Lemon Herb Chicken & Potatoes

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

How many of us spend too much time in front of a screen? Not a window screen, but a digital screen? My family and I do, so much so that sometimes we have days when screens are off limits. The boys are simply not allowed to play games or watch the tube … or um, the plasma.

This morning was one of those times when Marilyn and I were craving a low-tech day. So we played football in the yard, walked Bandit an extra few times, and played a bunch of board games that had gotten dusty in the closet.

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Aunt Jean’s Tucson Skillet Tacos

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

The Darland side of my family, that’s my Aunt Jean and Uncle Dick, and cousins David, Julie and Greg, live in Tucson. As a kid, Tucson seemed like a million miles away, and it truly was because instead of flying for a visit, in those days we piled into our “wood” paneled station wagon and drove the 1,951 miles southwest from Ann Arbor.

When we got there, the leafy green farmland I loved became a sandy hardscape with prickly cacti and scrubby brush that I feared. I thought we had landed on the moon.

I have lots of fond memories, though, once I acclimated to the foreign land. But one that stands out is my Aunt Jean’s tacos.

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Opening Day

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

The boys look forward to a few special days each year. The big ones like Christmas and their birthdays are obvious, but one of their favorites is opening day of apple season.

We make the trek east each Labor Day weekend on the Pomona Freeway toward San Bernardino, then exit into the foothills where Los Angeles peels away to orchards that support communities in existence to grow, harvest and sell apples.

Snow-Line, Riley’s and Willowbrook apple farms host scores of visitors with hot fry cakes, fresh pressed cider, and “mile high” apple pies. Our favorite is Snow-Line because it’s a simple assemblage of red barns, orchards for picking and a hillbilly musician who takes his break between songs with a cold can of Coke in his dilapidated old red Cadillac parked in the shade.

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Summer Patty Melts

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

Food and baseball are two of our favorite things. Last night, Marilyn and Nick were at a birthday party, which left Ben and me to our own devices. The first-place Dodgers were playing the Reds at 6 p.m. So Ben and I joined forces to prepare dinner in 30 minutes. After all, we needed to be watching in time to see the lineup!

We decided on patty melts and grapes. Ben spread mustard on the bread, grated the cheese, washed the grapes, and stirred the onions while they were caramelizing in the cast iron skillet. I sliced the onions, made the artichoke mayo, and formed and seasoned the patties. There was no need to set the table because we would be eating on the patio in time to hear the words, “It’s time for Dodger Baseball.”

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Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

Last week, I wrote about the premiere of Lifetime’s all-new competition series, Supermarket Superstar and my role coaching the contestants as R&D Mentor. This week, I’d like to tell you a little bit more about the process.

Shooting a TV show is an exhausting and exhilarating process. Even when the pilot’s been “picked up,” there’s doubt about whether the network will like the series and if viewers will watch. So it’s hard to believe that the Supermarket Superstar premiere aired and episode two is in a few days … I think the season will be over before I know it!

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