left at home without an income, trying to figure out how she and her family could

survive.

Rose's neighbors were already familiar with her grandmother's and mother's cherished recipes

and with Rosa's skill in bringing them to life, and they had two historic words of advice

for her.

Make cakes. So this is advice for her. Make cakes.

So this is what she did.

She went straight to work in her kitchen,

creating cake and pastry masterpieces from her mother's and grandmother's recipes and her own,

...