Casserole for the Crowd

Although Mom never had a job with a paycheck after marrying Dad, she was always busy with the endeavors that brought in extra income like the chicken ranch, the strawberries and “the shop”. The shop was a saw and lawnmower shop that they owned from about 1961-1971. She would often be the only one in the shop from the time Dad went to work night shift at Lockheed and closing time at 6pm.


One summer evening she came home from the shop and announced to Martha and I (the only ones at home by then) that we were going over the hill to the beach for dinner. She had it planned as she had had Martha warm up a casserole which was loaded into the foam cooler always used for picnics, and away we went. We drove to Sunset Beach near Santa Cruz, and found a picnic table as the base of the sand dunes for which it is known. We couldn’t see the ocean, but we could hear it, and the dunes provided shelter from the onshore breeze.

The casserole recipe was a new one, and this blog bears it’s descriptive if not inspiring name: Casserole for the Crowd. It was warm and yummy and she had brought along French bread.

This alone would have made for a memorable evening, but just as we were finishing our meal we heard a bagpipe. One lone piper was coming down the road to the beach, piping as he walked. He walked over the dunes and stood, playing as the sun set into the ocean.

I’ve served this recipe to my own family, to both delight and dismay, but I love it. It is always more than a forkful of food, but also a memory of the beach and music and a mom who always knows how to throw a good party.


CASSEROLE FOR THE CROWD
1 ½ # ground beef                                     1 c. sour cream
1c. chopped onion                                     ¼ c. pimento
12 oz canned corn                                     ¾ t salt
1 can cream of mushroom soup                  ¼ t pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup                      3 c. cooked noodles
Bread crumbs

Brown meat, add onion. Add next 8 ingredients, mix well. Stir in noodles. Top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cue the highland music…..