Edie is, for the most part, based on Evelyn - my grandmother.  After the odd grilling about Edie, it all clicked.  I could see her now - I’d met her and knew her - what a pill she was.  She never cooked for me, but it painted the picture I needed.  Evelyn was a joy to know - frightening in some respects because something about her was simply a force of nature you never wanted to meet on a bad day, or heaven forbid, cross her and make her day a bad one.  She had a shock of bright white hair, and fair skin with rosy cheeks and eyelids.  She reminded me a little bit of an easter egg for reasons I don’t know why.  She loved to, along with Norman, her husband and my Grandfather, play practical jokes and tease endlessly about anything, even themselves.  A diamond clip given on an anniversary was actually a ‘dime and clip’; a ring box with a dime sandwiched in a paper clip.  She loved to give me a hug, simultaneously putting her hearing aid up against my cheek, letting it suddenly buzz in a strange way - it made her chuckle.  Me too. Later she had a mummified bit of pinky toe she had removed in another ring box, which she happily introduced at another family party.  She was silly and lovely,  yet dour and unabashedly opinionated all at the same moment.

I started with the basics; the ingredients outlined in the initial email - it was a test run.  I’d done a bit of (fruitless) research.  Funny; Larousse Gastronomique doesn’t say anything about casseroles.  Nor does the Culinary Institute of America text.  Nor does even the Betty Crocker cookbook I have.  Not the sort of thing I really want or need to know, anyway - such as what the ideal proportion of rice to liquid to condensed soup might be - the backbone of the whole thing.  No one says.  So I start out guessing and making a sacrificial lamb out of it.

I start with this  - sort of just mapping it all out - imagining the proportions I’m going to use - and since I don’t know - one of the things I did was use the soup can for a measuring cup -  It’s actually an idea I really liked, and one I imagined somebody like Edie might use - simply because it simplified things - you didn’t have to get out measuring cups you didn’t need when you had the can right there.  It also makes it easy to scale up.  I’m basing it mostly off of what I know about rice and moisture, but I still don’t really know what the moisture content is in a can of condensed soup...

This is iteration number one, and though it’s not bad - it’s certainly not the sort of thing that the lead character in a book - let alone a New York Times bestseller - would ever be referring to as a favorite.  I also am missing the Parmesan for the topping - I had potato chips in the pantry, which I crushed - and while they were a nice touch, they weren’t quite ‘official’.Tweaks and things I know after the initial tasting.  The rice alone is gummy.  It just doesn’t cook the same as on the stove.  Also, flavorings - spices - simple touches to bring out the flavor - just aren’t there.  I love this part as well, because now I’m dissecting it in a different way - making notes about baking time and temperature, covered and uncovered.  Getting into thinking about things that need to be there for texture, flavor.

One of the interesting things about Mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese (and tomatoes and a few other ingredients) is that they contain an amino acid (Glutamic Acid) that contributes to, and enhances flavor - sort of a precursor to MSG.  Two ingredients ready and willing to amplify flavors that aren’t quite there...

I knew I need something to ‘expand’ the whole thing - because it’s just too dense on rice alone, so I think adding macaroni along with the rice.  I think of making risotto - making pasta that way - what it does to the flavor and texture of them browning first in butter and coating the exterior, setting and gelating some of the starches, and I think it’s not something that wouldn’t be unrealistic for Edie (or Evelyn).  After all they cooked - and made nice dinners for their families - even if it wasn’t risotto.  I liked the idea of browning things in some butter to get things going - the flavor - playing it up as some element in the final flavor parade, because I’m a savory sort of person, and I like the way you can make something so hearty out of such a simple step...  I changed some of the quantities to the liquids, including adding a couple of eggs to the whole mix to further enhance the final texture..

I map it all out again - based on notes and corrections from the first version - along with additions - and I pretty much had it - exactly what I wanted it to be - a casserole of the sort that someone might relish as the ultimate comfort food, and still be something that came from things you might simply have in the pantry.

And maybe that’s what I love about this most of - the eternal lessons and blessings of the lovely women like Edie and Evelyn - about making things that matter out of simple and humble things.  Turning them into something wonderful and meaningful, things that people cling to and think of as being a part of their ‘home’.  It’s what I love about cooking, making food, making recipes.  It’s the best reminder that sometimes, everything you need to make life feel perfect is built on the stuff right under your fingertips, in your pantry.  You just have to be creative and caring enough to do something with it.