Fun
Spaghetti Carbonara Day
Dear Ann,
Food52.com‘s podcast, Burnt Toast, is delightful: well-produced, cheerful and informative. Its shortest episode–only 9 minutes long– is the one I recommend today, in part because it has to do with Thanksgiving, but more because I just love it. Here’s Calvin Trillin reading his 1981 essay, Spaghetti Carbonara Day (top of the list).
At my house next Thursday, we will still be doing Conventional Thanksgiving, which includes my mom’s (and the 1960 Pillsbury Bake-Off’s) savory Dilly Casserole Bread. I’ll leave you with another of our family favorites, Scalloped Corn aka Corn Soufflé:
2 cans cream-style corn (ew! stay with me)
1 package frozen corn kernels (or fresh corn cut off the cob if you are some kind of freak)
6 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (1/4 lb) butter plus butter for greasing the dish
approximately 2 cups of crushed cracker crumbs (I use saltines like my depression-era grandma did; Most Moisturized Mom puts on airs with Club Crackers)
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter. Reserve a generous 1/2 cup of the cracker crumbs, and butter the remaining crumbs, which you will use for the topping.
Mix all the other ingredients together with the 1/2 cup of reserved cracker crumbs until well combined, then pour into a buttered casserole dish. Top with all of the buttered crumbs, which will seem excessive. (Because it is).
Bake at 350 degrees until the soufflé puffs up a bit and the crumbs are golden brown, which is usually about 30 minutes. (You want your frozen corn well-thawed and your eggs set.)
Happy weekend to all.
Love,
Kay
I love corn! Will be giving this recipe a shot.
Dilly Bread: after Kay, another bit of greatness from Nebraska.
I have a similar recipe that was given to me by a lady at my parents’ church years ago, but it involves a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and some cheddar cheese on top. Food of the gods!
Creamed corn seemed “eww” to me as well then I saw these in Real Simple: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/cream-style-corn-recipes
One of my friend’s Sicilian mother always served lasagna on Thanksgiving (no turkey). She arrived in America as a teenager.
Spaghetti Carbonara Day! I remember that essay, and think of it often around Thanksgiving. I love this and all the essays from Trillin’s Tummy Trilogy.
whenever I used to watch the news my husband would walk by shouting “Save the chefs! Save the chefs!”
I love your asides in your recipe. They make me laugh out loud! I would try that corn soufflé, but not at MIL’s Thanksgiving. It took 25 years of being in the family before I dared offer my Dad’s oyster/Chinese sausage/water chestnut rice stuffing, and even now it is an add on, not instead of the grated potato/onion/carrot stuffing. Oy! But my kids love my stuffing best, and it’s always gone the first night. So there.
So there!
I will give the corn souffle a try this year. Sounds delish.
Scalloped corn was my favorite as a kid at Thanksgiving…..slightly different recipe (no whole corn) and half the eggs…..I used to make this for myself as a treat during my first years living on my own in Chicago…cheap vegetarian comfort food pre farm to table…. (and I could handle the sodium in the crackers back then)
I’ve been making Dilly Casserole Bread for years. It’s awesome and easy and yummy and really good with my hearty vegetable beef soup.
For the corn recipe I only have one word, Ritz crackers. Ok two words but the buttery Ritz with the butter is so rich!