I Guess It Runs in the Family

 Today was an awesome day. Let me back up....to about 1992. That was the first time I picked up a stringed instrument. It was a cello to be exact. I played cello for 8 years. I loved it. I was even somewhat good at it. But, like a typical teenager, I quit after graduation. Somewhere during those last years of playing cello, my grannie showed me her dad's violin. From that day forward, I've wanted to play violin....that violin to be exact. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago.

Still thinking about that violin. I'm now a somewhat responsible adult so I'm working up the nerve to ask grannie for the violin. I knew better to ask for it before. I knew I had to show I was responsible enough to take care of something she cherished so much. For the last ten years, I've heard stories of her father playing that violin. Why are those memories so special to her? Well, there are many reasons. But I think one reason is because he bought it during the Great Depression. This was a time when food was rationed and there was no shortage of mouths to feed in her house. I can't even imagine making a choice between paying a bill or having an instrument. I'm glad he made that decision. Maybe that's a bit selfish, but I also think that piece of wood and the metal strings provided memories that have lasted 80 years. I'm getting off track here....back to asking grannie.

I decided that if I bought my own violin and showed an interest, it may convince her that  I was serious about playing. So I bought a violin last week. It came Thursday. I was so excited! I'd never played a violin before, so you can imagine the screeching sounds coming from my living room. My poor neighbors! Even the dog had a hard time taking the noise, and howled as I played. And as it turned out, I didn't even have to ask for the violin that belonged to my great-grandfather! As soon as Grannie got wind of my purchase, she decided maybe I should have it. I was ECSTATIC! I don't think words can describe it. 

So now I have my new violin (and yes, it's BLUE). And I also have the violin I've been practically drooling over for the last several years.

 When I pulled it out of the case today, all I had to do was rosin the bow up a bit and tune the violin and it was perfectly playable. The chin rest is hard carved out of wood. It was such a cool feeling to put my chin down on that piece of wood. I could almost feel the electricity of the former player flowing through me. And I like to think I brought some happy memories back to my grannie as I sat and played her dad's violin in her living room.

So now I'm back home, with both violins.

 The past meets the present and the cycle continues. The kids have decided they may want to learn to play the violin. I am so happy I have the opportunity to teach them as I learn. After two days of playing, I'm happy to report I can now play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Amazing Grace (kinda), Yankee Doodle, Ode to Joy and a few other beginner songs. Anybody know a violin teacher around here??




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Made From Scratch Tuesday 4/5

After a week of a sinus infection, I was ready for something tasty and easy, but still looked impressive. And I was really craving some fresh fruit. The weather is starting to get warmer and that means fresh produce to me! I know it's not really time for local fresh produce, but no harm in getting an early start. But what to make? The husband really likes banana splits, but I wasn't in the mood for ice cream. Enter Banana Split Brownies!

You'll be amazed at how easy these are....and delicious!

Start by making the brownies...did I mention they were low fat brownies? I figured I'd need a sturdy brownie to hold up all the delicious toppings.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups brown sugar (splenda version)
4 tablespoons pumpkin puree
3/4 cup applesauce
(I doubled the recipe for the large pan)

I'm not going to go through all the directions--it's the basic mix the wet, sift together dry, mix all. Bake at 350 25-30 minutes. Let them cool for about 20 minutes. You'll want them slightly warm, but not hot to the touch. Now, for the best part. The toppings!

Spread on a 13 oz jar of marshmallow cream. The easiest way to do it is to plop on a few globs and let the gentle heat of the brownies melt it. Then spread it around so it's mostly even. While that's melting down, prepare the fruit. Cut up 2 bananas and put the slices in a bowl of lemon juice to prevent browning. Drain off lemon juice and set aside. Next, cut up strawberries. For our preparation, I put the bananas down first then drizzled with caramel sauce. Then added the berries. I bet these would be delicious with blueberries and raspberries too.

Here's the husband's plate...topped with whipped cream

What goodies have you been cooking up this week?
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.

Made From Scratch Tuesday 3/30

This last week, we were eating a whole lot of tomatoes, including Tomato Bacon Puffs.

I saw some awesome recipes linked up last week! Here's a couple of my picks:
Twice-Cooked Gnocci from A Moderate Life

And these Banana Sour Cream Muffins from Talking Dollars and Cents

What goodies have you been cooking up this week?
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.

Tomato Bacon Puffs

The husband and I have had a blast trying out new recipes with canned tomatoes. The husband even jumped in on the cooking a time or two! While figuring out some new things to do with tomatoes, I stumbled across this recipe from Allrecipes:

Bacon Cheese Puffs

See my changes in italics

Ingredients

• 1 pound sliced bacon
• 2 1/2 2 cups shredded Cheddar Swiss cheese
• 1/3 c Parmesan Cheese
• 2 4 tablespoons prepared mustard cream cheese
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 pound sliced pumpernickel party bread 12 buttermilk biscuits
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• chopped fresh basil
• 3 T chopped green onions

 

Directions

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
Preheat oven to broil. 
Drain tomatoes well.
In a medium bowl combine the bacon, cheese, cream cheese, green onions, tomatoes and basil.mustard and mayonnaise. Stir well. 

