Well here’s some sad nostalgic news. Dorcas Reilly, the woman who invented one of my favorite dishes, the Green Bean Casserole, died on October 15.
According to an AP report on News Channel 8:
Reilly was a Campbell Soup kitchen supervisor in 1955 when she combined green beans and cream of mushroom soup, topped with crunchy fried onions, for an Associated Press feature. It is the most popular recipe ever to come out of the corporate kitchen at Campbell Soup.
In a 2005 AP interview, she didn’t specifically remember inventing the dish, but having a hand in creating it, as she did many others including tomato soup meatloaf; a tuna noodle casserole; and sloppy Joe-like “souperburgers.”
Who hasn’t had a green bean casserole, especially on the Thanksgiving or Christmas table? There will be a celebration of her life Saturday in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where she lived.
