Casserole Daze

Okay, bunny, here you go: the infamous casserole post. I hope it's worth the wait. Growing up, I don't remember my mom cooking much besides casseroles. Ahh, the casserole -- that mighty stalwart of the 70s and 80s childhood. Mom worked until 5 every day, so she needed something easy to make, and I suspect (whispering) she really was never that great of a cook... Anyhoo, here are a few remembered favorites: Tuna-rice casserole Essentially, this is Minute Rice, plus tuna, cheese and peas for some reason. And of course, some sort of cream of something soup. What you get is a brick of vaguely tuna-cheesy-rice, which we spiced up with Tabasco. One of my favorites. Pastafazool Not what the Sopranos eat, I wager. It involved elbow macaroni and kidney beans, plus ground beef and some other stuff. Spaghetti sauce? Who knows? Tallerina I have no idea what this was, but Cathy loved it Green bean casserole You know you still want it for Thanksgiving. This is the only reason there were ever cans of french-fried onions in our pantry. I used to sneak the crispy onion bits for a snack. Oh, c'mon, you ate gross stuff when you were a kid, too. Chicken Sopa A soupy boiled-chicken-and-cheese-and-chilis-and-tortillas mixture, not unlike King Ranch casserole, but better. Especially after a few days in the frig. Dad would never eat it because he said he didn't like boiled chicken, so we could only have it when he went hunting on the weekends. I loooooove chicken sopa, but I don't think I want the recipe because I really don't need to know how heinous it probably is. Let the memory have its golden sheen... And finally, my favorite casserole of all time. The Reason Cream of Something Soups Were Invented. The Crossroads of Many of Nature (and Manufacturers') Perfect Foods: Tater-tot casserole Larl-larl-larl (Homer Simpson sounds)....This is just what you'd expect: tater tots plus hamburger meat plus green beans plus cream-of-something-soup. Heaven in a Pyrex baking dish. I don't really know how to make any of these casseroles anymore, but that's the beauty part... You don't have to. Just slap meat plus vague veggies plus cream-of-something soup plus perhaps a little cheese in a 9x13 pan. Stick in oven. Bake at 350 until done. Then tune into TV Land to watch Sanford and Son reruns. Instant Childhood.