Because there aren't enough casseroles..

There are no dead horses to beat when it comes to casserole cooking. If there are, I would have found all of the books and cards still lurking in the world. Looking at my vast stash of books, I can see five different books with "casserole" in the title. I'm not counting one dish or make ahead books. I haven't raided the thrift stores or ebay in a while and I had a moment where I thought my material was running low. Have no fear! I have the McCall's cookbooks sitting atop my desk, where they have been since the beginning of summer. They have become something I have looked at pretty much every day that I almost forgot about them.

Casseroles are one of those perfect subjects. What can be more interesting than a bunch of canned soups, meat of unknown origin, American cheese, baked until bubbly and brown and topped with sliced eggs and/or olives with a happy parsley garnish and a radish rose?  

I was informed on of my favorite websites that I am responsible for "taking every single food group I like and totally destroying it for me" after my chicken post of yesterday. I say with a big hug and an impish little smile:

You're welcome!!! It's what I do best! My husband says I am the only person to ever completely disgust him with the things I have told him.

McCall's Casserole Cookbook, 1965. Not to be confused with the McCall's Casserole Cookbook, 1978.

McCall's Casserole Cookbook, 1978. I would hate to be the person who waited eagerly 13 years for the 1978 version to come out. The only difference I see are the color hues.

OMG you can bake bread in a casserole. OMG desserts baked in a casserole dish can be called casseroles. I need to tell someone this! It will CHANGE the way we all do our cooking.  When I can't think of what else to serve, I get a pizza. This intro is lame and not just because it's shaped like a pot.

Beef Pie with Herbed Crust. It doesn't look too bad. There has to be a force field or something holding all of those vegetables and meat in place. Unless it's not warm and hearty but cold and congealed.

I am totally giddy about these Beef Rolls, Italian Style. Why? Because it's been a long time since I have posted a picture that looks like tuhds, as my son would call them. I finally get to see turd meat with lima beans in a mysterious red liquid. Yay! I could end this post right now and be content with what I produced.

Okay I get the picture is long. It looks to be a standard layout in these books. Have you ever heard anything so divine as a Beef-Eggplant Pie?

Ground-Pork Pie with Mushroom Sauce. This just wouldn't look right without sliced eggs AND pimiento stuffed olives arranged in a way that Betty Crocker or Marguerite Patten would scoff at.

Veal-Ham Pie. Not only does it have cubed veal and ham in it, but open your palate for hardboiled eggs. I should have stopped at cubed veal and ham.

Pictures. I need pictures!

The beef vegetable pie looks like a boil that has been lanced and left to drain. Shrimp gumbo with the usual maggoty rice and the star of the show, Stuffed Frankfurters with Sauerkraut! These are stuffed with boxed stuffing. Wrap your tastebuds around that for just a second.

Fish Pie. A concoction of frozen fish fillets, sour cream, and a little love. It's so fleshy looking.

Few things can knock me off my feet than stuffed peppers. I don't know why. I have posted the worst of the worst but these damn stuffed peppers get me every time.

This has to be the smuggest set drawn vegetables I have ever seen. I like the onion.

This is the third time I have posted this picture. The blog post started with it and it shall end with it. This could be anything, couldn't it? Toast points, scary sauce, sliced tomatoes. This is a Saturday-Night Casserole. From the recipe, it's a bunch of shit combined to make the important and symbolic casserole of the 1960s.

Enjoy these McCall's books. I have a whole stack of them! Good thing I am not making a casserole tonight. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever made one. Yet I emerge from this day stronger than when I awoke.