Music has always been an important part of my life. As a young child, I helped my mom clean the house while we listened to John Denver and James Taylor records. As I got older, I started using my allowance to buy my own LPs before switching to cassettes and CDs as a teen, and then converting to digital as an adult.

A couple years ago, I bought a portable record player on a whim, which renewed my love for music on vinyl. My husband later upgraded our equipment and we now have more than 1,000 records from a variety of artists, new and old.

While music has always held a piece of my heart, cooking is a newer love. I’m a novice chef and baker, but I’m learning to make meals from scratch (sometimes without a recipe). No matter what my husband or I are cooking, there’s usually a record playing. We’ve discovered that music and food pair perfectly and dancing around the kitchen makes cooking infinitely more fun.

Home cooking has a lot in common with vinyl. They’re both about slowing down, reconnecting with memories, and savoring moments.

This blog allows my husband and I to share our love for music and food with others who care about one or both. I create the recipe, he picks the record, and we often cook together (and our young son also likes to try and help). This is a passion project that keeps me busy when I’m not doing my “real” job of coaching women who own businesses.

Thanks for reading! If you like a recipe, please share it on Pinterest to help us get out the word about what we’re doing. Now…

Let’s get cooking and rocking!

* Unless otherwise noted, the recipes on this blog are original or amalgams of the many I’ve tried and modified over time.

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The food: It doesn’t get much better on a lazy Sunday morning than the sweet smell of homemade cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. When I’m feeling lazy, however, the last thing I want to do is make dough from scratch. To simplify the process, I decided to use pre-made crescent rolls for the dough. It saves time, plus the triangles easily roll into mini cinnamon rolls that are extra flaky and buttery. Top them with sugary icing, and these little guys are irresistibly good.

The music: Speaking of irresistibly good things that are easy like Sunday morning, Lionel Richie is my pick for the perfect pairing for this recipe. I love this guy, and so do my friends. In fact, we like to drop “Lionel Bombs” when we take control of any jukebox—that’s playing several (typically five) Richie songs in a row. It’s an easy way to get a crowd singing, dancing, and having fun. That’s because this mustachioed pop sensation knows how to make musical magic. Perhaps his best album is 1983’s “Can’t Slow Down,” which includes eight songs, and there’s not a dud among them (“Penny Lover”! “All Night Long”! “Hello”!). This gem will kick your morning off on a sweet note.

The basic steps for making mini cinnamon rolls from store-bought crescent dough are: 1. Spread melted butter on each side of the triangles using a pastry brush (below, top left). 2. Sprinkle a cinnamon-sugar mixture on one side (below, top right). 3. Roll them up (below, center left). 4. Place the rolls into a greased mini muffin tin (below, center right).Don’t worry if the rolling doesn’t go perfectly; they will taste great even if they don’t look flawless. 5. Bake the rolls, then top each with icing (below, bottom left). 6. Serve the rolls warm or cool (below, bottom right).

Grab tubes of crescent rolls whenever they are on sale (I paid only $1). These pint-sized treats are addictive; you’ll want plenty of dough at the ready when your sweet tooth acts up!

For a fantastic brunch, try serving these rolls with my recipe for Bacon, Asparagus, Spinach and Asiago Frittata, too. 

Mini Cinnamon Rolls Using Crescent Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 rolls) crescent rolls
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. powdered sugar
• ¼ tsp. vanilla
• 1 tbsp. milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Unroll crescent rolls. Coat both sides of the dough with butter. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Cover one side of the rolls with the sugar mix. Roll each into a spiral, with the sugar-coated side inside. Place rolls in a small muffin tin. Cook 10-12 minutes, until browned. Let stand 5 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, combine powered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Drizzle icing evenly over warm rolls.

https://www.cookingwithvinyl.com/mini-cinnamon-rolls/ ® Cooking with Vinyl (do not reproduce without permission)

While I’m a big fan of record stores, one of my favorite places to buy vinyl is an estate sale. These whole-house garage sales are typically held after someone dies or moves. Depending on the size of your city, there may be dozens of sales each weekend and, by my completely unscientific estimation, 75% of them have have LPs (most often tucked in a cardboard box in the basement). Shopping estate sales is hit or miss, but I’ve found much of my record collection at these events.