Arrange party bread on a cookie sheet. Spoon mixture onto each slice of bread.Roll out biscuit dough to about 1/2" thickness and cut large circles. (I would have shown the pictures of this, but really, it was just a flour-y mess!!) Press dough circles into muffin tin. Fill each biscuit well. 

Broil for 5 minutes, or until bubbly.

We had these with pasta and veggies in a white sauce...super yummy!

I'm linking this up to Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge. This month is sponsored by Red Gold tomatoes. 

If you don't live in the midwest, you may not know about this company. Here's some info from their website:

"Our Mission:
"To Produce The Freshest, Best Tasting,
Tomato Products In The World"

A good harvest begins with strong roots, and we can trace ours back three generations. Red Gold began in 1942 when Grover Hutcherson and his daughter, Fran, rebuilt a Midwest cannery to provide fresh-tasting canned food products for the war effort. More than half a century later, we remain a family-owned business based in the heart of Tomato Country. "

I grew up on Red Gold tomatoes--honestly not knowing there were other brands until I started working in a grocery store at age 16! My family is from Elwood, Indiana where there's a Red Gold facility. I remember driving though Elwood many times and seeing the Red Gold signs everywhere. I guess it really stuck with me because I've never bought any other brand!

Thanks again to Ott,A and Red Gold for sponsoring this month's Iron Chef Challenge!

Made From Scratch Tuesday 3/22

Thanks for all the great links from last week!

I saw some very tasty recipes, including this one from Mo' Betta for flourless brownies using BLACK BEANS!

I can't wait to try those!

This last week, we had lots of dishes containing tomatoes. A Latte With Ott,A is having another Iron Chef Challenge this month and we love Red Gold Tomatoes around here. And the best part is Kroger has them on sale right now, so if you buy 10 cans, you get them for .49 each! I also love a good deal. I'd show you all a picture of my canned goods cabinet, but then you might find out I'm a food hoarder.


What goodies have you been cooking up this week?
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.

Tomato Corn Salad/Quesadillas

Remember the last time I thought I was a genius? Well, it’s happened again. This time, Red Gold  did it to me. I used to always make this tomato/corn salad which required taking a can of Red Gold diced tomatoes and adding lime juice, red onion, garlic, cilantro, green onion, jalapenos, vinegar, salt and a can of corn. I guess I’ve had my blinders on in the grocery store because Red Gold has everything listed above (minus the corn) already put together for me in one can.  

 Hmmm…maybe someone should tell them to add the corn too! How could I have missed this for so long?! So I’m not really sure if this qualifies for a recipe since it only involves opening two cans, but here goes the two ingredient salad:

One can Petite Diced Tomatoes Mexican Fiesta

One can corn

Drain both cans and pour into bowl. Mix well and chill.

Yep…that’s it. So what do you do with this salad? Well, we use it for two meals. Generally, we have this when we cook on the grill. It seems to be a perfect companion a juicy steak or piece of chicken fresh off the grill. 

But we usually have some left. For the leftovers, it becomes the perfect addition to quesadilla filling.

To make the quesadillas:

Flour tortillas

Santa Fe cooking cream

Cooked chicken, cut into pieces

Cheese

Tomato/Corn Salad (above)

Any other filling you’d like (black olives, bacon, etc)

Preheat quesadilla maker

On one tortilla, spread about a teaspoon of the cooking cream all around.

Add cheese, tomato/corn salad, chicken, etc and one final layer of cheese. Top with second tortilla and place in quesadilla maker until browned. Let cool a few minutes and slice!

Thank you to Red Gold for sponsoring this month's Iron Chef Challenge with A Latte From Ott,A!

 *Red Gold provided me with free product and coupons for participating. All opinions expressed are my own.
Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Fiesta Bake

Every now and then, I make something that the husband just loves. Last night was one of those times. Now this is nothing fancy, but there really is something to be said about all these flavors coming together! And the best part is the unlimited possibilities. You can change this up so many ways.

What you'll need:
Corn chips, crumbled (or flour tortilla chips, crumbled)
1 lb ground turkey (or any other ground meat)
2 c salsa
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans (or black beans)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1/2 c cilantro, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped green onion
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
Juice of one lime
Sante Fe style cooking cream
Cheese...I used the "mexican" blend along with some fresh mozzarella

To start, brown the meat and drain. Then add the salsa, tomatoes, garlic and beans.

 Cook this down, on low to medium low heat, until most of the liquid has cooked out. That'll take about 20 minutes. While that's cooking down, chop your cilantro and onions. Now, time to assemble! Start by putting the crushed chips in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Then add the meat mixture.

Sprinkle cilantro, green onion and red onion over meat.

Next, add the juice of one lime, cooking cream and cheese.

Bake at 350 until the cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

We had company over last night; the two guys polished this off! We decided next time to try adding a can of black olives and maybe some more garlic.

Canned tomatoes are the theme ingredient for March's Iron Chef Challenge from Ott,A. Big thanks to Red Gold for sponsoring this month!

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!