Green Bean Casserole Creator Dies at 92
OK, think Thanksgiving. More specifically, think Thanksgiving dinner. What are the first three things that pop into your head?
- Turkey ( a no-brainer).
- Pumpkin Pie
- Green Bean Casserole
Green Bean Casserole has been around forever, right? I mean, I plod around the planet with a considerable amount of age in my bones, and I remember it from when I was a kid (cuter than a bugs rear-end, I was). There's the turkey, the taters, the gravy, the dressing (or stuffing, if you prefer), all the trimmings, the pumpkin pie over there on a card table in the corner, Uncles, and Aunts and Cousins talking in a low rumble, and...
...the Green Bean Casserole.
Well, the Green Bean Casserole hasn't been around forever, but it has been over 60 years. And the person who created it, Dorcas Reilly, has passed away at the age of 92.
So how did Dorcas create this Thanksgiving table legend?
She worked for Campbell Soup as a kitchen supervisor and, way back in 1955, combined green beans, a cream of mushroom soup and topped it with crunchy fried onions. She did this all for an Associated Press feature story and...bingo!
A Thanksgiving tradition was born.
It's the most popular recipe ever to come out of the corporate kitchen at Campbell Soup.
In an interview decades later Dorcas said she didn't really even remember having a hand in it because the dish was just one of hundreds she helped create, including Tomato Soup Meatloaf, a Tuna Noodle Casserole and something she called 'souperburgers' (think Sloppy Joe).
But it's that delicious Green Bean Casserole that Aunt Martha brings to Thanksgiving that lives on to this day.
And just in case you're one of those younger folks that just isn't quite sure how to make it, check out the video below, and...
...Happy Thanksgiving!
The Associated Press Contributed To This Story