Last Saturday, I visited four sales and found records at two of them. The first offered only a small handful of Big Band music, but the second had about 100 diverse records in like-new condition (below). Jazz, pop, folk, country, Christmas—this small collection had it all. My boyfriend and I quickly thumbed through the offerings and pulled out 15 or so for further consideration. We walked away with 10 great records for $10, and big smiles about our good fortune.

After successfully shopping estate sales for more than a year, I’ve come up with a few tips to help others hoping to grow their record collections this way.

1. MAKE A PLAN: Avoid driving aimlessly for hours by mapping out your plan of attack before you leave the house. Using estatesales.net, I browse upcoming sales the day before I intend to shop (most sales are held on Saturday and Sunday mornings/afternoons, with some opening on Friday). I prefer sales hosted by a third party rather than those that are privately listed so I don’t feel a need to chat with the family and so I can be honest in my assessments of the stuff for sale without offending the owner. I use Google maps to come up with a route for my day. Although I give preference to sales that mention records, I don’t write off the others because I’ve found vinyl many times when it wasn’t listed in the ad.
2. BRING CASH: Although some vendors accept checks (or, rarely, credit cards) cash is king at estate sales. Bring plenty of money because you never know what you may find. Of course, having too much cash in your pocket is an invitation to impulse buying, so set a budget for the day and stick to it.
3. BE AN INSPECTOR: It sounds obvious, but don’t forget to thoroughly inspect every record before you buy it. I’ve made this mistake several times and have ended up with scratched vinyl, torn jackets, and mismatched records/covers.
4. NAME YOUR PRICE: In general, expect records to be $1 apiece at an estate sale, although I’ve seen them for as little as $.25 and as much as $75 for highly collectible albums. It never hurts to offer less—at worst, they say ‘no’ and you pay full price. If you really want deals, however, buy in bulk or go on the last day when prices are more flexible.
5. HAVE FUN: Shopping estate sales can fun or miserable, and it all depends on your attitude. Unlike a record shop, where there’s a singular focus and it’s fairly easy to find something specific, estate sales are crap shoots. You may hit pay dirt, or you may spend an entire day and come up empty handed. I love everything about estate sales, from peeking inside interesting homes and thinking how I’d decorate them, to searching through another man’s trash to find my treasure. In addition to records, I’ve found plenty of bargain-priced cooking gear (cast iron skillets and stainless-steel pots for $1-5 each, for example) and a gorgeous antique sideboard for just $160. Grab a friend and a coffee, and set off on an adventure!

Speaking of adventures, look at the albums we picked up at the sale I mentioned earlier (below). The loot includes two each from Kenny Rogers and Emmylou Harris, Billy Joel’s Innocent Man, The Best of Leonard Cohn, Fleetwood Mac’s eponymous 1975 release, a Cat Stevens record with amazing artwork, a Kris Kristofferson duet album, and a jazz LP from new-to-me George Shearing. I’ve already listened Cohen while cooking, and can’t wait to find the perfect food pairings for the rest!

The food: Almost every week, we buy a bunch of bananas … and almost every week we have at least a few that get too ripe before we eat them. Instead of wasting the overdone fruit, I use them in bread. After all, other than the bananas, this recipe uses baking… The food: About a year ago, I ate Mexican street corn for the first time … and fell in love. It’s charred sweet corn, onions, jalapenos, lime juice, and seasonings, all mixed with a healthy dose of mayonnaise. The results are spicy and creamy — the… Note: I owe you an apology. It’s been a few months since I’ve posted. There are reasons (excuses), but all that really matters is I am sorry for taking such a long break, and I promise not to let that happen again. I’m back, I’m energized, and… The food: Starting a food blog has its perks. For example, I recently attended a culinary class sponsored by Mann’s. There were about a dozen bloggers there, drawn by the promise of learning some cutting skills and a few recipes (oh, and receiving a copy of The… The food: When it comes to protein, I prefer red meat. Unfortunately, that’s not the healthiest choice. Chicken is a smarter option, but unless it’s part of a cheesy pasta dish, I don’t really like it. I tend to overcook grilled or baked chicken out… The food: Sometimes you just want to clog your arteries a bit with a big, juicy steak topped with butter and cheese. When that mood strikes, make it worthwhile with a fatty bone-in ribeye and decadent gorgonzola compound butter (mitigate your guilt by adding a healthy…

