Connie's Kitchen: By the way, no one here likes Green Bean Cass

One of my very favorite holiday side dishes is Green Bean Casserole. I love it so much that I have made it every holiday season and worked on perfecting my recipe to the point where I am very proud of how I make this dish. Its a dish that I brag about and usually everyone just loves it. I always offered to bring it for holiday gatherings and definitely made it every year for either thanksgiving or Christmas with my family.
 The first time I helped my Mom with thanksgiving dinner I was pretty young. I remember putting on her terrycloth white apron with the big yellow pear on it with yellow strings. I always wore that apron when I helped Mom in the kitchen. We cooked corn and stuffing and checked on the turkey as the smells of dinner filled the house. We made a pumpkin pie because my Dad loved pumpkin pie with cool whip. I learned about spices and seasoning and how long to cook the veggies and rolls. Cooking thanksgiving dinner with my Mother is one of the first times I remember really cooking with her. Over the years I took over more and more of the dishes until one year in high school, I offered to make the whole thing. I don't remember if we had Green Bean Casserole before this but I am almost positive that I made that casserole for that meal.
It was stressful trying to juggle all the cooking on my own and trying to make sure everything was done at the same time. I am sure I burned something or had to reheat something else but in the end I did it, I made the whole meal and it was pretty good. The turkey actually came out great I remember. I rubbed the skin with butter and salt and pepper and I stuffed orange slices in several places under the skin and it came out tender and tasting a little like orange and everyone was impressed.
After that I made most of thanksgiving dinner a few more times for my little family of four in our house in the woods off Moore Dr and every time I did, I made my "famous" green bean casserole. Everyone always ate a little bit of every thing and was very kind to let me know how much they enjoyed it.
Over the years my sister and I would miss thanksgiving with our parents now and then to go to dinner with a fiance' or husband's family but I remember enjoying thanksgiving one more time with my Mother before she passed away.
Mom had just started to feel ill in early Oct of 2010. It began with her feeling dizzy and having trouble with her balance. By thanksgiving, she could still walk and use her hands but it was becoming a little more difficult. Although she was worried and frustrated with what was going on with her health (at this time we all still thought she was experiencing an MS flare up) she was is great spirits that Thanksgiving day and was smiling and joking all day long.
After we finished our meal with My Aunt Rita and her family and our good family friends in Centreville, Nick and I made our way back to my parents house for a little visit. We all sat in the living room chatting. We were talking about how great dinner was and how I had offered to bring my Green Bean Casserole the next year. I was boasting about how delicious it was and that I love to add bacon and cheese. My Mom sat there listening to me talk and then just looked at me and said; "No one here likes Green Bean Casserole by the way. Dad, Me, Lindsay...we have never liked it." I thought she was joking and I laughed and then she laughed but stopped laughing. I looked at her kind of confused and then I said; "really?!" She looked at me, dead serious, and said " yes really, we have never liked it and you bring it every year and none of us like it."
I was shocked and a little embarrassed. We all began laughing and it was so awkward and funny. I asked her why she never said anything before and she just shrugged and said I just loved making it so much and no one wanted to say anything. I started thinking back and realizing that there way always a lot of Green Bean Casserole left over for me to take home and it all made sense. I still crack up thinking about how she had waited for years to tell me this secret that her and my Dad and my sister must have been keeping and how I couldn't believe how she finally just blurted it out. My Mom usually didn't hold back when she had something she wanted to tell you so this really did shock me.
I still make Green Bean Casserole every year, mostly for myself but my in-laws love it too thank goodness. If my Mom were still here to share Thanksgiving with us, I would still make it and just keep it all for myself.

Here is my recipe for my "Famous" Green Bean Casserole. This is for a pretty large portion-I'd say it could feed six as a side dish and still have some left over.

4 Cans Green Beans
2 Cans mushroom soup
1 can milk
6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup onion flakes
1 T minced garlic
1 package of French's Fried Onion
1 T Worcestershire
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except hold back two slices of bacon and 1 half of the fried onions.
Feel free to pour a little of that bacon grease in there too if you like. Bake the casserole in a large casserole dish, covered, on 400 for 30-45 mins. Once the casserole is nice and hot and bubbly, take it out of the oven and put the rest of the bacon and fried onion on top. Bake another 5 mins or so until the onions are a little browned. I topped mine with a little more cheddar and some Parmesan this year. Enjoy!

Connie's Kitchen: The Crab Cake Connoisseur!

