Image and recipe courtesy of Best of Bridge.
Recipe; Christmas Morning Wife Saver Casserole
For those of us who grew up in Canada during the 1980s, The Best of Bridge was a kitchen fixture. Started by a group of Calgary women, the cookbook featured tried-and-true Bridge Club recipes. They were straightforward, using ingredients that could be sourced at any grocery. Most had shortcuts (just use a can of mushroom soup), and were delightfully easy to make. The original cooks have since retired, but the franchise lives on with a younger generation publishing new books every few years.
Here’s one of my favorite recipes; The Christmas Morning Wife Saver Casserole.
Ingredients
16 slices white bread, crusts removed
16 slices Canadian back bacon or ham
16 slices sharp cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1/2 tsp. pepper 2 mL
1/2-1 tsp. dry mustard 2-5 mL
1/4 cup minced onion 60 mL
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper 60mL
1-2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 5-10 mL
3 cups milk 750 mL
dash Tabasco
1/2 cup butter 125 mL
Special K or crushed Corn Flakes
Instructions
Set 8 pieces of bread into a 9″ x 13″ (23 x 33 cm) buttered, glass baking dish.
Cover bread with slices of back bacon. Lay slices of cheddar cheese on top of bacon and then cover with remaining slices of bread to make it like a sandwich.
In a bowl, beat eggs and pepper. To the egg mixture add dry mustard, onion, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce, milk and Tabasco. Pour over the sandwiches, cover and let stand in fridge overnight.
In the morning, melt butter, pour over top. Cover with Special K or crushed Corn Flakes.
Bake, uncovered, 1 hour at 350 deg.F (180 deg.C). Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Favorite Titles Now in Audio Book Format!
A Paris Moment, Magnus the Magnificent and Joan the Saint are all available in Audio Book format on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!
Book Review
Tom Lake
By Ann Patchett
Confession time; this is the first book I have ever read by Ann Patchett.
It’s true. Here’s one of America’s premier authors, who has been writing best sellers for three decades, and I have been a Patchett virgin until now!
I must say, she is a brilliant writer. She takes domestic tales and gives them an epic gravity that compels you to read for hours on end.
Tom Lake is the story of Lara Nelson, the owner of a cherry orchard in Michigan. As she and her three daughters Emily, Nell and Maisie, pick the succulent fruit, Lara recounts her days 30 years ago when she was an aspiring actress, starring in a summer production of Our Town, cast against the leading man, Peter Duke.
Duke would go on to become a famous Hollywood actor and eventually win an Oscar, but for now, he was just a handsome, charismatic young man. Lara immediately hops into bed with him, not realizing that her summer fling would affect her and her eventual family forever.
Under Patchett’s inimitable skill, the story unfolds like an onion, each layer peeling away to reveal another hidden complication that draws the reader inexorably on. It is done so masterfully that it looks easy; trust me, it’s just the opposite.
Now that I have finally discovered the author, I look forward to reading many more of her works. In the meantime, I highly recommend Tom Lake!
Essay Review
And Your Little Dog, Too.
By David Sedaris
I love Dave Sedaris. Ever since I read Santa Land Diaries decades ago, his essays have been a Christmas staple that I look forward to every year. He is bitchy, whiny but above all incredibly funny. Check out And Your Little Dog, Too, courtesy of the New Yorker.
Christmas Movie Review
Some Like It Hot
Streaming on Prime
Okay, so technically, it’s not a Christmas movie, it’s just a flick I like to watch every Christmas.
Two musicians witness a gangland-style slaying by ‘Spats’ Columbo (George Raft) on Valentine’s Day in Chicago. Fearing they’re next, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) are desperate to flee town, but the only gig they can get is with an all-girl band.
Dressing in drag, Josephine and Daphne join Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators on a trip to Florida. Joe immediately falls in love with Sugar Cane Kowalzcyk (Marilyn Munroe), a down-on-her-luck ukulele player. Once there, Joe and Jerry have the misfortune to discover Spats and his gang are in town for the annual mob convention. Lots of slapstick and koochie-koos ensue. Even if you’ve already seen it ten times, I highly recommend Some Like It Hot as a holiday treat!