What IS that flavor ?

Do you ever eat something and it tastes yummy but you just can't quite put your finger on the flavor you're enjoying?!  That was dinnertime for me tonight.

Mandy and Rick
(with their baby Peter)

Yesterday afternoon, my sister-in-law Mandy (married to my wife's youngest brother Rick), dropped off a HUGE casserole-of-sorts at our house (and salad + fixins + dessert).
Her generosity was based on a blog my wife had written about how she isn't a big fan of cooking.  She actually does enjoy cooking but every once in a while the making of 2-3 meals a day does wear on you.

Anyway, it was super sweet of Mandy to make this meal for our family.  We would have eaten it yesterday, but my mom had the 3 older girls, and the boys were with their Aunt Jodie @ Waterworld ... and this casserole was WAY too big for just Karen and I to enjoy.  In fact, it was WAY too big for our family to eat tonight ... but that's plenty okay because now we also know what we're having for dinner tomorrow night!  :)

But the flavor of the dish still has me a little puzzled.  The basic ingredients are macaroni, tomatoes, corn, cheese, and some sort of red sauce (which I normally despise ... but this was sooooooo good!)  The seasoning tasted sweet, but also had just a tiny bit of kick to it.  The closest I can categorize it in is something similar to taco seasoning ... but that is just not doing it justice.  All I know is it was dee-licious!  And the fact that my wife didn't have to cook dinner tonight (or tomorrow) made her very happy ... which makes for a great evening at our house!  :)

Thanks Mandy, for an awesome, VERY tasty surprise ... and also for a very cool pay-it-forward kind of idea.  Karen and I are already considering who we might pass on a full dinner to.  Readers, you've been warned ... but it is a warning of something great that might happen.

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