Auntie Mary's Green Bean Casserole

I didn’t bake on Monday this week. My husband baked. I came home to a vase of flowers and The Thew making Jetlag Sausage Bake, which was fitting as I’d arrived back from Chicago. Sadly the trip was because my Auntie had passed away and I went over to support my family and attend her wake and funeral. I did think that I should bake something in her memory, which we’ll get to below, but it focused me on all the reasons why I miss her and how the world feels emptier without her presence in it.

My Auntie had many challenges to face in her life and did so with patience, generosity and love. She had three beautiful daughters, my cousins, and the last week spent with them has shown me that all her qualities exist within them and that I can still find her every now and again. Her eldest daughter has the ability to care for others that she shows through her role as a mum and care giver to her two younger sisters. She cares for those with special needs in the same awe inspiring way that her mum did, all the while keeping a smile on her face and finding the joy in situations. My Auntie’s sociability has transferred to her and also her middle daughter, who has to be dragged away from any social gathering. Yvonne lives in the moment and loves to talk to people, meet people and generally help out. Her love of children, another of my Auntie’s traits, can absorb her completely and she patiently tried to get my younger hyper activity self to sit still (without success) so she could lavish attention on me. The youngest, Bernadette, is thoughtful, kind and always likes to look stylish. My Auntie loved to shop for clothes and of all her daughters Bernadette revels most in new things to wear along with getting her nails and hair done. Her eldest daughter gave her two grandchildren who brought her so much joy and they are hitting adulthood with maturity, due to dealing with situations beyond their years, and showcasing elements of her wonderful nature and mixing them with their own to create something new and great.

So this is clearly my Auntie's amazing legacy that she left - her beautiful family that contains elements of her personality that can be found if looked for. Obviously nothing is as good as the real thing, a fact everyone will agree with me on, but it's a pretty decent second best that I'm happy to take right now.

In thinking of a fitting recipe to honour my Auntie my mum jogged my memory about a Green Bean Casserole she used to make. It’s a fairly staple part of American life as many people know about it but I’ll put it down here as it’s delicious. I’ll update with my own picture when I do make it as I need to track down the onions. Comfort eating is going to be one of the ways I get through how I feel right now but at some point I'm going to have to follow her lead and just get on with it. She showed that taking what you get and making the most of it can create fantastic beauty in this world.

Ingredients:

1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
180ml cup milk
Black pepper
500g green beans
300g French’s French Fried Onions (these are really hard to get in the UK. Sometimes you can find them as ‘salad toppings’ but they are amazing. If you know someone going to the States get them to bring them back).

1.    Heat oven to 180°/GM4.

2.    Mix soup, milk and black pepper in a baking dish. Stir in beans and 150g French Fried Onions.

3.    Bake for 30 min.

4.    Stir and top with the remaining 150g onions. Chuck back in the oven for 5 minutes until they are crunchy and then serve.