“No Thank You” Bite

By Andrew Hunter

Several months ago I was at a dinner party at a loud restaurant with business associates when amongst the chatter, laughter and clamor of raucous conversation, I heard a husband quietly taking care of family business with his wife, “The boys did a good job with dinner tonight,” he said quietly, “except for Timmy who took a ‘no thank you’ bite and passed.”

I wondered what a “no thank you” bite could possibly be. So thanks to the Cronan family from Folsom, the Hunter boys now take no thank you bites whenever they turn up their noses at something. A no thank you bite is a simple but brilliant way to get your kids to at least try everything they’re served. If they take a bite and still don’t like it, then they don’t have to eat it. But our experience is that at least half the time our boys change their mind from no to yes after the no thank bite rule is enforced.

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Nicky’s Velvet Potatoes

By Andrew Hunter

Nicky was eating mashed potatoes before he cut his first tooth. He loved potatoes so much that we relied on them as a vehicle for his balanced nutrition.

We called him Picky Nicky in those days, which meant we needed to work really hard just to get him to open his mouth at the dinner table. Once we discovered potatoes, we began mixing in other goodies…mashed peas, carrots, broccoli, almost anything we ate got mixed into his. I’m sure he would have been mad if he knew, but what he didn’t know helped him.

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Dumplings around the World

By Marilyn Hunter

For centuries, dough has been shaped, molded, dropped into boiling water or simmering stock to poach. I grew up eating Southern-style chicken and dumplings. Maybe this explains my adult love for the little, more refined spaetzle.

Sometimes I imagine having a German grandmother on the plains of Texas making spaetzle instead of its bigger dumpling cousin. Spaetzle is a cross between dumplings and pasta. They are boiled and then pan-fried in butter. The boys like to eat them plain, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

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