Long before the days of The Partridge Family or The Jackson Five, Margaret Taylor and her musically inclined family were on stage wowing crowds.

The longtime White Rock resident is a fourth-generation musician, and first started playing violin and piano when she was a child.

“My grandfather played the drums,” Taylor said. “His most memorable moment was playing for President (William) McKinley’s inauguration in 1898 in Chicago.”

Growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan, Taylor and her siblings, along with her parents, aunts and uncles, made up a highly sought-after wedding band, performing at services all over the Prairies.

The family still plays together today, and the musical influence has been passed on to the younger family members as well.

“We’ve had the family band all our lives,” she said. “It’s just fantastic to play with the whole family.”

Taylor is still very active in the music scene, playing shows with several different bands spanning a variety of genres. She also teaches piano and violin lessons to students ranging in age from two to 60.

She was one of the first music teachers in Canada to introduce the Suzuki Method – a technique developed by Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki that teaches students to play by ear the same way they learn to speak.

Another tradition that Taylor is carrying on is a love for cooking, a pastime she and her family also like to do together.

“The tradition is to play music and do the prep work for the family dinner when we take breaks from playing tunes,” she said.

The recipe she is sharing – beet and orange salad with walnuts and gorgonzola – is a family favourite, one created by her mother in an effort to get Taylor and her siblings to eat beets. Taylor said she often makes the salad for family get-togethers, and it’s still a great way to trick kids into eating beets.

Although the work she does in the kitchen is quite different from the work she does with a musical instrument, Taylor said the two hobbies have some commonalities.

“I’m always looking for the same attributes in both music and cooking – colour, depth of flavour, balance and creativity.”

Beet and Orange Salad

Ingredients:

6-8 medium sized beets, boiled, cooled, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes

6-8 Mandarin oranges, in segments

3 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. grapeseed oil

2 tbsp. walnut oil

½ cup toasted walnuts

4 oz. gorgonzola cheese diced into ¼ inch cubes

salad greens

Instructions:

Line a serving platter with salad greens. Gently toss together beets, oranges, walnuts, oils, vinegar and a little salt and pepper and place on top of salad greens. Place the gorgonzola cheese on top and serve.