Friday friend Recipe #252-Funeral Casserole

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell....

About 20 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an

  e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.

I decided to count those down!

Why?

Because one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in  here for my blog."

The Handyman, who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said "you'll never EVER do that."

Well, maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipe #252--my mom's funeral casserole

You have all heard of funeral potatoes, right?  Well my mom had a funeral casserole.

I Googled funeral casserole, but all that came up was funeral potatoes. 

It's basically the same thing--take out the potatoes and add macaroni and diced chicken and there you go.

The name comes from it being easy to make and easy to take to gatherings (not that we're doing any gathering right now), and lots of times gatherings take place at funerals and taking food is a comfort thing, so--wah-la!  That's how it got its name.

It's cheesy and good and has a ton of carbs--comfort food!

I made this casserole while we were up in Oregan at our cabin last fall.

This is my mom's 45th recipe in the cookbook countdown. I've told all the long stories about her--so here is a short one today.

In the picture below of my mom and day, you can see some Easter decorations.  

This was taken 40 years ago on Easter Sunday before (or after ) church. It was at our apartment and the only decoration I could afford were some of those heavy cardstock cut-outs of Easter Bunnies, etc.

My mom tho, used to go to craft fairs and church bazaars and fun little gift shops and had great decorations for every holiday.  My sister-in-law and I inherited the coolest stuff for Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Cool Cool crafts and decorations. Sentimental items she'd had for a while. All kinds of good stuff.

BUT when we were cleaning out my mother's house after she passed away, we found NO EASTER DECORATIONS!

This is spooky, creepy my friends.  

Seriously!

 My mom had great Easter decor, but when she died--nada.  Nothing.  NOT one lone ceramic bunny.  Not even a plastic egg hidden in her deep dark basement.

Not even a jelly bean in the back of the pot holder drawer--where she stashed the candy.

Nothing!

It's a mystery!

We have no clues at all and cannot figure this out for the life of us.

It will bug me for the rest of my life.

I'm sure she is laughing hysterically up in heaven, because she knows!  Oh, she knows!

My mother was a very positive person--the glass was always half-full to overflowing.  Nothing could get her down for long--she found joy in most things. That's why I know she'd think the Easter decoration dilemna would be funny.

   The family cabin at Wallowa Lake was one of her favorite places ever--as well as her family.

Family was top on her list of favorite things.

She would be ecstatic knowing that the Handyman and I have Cousin Camp up at the cabin every summer for our grandkids (of a certain age), her great-grandkids.

So--I leave you with a couple photos of her  great-grandchildren at the lake, where I made her funeral casserole, which is very good by the way.

I think you should go make some and eat it.

Comfort food--a stress reliever. 

And this my friends is 

recipe #252

Only 115 left to go!

Woo Hoo!