My mother’s response was to find out for myself. Rather, if I was curious about the dish, I should find the recipe and make it — for Thanksgiving. So I tried out the recipe that I found on the back of the soup can and presented it.

It turned out to be a winner. Especially so, since my mother’s family isn’t all that big on green beans. And so I was asked to repeat the performance for Christmas, and the following Thanksgiving, and the following Christmas, and every other holiday we ever spent together.

But as the years passed, I began to get bored with it. So I tried to spice things up, adding fresh garlic, thyme, paprika, and other ingredients to the list. As my cooking prowess grew, the recipe finally began to take shape and I had created something new.

But I never looked forward to making it. The thought of canned soup, and canned beans, and pre-fried onions, put a knot in my stomach that made it difficult to bring myself to making it. And so I stopped making it. Luckily, by this point, I had moved away from home and had stopped visiting for the holidays, so it was never expected of me.

Last Thanksgiving, we ate with some friends of ours and someone suggested that the casserole be made and I was volunteered. So I made it. With a dry turkey, my casserole became my friend again. But I hoped to never have to make it again.

So you can imagine how it bothered me that LorY had somehow managed to volunteer me again this year, with a different set of friends.

But then, she sent me this — a green bean casserole made from scratch! Why it had never occurred to me to look for a scratch recipe is beyond me. But now I’m excited to make this dish again, and maybe, if it works, I’ll have a new-old dish to present should we ever have a holiday with my folks again.

Comfort food with a twist — I should be trying it out tonight. In a separate post, I’ll let you know how it goes.

I distinctly remember having more than three mugs in this apartment. I wonder what happened to all of them?

We have a ton of traveler mugs that keep your stuff warm for hours, but these don’t really do me any good since my car’s cupholders are horrendously small.

Why is it that whenever I need a mug, I can always find them in the dishwasher, waiting to be washed? I guess there’s something to be said for consistency.

I like chai, a lot, but I drink it without any sweetener. What happens if I blended it with a normal heavy-duty plain black tea? Perhaps I’ll try that tomorrow.

That is all.