My Mother was the crab cake connoisseur of Manassas VA and maybe even all over Northern Va and parts of Beckley West Va. She could not resist ordering the crab cake if it was on the menu and usually by ordering that dish, she would decide whether a restaurant was worth going back to. It made perfect sense for her to try the crab cake at a seafood restaurant or somewhere near the beach. It made sense to even try the crab cake at a place that was just known for making pretty good food but my Mother would try the crab cake anywhere. Anywhere once even meant a Shoney's in Beckley West Va. Now you are going to expect me to write some funny story about how it was a terrible crab cake and how she made some hilarious scene but no, oh no my friends, that is not what happened that night at the little Shoney's in the Kroger shopping center just outside of Oak Hill. My Mother LOVED that crab cake! She loved it so much that she went on and on and on about it for the entire meal and then couldn't stop mentioning how very good that crab cake was for weeks and years to come! Up until my sweet Mother passed away, this crab cake would come up every once in a while and my sister and I would die laughing as my Mother, very seriously, made sure we remembered how amazing that meal was. Through the years my Mom found her favorite places to get a crab cake and every single time we would mention one of those restaurants as a meal option, she would make sure we knew; "Oh they have a great crab cake! Lots of meat, very little breading.". She found that she loved the crab cakes at Sweet Water Tavern and Ruby Tuesdays. *So now you know that those two places are Connie Swanigan approved.* Every time we would go there she would waste away, starring at the menu, trying to decide on something besides the crab cake and almost every time she strayed she would sit there picking at her food, kind of pouting, and would eventually, quietly say; "well I should've gotten the crab cake...."
 If you knew my Mom, you would know that she didn't handle disappointment very well (and I am exactly the same way). She would get her hopes up about something and when it didn't work out, it would truly hurt her partly because she was disappointed but also because she didn't want to cause any trouble or make anyone else feel bad. Whenever my Mom strayed from her regular menu item somewhere, she was almost always disappointed and it was painful to see. My Mom was so excited though when she stuck to what she knew and that meant always ordering the crab cake at Sweet Water, Ruby Tuesday's, and especially the Shoney's in Beckley West Va.
In honor of my Mom's love for crab..I am going to share my recipe for Hot Crab Dip (which my Mom also loved and in particular she loved the crab dip from Costco..Connie Approved!).

Hot Crab Dip

3 cans of Bumble Bee Fancy White Crab Meat
2 cans of Bumble Bee Fancy Lump Crab Meat
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterrey jack, Gouda, anything that melts well and that you like alot)
1 cup Mayo
1 package of cream cheese (softened)
6 pieces of crumbled bacon
1/3 cup minced onion
3 garlic cloves minced
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice
1/4 cup green onion minced
1 T old bay
1/2 T hot sauce
1/2 T dry mustard
1 cup of frenches fried onion
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Drain and sort through crab meat looking for shells. I have rarely ever found any shell over the years in the bumble bee cans.

 Mix together all ingredients in a casserole except for 1/2 cup of the fried onions, Parmesan cheese, and save two slices of bacon and some of the shredded cheese. Bake the dip on 350 for 40 mins.

After 40 Mins take out the dip and top it with remaining cheese, fried onions, crumbled bacon, and Parmesan. Cook for 5-10 more mins until cheese is melted on top. Enjoy with crackers or some nice slices of french bread. Be careful because the dip will be extremely hot when it comes out.

Connie's Kitchen: Accident Prone and Corned Beef Dip

Well my current show is just about ready to wrap up and I have many mixed emotions. With only two more shows left I am partly so sad to say goodbye but partly relieved. This show has made me think about my Mom so very much and part of me loves thinking about her and needs the emotional release but it is also so exhausting. Many nights while I sit there completely trapped inside Barbara (if you saw the show, you would know what I mean) and I just think about her. I have thought a lot about when she was sick but also a lot about when we were growing up. With the holidays right around the corner I keep thinking about my childhood and wishing my Mom was here to spend this season with our family. So one night while sitting on the NOTLD couch I started thinking about how accident prone I used to be. Little Lily has had to go to the hospital twice already in her young life and it was a horrible feeling. I mean the moment you realize a sickness has gotten to the point of needing a hospital trip its just awful so I can't imagine how my Mother must have felt having to take me to the ER so many times. In my case I was constantly breaking bones and hurting myself and I don't know what is worse...being very sick or seeing your child scream with pain after breaking a bone?
When I was very young my very first friend was a boy.  My next door neighbor Benjamin and I did everything together. My sister and I also spent a lot of time with our older cousin Jason who lived just down the street.  We played outside everyday and I wanted to do everything the boys did.

This picture is of Abra (Ben's Sister), My sister Lindsay, Me, Cousin Jason, and Ben on Ben and I's first day of Kindergarten.

 Also, very important to note that we lived in the woods and there was a gully in my front yard. Actually this gully was more like a small ravine that stretched the length of our front yard as well as 3 other neighbors' yards. I can't even say how deep it was but I can say that riding a sled down that thing was insanely thrilling and always, always had the potential to cause injury..especially when you created a sled jump over a cement drainage tunnel.

