Saturday night supper, revisited

I’m getting ready to have dinner and was thinking back on some popular family dinners from my childhood. I’ve written before about how Mom’s homemade chili was a huge hit. A rare dip in temperatures here in Atlanta has me thinking about hearty casseroles. Like a lot of moms, my mom would scour the newspaper, can and box lids for recipes we might like. The one she found on a can of Campbell’s soup was by far our favorite.

I don’t remember the name of it surprisingly, but it was basically shredded chicken (sometimes my mom would cook chicken breasts and shred them, sometimes she would just buy the chicken chunks in a can), dressing (or stuffing, depending upon your preference, anyways, that yummy stuff served at Thanksgiving) along with cream of chicken soup. You layered the chicken, dressing and soup and baked the mixture in the oven.

It was so simple, but it was so delicious! Sure, it wasn’t the healthiest of meals but it was a great comfort food dish. And none of us had a weight problem, so we could indulge in dishes like this now and then without too much guilt.

Dad and I always had second helpings of this dish. I don’t remember there ever being leftovers. Dad, who sometimes was absent-minded when it came to compliments on Mom’s cooking, never failed to say, “That was good!” when this chicken casserole was on the menu.