The food: There’s nothing—and I mean nothing—like your grandma’s cooking. Try as she might, your mom can never perfectly replicate her mom’s recipes. There’s just something about the love our grandmas put into their food. Or at least, that was… The food: I came across a cute silicone candy mold from Good Cook at the grocer after a workout, when I felt like I had “earned” a sweet treat. I don’t decorate for the holidays, and definitely don’t cook for them. Yet for some reason, I bought… The food: Sometimes you just want ooey gooey, all-American chocolate chip cookies. When the craving strikes, I like to bake rather than buy because homemade tastes so much better and they are really easy to make. I created this super-simple recipe by combining several…

The food: My favorite cut of meat, hands down, is beef short ribs, which are larger and meatier than their pork counterparts. They aren’t exactly healthy, but these chunks of beef are definitely worth splurging on from time to time. Over the years, I’ve… The food: When the temperatures drop, I often fire up the slow cooker and make warm and hearty chili. Although I really like spicy red chili, sometimes I want something milder. On those days, chicken chili fits the bill. There’s still plenty of kick in this…

The food: I’m not going to lie. There’s nothing low-fat, low-calorie, low-carb, or low anything about this baked Chicken Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. It’s a creamy, cheesy guilty pleasure—and I say enjoy it to your heart’s content. In fact,… Cheesy garlic bread is so delicious, and it’s so quick to make that there’s no excuse for not serving it with every Italian dish. My favorite is this Asiago Garlic Bread recipe that is loaded up with garlic. It’s topped with a generous amount of…

Why buy Italian seasoning when you can make it in a matter of seconds? It’s easy to mix up the spices to add great depth of flavor to your pasta dishes. This recipe requires only five spices that you likely already have in your cupboard.

The food: Growing up in the Midwest, far from an ocean, my exposure to seafood as a child was mostly limited to fried fish sticks. Although I grew to appreciate the flavor of fish, mollusks, and other deep-sea finds, I never considered cooking them. Crab cakes, for example, sounded far too exotic for my limited culinary skills. Boy was I wrong! I decided to conquer my fear of fish and discovered that crab cakes are super easy (although a bit expensive) to make.

The music: When I think about eating crab cakes, I imagine sitting by the beach at sunset with a glass of wine. Of course, that’s never actually happened to me, but it sounds perfect. To evoke that mood, I turned to The Honeydrippers, an 80s band fronted by Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame. While “Sea of Love” is an obvious nod to the ocean, the “Volume One” EP includes four other songs that also feel beach-and-wine worthy.

Clocking in at less than 18 minutes for both sides, this quick hitter is the perfect length for prepping these easy cakes (and even leaves time to make a spicy mayo sauce and a side salad!). After gathering up the 10 ingredients needed for crab cakes (below), it’s just a matter of mixing them, making patties, and quickly frying them up.

Although I didn’t have an ocean nearby, I did grab a glass of 2010 Mi Sueño Chardonnay, which was crisp and buttery—a perfect accent to the meal.

In case you’re wondering, The Honeydrippers never released a Volume Two (or any other albums). Considering their limited lifespan, I’m pretty pleased that my boyfriend found this copy of their work for $.25 at a garage sale.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 4 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1 tsp. dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. minced green onions
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 8 oz. lump crabmeat
• 1/2 cup crushed butter crackers
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup spicy mayo

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, green onions, and red pepper flakes. Gently stir in crabmeat and crumbs. Form mixture into 4 patties.
2. Heat butter in skillet over medium heat. Cook patties in skillet until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Serve with spicy mayo.

https://www.cookingwithvinyl.com/duet-crab-crakes/ ® Cooking with Vinyl (do not reproduce without permission)

