Casseroles: the one pot stop!

I grew up in the middle of the casserole craze. Convenient all in one meals, easily prepared by over worked, harried stay at home mothers and working women. They loved casserole back in the day. Your choice of meat, sauce, veggies, a carb, maybe some cheese, and toot sweet( 25-45 minutes) a meal fit for a family of 8 is sitting on the table. Generally served in a nice casserole dish, piping hot. My mother loved casseroles because they did not require talent. My mother is not a vivacious cook. She would rather just not. More often than not, as a child, we had casseroles for that reason. Plus, my parent’s budget was tight. These glorious meals stretched the budget and maximized our number of weekly cooked dinners. 

 Sadly, last year, Dorcus Reilly passed away. She is the mother of the ubiquitous green bean casserole, every southern holiday would not be without. This woman was a staple in the Campbells test kitchen. She worked her magic on every vegetable and meat known to man, and worked out recipes that utilized Campbell's products. I dislike the toasted onions in the original recipe. I use the French’s potato sticks instead. Potatoes and green beans is there anything better? 

 I personally own 4, yes 4, casserole recipe books. I know right. In the age of the internet, I have a whole collection of books dedicated to and slap full of just casserole recipes. I make a casserole at least once a week. I love to cook. I love taking a recipe I find and tweaking it to my liking, or to what I happen to have on my shelf. A few minutes, some spices, some kitchen witchery, and voila a meal for 2 nights. It is a basic and easy go to, for people who have other things they prefer to do than cook. 

 Serving my casserole in a beautiful dish is a bonus. There are all manner of dishes you can use to cook and serve in. I have expressly chosen a nice variety to display in this blog, to help give you ideas on how to use your Polish Pottery in your cooking. Are you having a casual family dinner at the kitchen table? A beautiful baker would be perfect. Are you having guests and dining in the fancy room with the fancy china? A covered baker or soup tureen would be an exquisite choice. You could take it one step further and use the individual covered soup bowls. That would wow your dinner guests with your kitchen powers. A Casserole is the one pot stop for dinner, whether dinner is a family affair or you are entertaining fancy friends.