That first chicken broccoli casserole

My Vicki and I endured a long distance, five-year courtship before we started this 32-year (and counting) marriage. For those five courtship years, I worked in south Georgia while Vicki finished college at the University of Georgia in Athens - about four hours away from me. During the summers, she relocated to Austin, TX where her parents lived.

It was hell. Imagine dating someone for five years (1,825 days) and only seeing them 346 of those days. And, not all of those days involved quality time - often it was shared time. Looking back, it had to be the will of God for us to have survived it.

The first summer that Vicki was in Texas, I made plans to drive out there and spend a week with her family. We had been dating for seven months, and during that time I had only been around her parents for a weekend. And, it was such a busy weekend that I really didn't get to spend much time with them. This trip to Texas was going to be my first immersion into Vicki's family.

I drove to Austin from Atlanta on a Friday, spending the night in Shreveport, LA with a planned arrival on Saturday around lunchtime. Vicki's mama was cooking one of her specialties - a chicken and broccoli casserole. (Her other specialty was baked chicken and rice, and just thinking about it makes me want to change my supper plans). She even brought out the good china because this was our first real meal together, and I believe we all knew that something special was cooking - something beyond this chicken and broccoli casserole.

That Saturday, I nervously arrived in the Austin suburbs and knocked on the front door. Vicki's daddy answered, welcomed me in, and we all exchanged hellos and then Don Bowen said, "Well, go ahead and kiss her. I know you are dying to do it." He was that kind of guy - he knew what I was going through. So, I kissed my Vicki, hugged her, kissed her again and he tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Okay, that's enough." We all had a good laugh.

Lunch was ready, and so we all sat down around LaRose Bowen's table. After eating fast food on the road for two days, that home cooked meal was delicious. I wasn't a big fan of broccoli, but it was delicious and the cute blonde beside me helped things, too.

I was trying hard to make a good impression, telling stories from my travels and putting my best foot forward with my manners and my yes ma'ams. When I finished my lunch, I thanked LaRose for a delicious lunch and then took my plate to the sink to rinse it off. I was raised to clear the table.

On the walk to the sink, I got tangled up with the Bowen's big black mix, Sheeba. She was glad to see a newcomer. I lost my balance and dropped my plate. I watched in horror as that place setting of the good china fell to the floor with a crash.

I looked back toward my hostess, and she was laughing. 

"It's just a plate," LaRose said.

Don said, pointing, "The broom is in the closet. Clean up your mess."

There was more laughter, and I knew these people were going to be in my life for a long time. I've even told my boys to choose their girls based on how the girl's mama values something as insignificant as china. "If she loves that china more than she loves you, you need to get the hell out. It's only going downhill from there."

Last weekend, I cooked LaRose's chicken and broccoli casserole. Though dementia has robbed that good woman of her mind, I still recall the time I first enjoyed that delicious lunch and the graciousness of the hostess who would become my mother-in-law.

www.scottdvaughan.com

 Mom's Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
30-32 ounces chopped broccoli
2 cans creamed mushroom soup
4 beaten eggs
2 C mayonnaise
4 C sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 pound fresh mushrooms
1 chopped onion
4-6 chicken breasts (organic is a more natural size)
saltine crackers or plain breadcrumbs

Cook and drain the chicken, cut it up in small cubes - or shred it.
Cook the broccoli, mushrooms and onions using broccoli directions. Don't overcook.
With only half the cheese (2 cups) mix everything together.
Sprinkle 2 cups of cheese over the top.
Sprinkle crushed saltines or bread crumbs

Bake 35 min at 350 in a rectangular dish - not a square deep dish.
This is a double recipe and so it will make a lot.
Let it rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
Even better warmed up the next day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TEN: The blessing of a bed frame

Image
This past Saturday, I decided to clean out behind our little backyard shed. I looked around the back yard, looking for some little project to tackle, and the shed called my name. Behind the shed is the graveyard for things I don't intend to keep. I throw them back there because I'm too lazy to take them to the trash and recycling center. When the living dead of the graveyard starts becoming visible from the back deck, well, it's time for cleanup. There was an old busted sawhorse. There were two pieces of cracking PVC pipe. There was an old dog kennel, with a missing door, from many years ago. There was an old broken mop handle - or it may have been a broom handle. I'm no longer sure. There was a rotten canvas thing the boys once used as a baseball target. There was an old rusty discus from Andrew's high school track days. There were various old, rotten wooden boards. There was also an old garden hose. And, there was a two-piece metal, adjustable bed frame. After pul
Read more

SIX: The tomatoes have been good this year

Image
Dear Daddy: The tomatoes have been good - no great - this season. Thank you for giving me your green thumb. I planted four Better Boy plants on Good Friday, and by the end of June, those spring blooms had turned to ripe tomatoes. Vicki and I have enjoyed four loaves of bread worth of bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches, and simple tomato sandwiches. I have made tomato sauce over cheese tortellini twice. I made tomato pie on two occasions - both times as a side dish to thick "ribeye" pork chops. I have given away tomatoes to my neighbors, to my friends, and even gave permission to some just to come by and pick one as needed. Daddy, when I tell you those four tomato plants have yielded an unbelievable harvest it is no understatement. And, about now I can hear you say . . . "Huh, Well, that's great. Did you just pick one off the vine and eat it right there?"  Yes, I did that, too. No, I didn't wash it.  The tomato patch has not been this fruit-bearing since 2
Read more

NINE: Traveling with honey bees

Image
This is a story from April 1983. I was 24 years old, single, living alone in Jesup, GA - about an hour from Jekyll Island and the Georgia coast. Every other weekend, I traveled north - about a five-hour drive - to see Vicki. As I've mentioned in other posts, we either met at her grandparent's house in West Point, GA., in my hometown of Cumming, GA, or in Athens, where she was in school at the University of Georgia. At the time, I drove a 1973, two-door Chevrolet Chevelle, dark green with a black hardtop. It leaked water in the back seat during heavy rainstorms. I once threw down some dirt and Kentucky 31 and actually grew fescue back there. That Chevelle had no air-conditioning. When I bought it in 1976 it only had an AM radio, but I had since put in an AM/FM with Cassette. My friend Steve Taylor made me a mixed tape when I moved to south Georgia. That tape contained everything from Zeppelin to ELP to the Beatles. You need to buy and read my book, The Beauty Queen & The Rep
Read more