The food: There are two kinds of people—those who like sweet cornbread and crazy people. That may sound unfair, but this is my blog and I get to make the calls around here. Sweet cornbread is the perfect side for chili (try my Slow Cooker Chili recipe), red beans and…

The food: My boyfriend loves to grill. I love to eat BBQ. It works out well. When we were trying to decide what to grill last weekend, however, we were coming up short. We had fallen into a bit of a rut, cycling through steaks, chicken breasts, and pork chops on…

The food: Every home cook needs a few tried-and-true recipes they can turn to on busy nights. For me, meatloaf is one of those. It’s an “everything but the kitchen sink” type of recipe—if you have ground beef, you can almost certainly find some things in the cupboard to create a decent meatloaf. After lots of trial and error, I’ve landed on this sun-dried tomato version that has great depth of flavor.

The music: Meatloaf is a quintessential Midwestern comfort food. Likewise, John Mellencamp is the gold standard of Midwestern comfort rock. The Indiana native loves America’s heartland so much that he (along with Willie Nelson and Neil Young) founded Farm Aid to keep family farmers on their land. In 30 years, the nonprofit has raised $45 million for its mission. That’s awesome. Also pretty cool is that I’m probably related to him, albeit distantly (our last names—Mellencamp and Mollenkamp—likely trace back to the same German forefathers). Before he went back to his family name, he released a few albums under the stage name Cougar, including 1982’s “American Fool.” This is his breakthrough album, featuring the monster hits “Jack and Diane” and “Hurts So Good.” If you don’t own the vinyl, listen along on my “Sun-Dried Tomato Meatloaf” Spotify playlist.

Like John Cougar, this meatloaf recipe will make you feel proud to be an American. The sun-dried tomatoes are an earthy alternative to plain ketchup, and the onions and carrots add crunch and sweetness. We prefer using hamburger buns in our meatloaf instead of breadcrumbs because they are more moist and it’s a great way to use up leftover buns. Finally, a shot of Sriracha adds some zip to this typically tame entree.

Prefer your red meat in steak form? Try my recipe for Steak with Gorgonzola Butter, too.

Sun Dried Tomato Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 carrots, slivered
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 8 oz. jar sun-dried tomatoes, pureed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. garlic
• 1 tbsp. Sriracha
• 4 hamburger buns, ground to crumbs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook onions and carrots in oil over medium-high heat until tender.
3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients by hand. Transfer mixture to a greased loaf pan.
4. Bake 30 minutes or until center is no longer pink.

https://www.cookingwithvinyl.com/sun-dried-tomato-meatloaf-recipe/ ® Cooking with Vinyl (do not reproduce without permission)

While I’m a big fan of record stores, one of my favorite places to buy vinyl is an estate sale. These whole-house garage sales are typically held after someone dies or moves. Depending on the size of your city, there may be dozens of sales each weekend and, by…

The food: Almost every week, we buy a bunch of bananas … and almost every week we have at least a few that get too ripe before we eat them. Instead of wasting the overdone fruit, I use them in bread. After all, other than the bananas, this recipe uses baking… The food: This year, we planted a pretty large raised-bed garden (it’s about 6 x 18-feet) and our six tomato plants yielded a decent crop. There was no way we could eat them all while they were fresh, so we had to learn a thing or two about canning. We decided… The food: Is it clear yet that I have a soft spot for foods that are best described as ooey gooey? Whether it’s super moist baked goods or extra cheesy dinners, I love rich, delicious treats. Not healthy, but absolutely delicious. This certainly holds true when… The food: I’m not a big fan of scones. Most of the ones I’ve tried from various coffee shops are too dry for my liking. When it comes to baked goods, I prefer ooey-gooey treats. After discovering a glazed berry scone at Panera that I actually love,… The food: Butternut squash soup is one of my fall favorites. Sweet, spicy, thick, creamy…it’s all sorts of autumn goodness. It’s also something I never thought I could make, but thanks to this blog I decided to give it a shot. I looked up about a… The food: I came across a cute silicone candy mold from Good Cook at the grocer after a workout, when I felt like I had “earned” a sweet treat. I don’t decorate for the holidays, and definitely don’t cook for them. Yet for some reason, I bought…