Food Glorious Food

My Grandma on my mom's side was such a good cook!
Whenever she had us over for dinner, it was TOP NOTCH. Mmmmm, Mmmmm!!
I learned to eat lamb with mint jelly as a child at some of those dinners at her home. (I don't think my kids would touch that with a 10 foot pole.)
Even when Grandma made me Campbell's Curly Noodle Soup for a "late night snack," it tasted so good! I've bought that soup in stores as an adult and made it and it's just not as good. Did Campbell's change the recipe from when I was a child - or was it just Grandma's touch?
And her baking was just as good!
She put on luncheons for her friends and church functions all the time, too, since she was "the sure thing" when it came to cooking.
And this carried over into my mom.
I'd even go as far to say there is some "Food Snobbery" in the genes! ;) Only high-quality, delicious food will do.
I remember, as a child, saying to my mom once, "I know why you're such a good cook, it's because Grandma is, and she passed it on to you, so I wonder if that means I'll grow up to be a good cook!?"

*Now, I should make it clear that there were some things my mom made for dinner that were pure torture to eat! She was (in)famous for the "Clean-out-the-fridge-casserole" which was down-right scary! I remember one time I did not finish my [gross] dinner, so I got it the next morning for breakfast. At which time, I did not eat it all either (how stubborn of me) - and it greeted me on my dinner plate that night for the evening meal, as well (how stubborn of mom.) Repeat, repeat. Thank goodness for school lunch in the middle of all that to offer me a "break." I remember begging my mom to PLEASE never, never make that particular meal again - EVER! I eventually did consume it all (with some snuck into the napkin, garbage, the underneath crevices of the table and "accidentally" dropped on the floor) and got to return to the regularly scheduled meal the rest of the family was eating. The "Good Cook Mom" I'm talking about is when she made "real" food, the first time around, and especially on Sundays, Birthdays, & Special Occasions.*

Would I inherit these traits? Would I continue the line of good cooks? Truth be told, I didn't really start [real] cooking until I got married - I held the position of "Prep Chef" all those years prior. And let's face it, with cooks like Grandma & Mom around, why would I?! But I received a nice collection of recipe books of my own as wedding gifts.

Now, I did plenty of baking growing up. (There's a difference - baking & cooking - did you know that?) I was more than glad to bake in a home that was entirely VOID of any junk food or sweets altogether! I also worked in a Bakery at a resort between my Freshman & Sophomore years in College. So, baking? I had that down.

So, armed with my cookbook arsenal as a newlywed, I looked through every page of them and started to write down the ones that looked good and I wanted to try. And that's what we ate the first year of our marriage - a different recipe each night from all those books. And my husband LOVES to eat food - and a lot of it - and so it made cooking rather enjoyable! But, I never, never threw together teriyaki chicken, marinara sauce w/ pasta, green peppers, peas, eggs, & brown gravy from the past week into a pot together and served up THAT! :P
And thus started my fascination with recipes. My quest for finding new and interesting (& delicious) ones. I would jot down "ratings" in the cookbooks next to the recipes as to how good it was - and unless it got the highest rating, it wasn't going to show up on our dinner table again! Because, after all, "there's other fish in the sea!" I mean, "recipes in the books/Internet/friends & family's collection!"

Whenever I've been at a shower or a party or a church activity and had something that was really good, I track down the person who made it and get the recipe.
Because of this, I don't make the same things too often. Like once every 6 months. I like variety - and the mediocre ones don't get repeated, remember? ;) That's my mantra: "Don't eat mediocre food."

I like to think that some of Grandma & Mom are coming out in me now.
(Including the "Food Snob" part.)
I remember my very first Thanksgiving being married, we went to Matt's side for dinner. And they served Instant Mashed Potatoes! For Thanksgiving. I mean, this wasn't a haven't-been-home-all-day-and-the-baby's-sick-and-I-gotta-get-dinner-on-in-fifteen-minutes-before-everyone-has-to-run-off-somewhere-else-regular-boring-Tuesday. This was Thanksgiving. My Grandma probably rolled over in her grave!! I. WAS. TRAUMATIZED. And, of course, I commented, which I shouldn't have. It's just that I'd never seen - or expected - THAT! And if you thought I was shocked, you can only imagine what my new sister-in-law was going through, who happens to be from IDAHO where they worship the potato, and was also experiencing Thanksgiving on that side of the family for the first time! ;) They have since mostly changed to REAL mashed potatoes (for our benefit) and we thank them!
So, back to me becoming a cook....
TODAY, I'm going to do something I've never done on my blog before. (Since this is NOT a food blog.)
I'm going to share a recipe.
Because, it's just too good not to. This is what we had for dinner tonight and there were quite a few "Mmmmm's" going around. I think this earned 4 stars out of my 3 stars possible rating system! And it made me giddy.
I found it on the Internet, and just from the title, I was hooked. And I was salivating. I did change it just slightly to fit with what I could find at the store [for a good price] and what I had on hand.

Shrimp Enchiladas

1/2 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup Half & Half
1 Tablespoon flour
2-3 cups Mexican-Blend Cheese (I get this at Costco in a big bag)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons butter
1 to 1 1/2 pounds cooked, tail off Shrimp (also at Costco)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
8 (9-inch) flour tortillas

Saute red pepper, onion and green pepper in 1/4 cup butter until crisp-tender. Add oregano, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, Half & Half and flour; blend well. Continue cooking for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese; stir until melted. Add sour cream, stir to blend. Set aside.
In another skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Saute 1/2 cup onion. Chop shrimp; add to butter and onion. Add chopped tomatoes and 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Divide & spoon shrimp mixture evenly into each tortilla. Sprinkle cheese on top of shrimp mixture. Roll up tightly. Arrange seam side down in a 9X13-inch glass baking dish. Spoon remaining cheese sauce over tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

And I'm gonna have to fight Matt for the leftovers tomorrow for lunch!

**Jill & Jennifer, I know you're both probably barfing over this recipe, since the only ingredients you'll consider eating are the salt, black pepper and flour tortillas, so just go ahead and disregard this post! And just know that your pickiness with food is seriously interfering with your ability to enjoy life to the fullest!! :)**


Up next to try this week:
Chicken with Mushrooms and Zucchini
Brown Sugar Spiced Pork Loin
Pot Roast
Overnight Breakfast Casserole
Sausage and Spinach Penne Skillet Supper
Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Crescent Braid
Healthy and Hearty Chicken Quinoa Stew
Caramel Popcorn (with a *secret* ingredient)