Recipes By Accident: The Bacon Bruschetta & Pasta that Brought Tears

Sometimes our best recipes happen quite by accident. When I made the blue cheese and bacon scallops I knew I was going to have to get creative when it came to my husband’s dish because he has no desire to eat scallops. Also, he isn’t much of a blue cheese fan unless it is to dip his hot wings in. Even then, he is very picky about it.

Since I was already making bacon and pasta for my scallop dish I knew I had two ingredients ready to go.  I didn’t want to make sauce just for him because that would have required me to open a jar of homemade canned tomatoes and I was not sure when I was going to use it.

I frantically ransacked my fridge looking for some spark of creativity.

And then I spotted it. Shoved way in the back in a teeny tiny container was a few spoonfuls of some bruschetta I had found at the clearance store I shop at once a month.  There wasn’t much in it, but if it at least gave me enough to cover his bacon with some Italian type flavoring, it might just be the win I was looking for.

When all the bacon was cooked, I took out my pieces to crumble for my blue cheese scallop and pasta plate. I mixed the little bit of bruschetta with the leftover pieces bacon, added a little bit of magic and prayed it was going to turn out delicious for him.  As it warmed I added a sprinkle of oregano, garlic powder and pesto seasoning. My husband is one who loves dry seasonings and welcomes them in his dishes.

The pasta finished so I drained it. Placed some on both plates and presented mine for photographing.

Then, I started to make his plate. I added a little butter to the pasta, mixed it, sprinkled on some salt and pepper. Just the way he likes it. Then, I added the bacon bruschetta magic to the top. Took a picture, stuck a fork in it, and carried both plates into the living room where he waited with our favorite television show.

I barely got my first forkfull to my mouth when my husband began to weep.

Nope, not kidding.

He started to rave and chew all at the same time as a tear ran down his cheek.

I did not know why he was crying. He sings my praises when dishes rock his world. He’s also brutally honest and will tell me when he doesn’t like something.

So what brought on the tears?

As a child his grandmother ( I know her as Polly, aka Grandma Blue Eyes) made her own homemade spaghetti sauce. It was thick and made the spaghetti stiff. In all his eating years he’s never tasted anything like it.

Until this day.

Until the day I decided to toss some bruschetta together and call it dinner.

As his childhood memories of his beloved grandmother came rushing back, words couldn’t describe how happy I was to bring a little bit of joy to him. Grandma Blue Eyes is still with us, only she doesn’t remember who any of us are. It’s a sad thing, alzheimers.

It brought a tear to my own eye to see and feel the sheer joy my meal brought to my husband.

Now, if only I can find that jar of bruschetta in the store. I never bothered to write it down since we had used it on another meal.  I know if I saw it again I would recognize it, problem is that clearance center gets truckloads in from all over the state.  I’m on a mission to track down another jar, or attempt to make it myself. *cross fingers*

Have you ever  made a recipe that brought tears of joy to someones eyes? Tell me about it in the comments below.