Make your Own Summer Snow Cones

By Marilyn Hunter

Summer’s almost here and nothing says summer to Benny and Nicky like homemade snow cones! We try our best to teach our boys about how to eat following the seasons, enjoying what’s fresh and abundant at the moment. They look forward to this time of year because they get to pick the fragrant, juicy lemons from our neighbor Terri’s tree.

And when you live across the street from a prolific lemon tree, you’re obligated to come up with multiple ways to use its fruit – lemonade, lemon muffins; lemon bread. After all, one of life’s most important lessons is to not waste food.

But the boys’ favorite way to use lemons is lemon snow cones. Snow cones are very easy to make at home. You can find ice shavers at housewares stores, but we just put the cubes in a plastic bag and break them down with a meat mallet before finishing in the blender or food processor. Paper cones and spoon straws are summertime stock at your local grocery or party store. We make the syrup ourselves so the anticipation and enjoyment of the cones lasts longer.

Click to read more ...

Make your Own Vietnamese Sandwiches

By Marilyn Hunter

Years ago when I worked in downtown San Francisco, my friend Thuy and I would often meet for lunch. We would take a $10 cab ride all the way across town to get a $2 sandwich. Sounds crazy, I know, but this sandwich was worth it.

There’s something very addictive about Vietnamese sandwiches (bánh mì) – a crusty baguette filled with sweet and salty pork, pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and slivered jalapeño. Drizzle a little soy sauce over it and it becomes a crave-able masterpiece.

We always ordered two each: one to eat and one to take home. This made us feel like we were getting our money’s worth out of the taxi fare.

Click to read more ...

Movie Night Caramel Corn

By Marilyn Hunter

Ben’s love of popcorn began when he was a toddler and we lived in San Francisco. We popped popcorn every Thursday night when his best friend Sebastian would come to play. It’s a tradition we continue even though Sebastian now lives in London and we live in Los Angeles.

Our boys’ affection for popcorn continues to grow as they discovered kettle and caramel corn while strolling through our neighborhood farmers’ market on a recent Sunday afternoon. They liked it so much we were inspired to try it at home.

Click to read more ...

Moonstruck Frittata

By Marilyn Hunter

One of my favorite food moments in film is the breakfast scene in Moonstruck. Olympia Dukakis is cracking eggs into slices of crusty Italian bread cooked in olive oil with roasted red peppers, onions and garlic, all while the conversation centers around Cher’s “love bites.”

Leave it to Hollywood to take something so simple and romanticize it into a fabulous gourmet moment. It’s delicious moments like these that inspire us to try something new in the kitchen.

Click to read more ...

Crazy Love

By Marilyn Hunter

Ben and Nick have a crazy love for peanut brittle. It must come from me because affection for salty peanuts cooked in hard-crack sugar is a southern tradition. I grew up eating all sorts of combinations of toasty nuts encased in simple sugar concoctions. Peanut brittle and pecan pralines topped the list, especially on family excursions to my great Aunt Lucille’s kitchen in Louisiana.

Brittles are best when there’s just enough sugar to hold the nuts together. The basic recipe is simple, but you can get really adventurous with international and exotic flavors. Andrew and I have introduced ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime, and even spicy chili powders to our boys. Our theory is, if we introduce challenging flavors in something they can’t resist like sugar, they’ll be more inclined to eat the same in savory sauces, stir-frys and curries.

Click to read more ...