Green Bean Casserole News

Well here’s some sad nostalgic news. Dorcas Reilly, the woman who invented one of my favorite dishes, the Green Bean Casserole, died on October 15.

According to an AP report on News Channel 8:

Reilly was a Campbell Soup kitchen supervisor in 1955 when she combined green beans and cream of mushroom soup, topped with crunchy fried onions, for an Associated Press feature. It is the most popular recipe ever to come out of the corporate kitchen at Campbell Soup.

In a 2005 AP interview, she didn’t specifically remember inventing the dish, but having a hand in creating it, as she did many others including tomato soup meatloaf; a tuna noodle casserole; and sloppy Joe-like “souperburgers.”

Who hasn’t had a green bean casserole, especially on the Thanksgiving or Christmas table? There will be a celebration of her life Saturday in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where she lived.

Dorcas Reilly (Photo by AP)

B. John

B. John Masters writes about democracy, moral responsibility, and everyday Stoicism at deep.mastersfamily.org. A lifelong United Methodist committed to social justice, he explores how faith, ethics, and civic life intersect—and how ordinary people can live out justice, mercy, and truth in public life. A records and information management expert, Masters has lived in the Piedmont,NC, Dayton, OH, Greensboro, NC and Tampa, FL, and is a proud Appalachian State Alum.

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