Published: August 11, 2008 08:39 am         

Drucilla's Little Helpers: Vegetable stuffing casserole

George told me today at dinner to be quiet. Can you imagine that. We had fresh green beans with potatoes cooked on top, cornbread, fresh tomatoes, fried squash, corn from the garden and onions, cucumbers and a meat. I just kept talking about how good these fresh vegetables were and he finally told me to quite talking and eat. I will have green beans to can this week and corn to put in the freezer. And they'll be just as good this winter. Then I can talk about them again.

I am getting to the age where I say a lot of "remember when." Well, last week I saw a friend, June Brown Carr, that I had when I was about 14. We were friends for a few years and then we graduated high school and drifted apart. This would have been about 1959, 1960, 1961. I saw her again in 1972 when her father passed away. Her mother, Ethel Brown, died last week and I visited with her at the funeral home. I met her granddaughter and we were talking about "remember when" stuff. I asked June if she remembered when my sister and I used to go home with her after church on Sunday. Before we went back to church that night we would clean our black patent leather shoes. She would go in the kitchen and get a biscuit then tear it into 3 pieces. We took a piece of that biscuit and shined our shoes. She said if her mom had known that she had wasted a biscuit she would have had a little talk with her. I also saw her brother Darrell and he wanted to know where my red hair was. I told him it was at the same place his black hair was. Isn't it fun to see friends you had as kids.

How many watched the TV show that I did last Monday night? It was fun and I even learned something. It was about nutrition and the brain. I hope you are feeding your brain good. It is most important to feed it good to start the day off right. So many times we get in a hurry and don't eat right.

We make a chicken casserole using chicken flavored stuffing mix, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and either cooked chicken or chicken out of a can. It is easy to mix that up, butter your baking dish and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I came across a lady who does one using vegetables.

Vegetable Stuffing Casserole

1 package Stove Top chicken flavored mix

1 package California blend vegetables

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

Cook vegetables for about 5 or 6 minutes with a little onion. Make stuffing like the directions say to, then add butter. Put one half of the stuffing mixture in a casserole dish, then the drained vegetables and the other half of stuffing mixture over the vegetables. Mix sour cream and soup; pour over top of casserole. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This should serve about 10 people.

Don't forget the Putnam County Fair continues through Aug. 16. I will be doing a cooking demonstration one night in the women's building but I don't know what night. Stop by and see me at the Country Store and get some good homemade baked goodies or a nice handmade craft.

If you have any questions or recipes to share, just give me a call at (931) 839-2313 or e-mail me at drucilla1@frontiernet.net.