I made my first casserole last night and, well, suffice it to say, Sandra Lee would be proud.
I, on the other hand, feel ashamed...like I've crossed a culinary line and slid head first into a Pandora's vat of noodles, creamy soups, crumbled Ritz crackers, and melted cheese.
I am dirty with cheese. Or cheese product, as the case may be.
The whole notion of casseroles as comfort food doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, when someone dies, loses a job, gets sick, or experiences some unfortunate circumstance, we come a'running with the cheese. I'm so sorry, we say with our Pyrex dishes gurgling with saturated fat laden carbohydrates. Just eat this. It'll be alright.
Until the palpitations start.
Think about it. Do mac & cheesy, tuna noodly, cream of mushroom soupy trays of glop topped with cheese really make us feel better in our times of need? Or do the rocks they leave in our stomachs simply distract us from emotional pain?
I suppose it's easier to cry about indigestion, constipation, and cardiac arrest than it is to confront loss, sickness, poverty, death and all our real fears - (Pandemics! Environmental toxins! Global warming! Nuclear weapons! People who pronounce nuclear with three syllables! Aaaagh!)
You know what I fear even more? The dawn of a new casserole era.
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7 comments:
you're not planning to do any food writing or restaurant reviews, are you?? a diet book based on lost appetite, I can see.
typical american casseroles are glop, but once you get the hang of it, they are wonderfully adaptive.
Because the word "creamy" makes me gag (it just does, don't know why), casseroles have always been a bit suspect to me. I will not eat anything with cream of mushroom soup on it/in it/near it, for instance.
But I make a baked mostaccioli with butternut squash and parsnips that is pretty dang fine.
you need better cookbooks. some casseroles are wonderful!
but i eat mac n cheese so i may not be the one to talk to about that...
I'm not sure I know what the definition of "casserole" is. If it involves creamy sauces, I'm out.
I have a sudden urge to buy some Velveeta.
I love casseroles! I make great mac n cheese but I don't use velveta. A really good parmesan makes all the difference. Next on your list of things to make should be tapioca pudding. I recommend the "Fluffy Tapioca" recipe on the box and top it with raspberries. In our house it is the ultimate in comfort food.
I'm lousy in the kitchen, so you'd think casseroles would be my go-to recipe. But fake cheese and cream of anything soup = instant turn off. I'd rather eat cold cereal.
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