My Life in Recipes

By Marilyn Hunter

While searching through my recipe box the other day, it occurred to me that this little wooden box is a metaphor of my life. Every well-worn recipe tells a story, a snapshot of a particular time in my life – times when I’ve been up and times when I’ve been down.

There are recipes for celebrations (my favorite chocolate cake) and recipes for difficult times when I craved comfort food (mac ‘n’ cheese and pot pie). I can think of a recipe that has accompanied almost every milestone. These recipes tell my life story, and if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a recipe must be worth a million.

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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.

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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.

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Messy Meals

By Andrew Hunter

I coach our boys’ football, baseball, basketball and soccer teams. It’s the highlight of my day to be on a field running around with the neighborhood kids. They all enjoy learning to throw spiral passes, catch pop flies and kick goals, but they really, really enjoy getting dirty. They’ll dive for fly balls 10 feet from their gloves and slide into second when the play’s at third…all with the hope of getting dirty.

Dirt’s a badge of honor when you’re a kid. So why would the dinner table be any different?

Messy meals are popular in our house and Sloppy Joes are the perfect messy meal. They’re a saucy concoction of ground meat and vegetables perched precariously between a top and bottom bun. We spike our Joes with onions, tomatoes and fresh herbs, depending on our mood.

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