I spent many summer days in that gully pretending to play "shop" with my sister and "selling" each other leaves and rocks and many winter days sledding down its dangerous hills but I also spent a lot of time climbing the trees that surrounded the gully with my sister and Ben. The first time I fell out of a tree, I landed on my feet and it was thrilling, so we climbed higher. We had these gigantic pine trees at the end of our yard, right by the dirt road, and we would climb to the top and then  jump from tree to tree, branch to branch, Tarzan style.
After climbing so often and so high I never thought I could get hurt and definitely never thought I could get hurt in a small tree but I did. While climbing a very small tree in Ben's front yard I decided to swing from a branch and for some strange reason got very scared. I mean my feet were only about two or three feet from the ground but I just completely was overwhelmed with fear.  I cried and hung there until my fingers ached and couldn't hold me any longer. I dropped to the ground, like I had so many other times from this very tree, but this time I twisted my body on the way down and landed on my hand instead of my feet. Something cracked and I laid there screaming. I was 5 or 6 at the time and I remember this very vividly. My parents rushed for me and took me to the emergency room. This would be the first of many trips.
So I broke my little wrist in two places and had to wear a cast for the summer-which was a nightmare when you are 5 or 6 and have a pool in your back yard. I remember having it wrapped up in a plastic bag, trying to keep my arm above my head, and then using a blow dryer on it after swimming. One fun part about that injury was that I had to learn to color and write with my right hand (I am left handed) and to this day I am slightly ambidextrous.
 I remember getting the cast off by first grade and I remember the doctor saying to take it easy because although I may feel fine, my bones and muscles are weak and still not 100%. Um yeah whatever, I thought and I swear a week later ( or maybe even a couple days later) I was swinging on the monkey bars on Ben's swing set next door.  He had this swing set with sings on one side, a slide on the other, and monkey bars connecting the two sides. Apparently safety wasn't as important when it came to making swing sets back in the 80's because these monkey bars extremely high off the ground! I got half way across the bars and felt very weak and scared. Again I find myself hanging, crying, fingers aching. I drop to the ground and land on my elbow this time and feel a surge of pain. I grab my arm and stumble down Ben's backyard trying to make it to my yard. I remember seeing my Dad on our back patio and I tried to yell for him. I think I did and then  remember collapsing. He carried me inside and laid me on the living room couch. I remember my parents debating what to do. I hurt myself all the time so they weren't sure if this case called for an emergency room trip. After laying on the couch crying and moaning for a couple hours, I think, my parents took me to the hospital again and this time I broke my other arm. I broke my elbow this time and had to wear a cast up to my shoulder. This was just the beginning of years of emergency room trips. We were there so often that I remember my poor Mom saying that they were going to call social services on our family soon!
I went back again for stitches in my forehead after jumping out of the bed of my Dad's pick up truck and falling face first onto the gravel driveway. Another time I twisted my neck while practicing hand stands. Then there was the time I hit a tree while sledding in the backyard and ended up in crutches. There were jammed fingers and twisted ankles from softball and one of the worst was when I chipped all of my front teeth when I was on a family vacation in VA Beach.
It was a total freak accident actually. I was body surfing with my cousin and having a blast. After playing in the waves for most of the day, I caught one really big wave and forgot to put my arms out in front of me. So I am body surfing this wave like a seal and it crashes and it crashes hard. I didn't have my hands in front me to protect myself and my face plants into the hard, solid, packed sand under the water. My jaw hit first and when it slammed down my teeth smashed together and all of my front teeth cracked and chipped. I knew instantly something was very wrong and I pulled myself up out of the water crying and running for our family's beach camp. I literally had pieces of my teeth on my lips and cheeks. My Aunt Rita tried to calm me down and ease my pain and fears but I just couldn't stop crying. She took me to the nearest hotel bathroom so I could see the damage and it was even worse than I expected. I felt like I was looking at the jaws of a shark. My teeth were jagged and angry and they ached. Unfortunately that injury cut our trip short and I had to go to the dentist back home and get my teeth filed down! Filed DOWN! WITHOUT NOVOCAINE! My dentist didn't think I would need it. I was about 10 at the time and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. To this day I have a slight fear of the waves and worry every time I make a dental appt.
I pray my daughter isn't as fearless and wild as I was but the chances are she will end up being just like me.
We have really good insurance thank goodness!!

I don't know how my Mom and Dad got though those years and everything I put them through and that wasn't event the worst of it. As kids get older there are just bigger and more scary ways they can get hurt like car accidents or drug use. No matter what, they were always there for me to wipe my tears or guide me to the right path when I found myself a little lost. I know I was very lucky to have parents that tried very hard to protect me and keep me safe and I plan on doing exactly the same for my daughter...even if it means she hates me a little bit for it. She needs a Mom who knows what's best for her, just like mine did for me.

So one of my very favorite recipes my Mom taught me was for Corned Beef Dip. With the holidays coming, I plan on making a lot of my holiday favorites and sharing those recipes and this one is in my top 5 for sure.

Corned Beef Dip

1 1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cup mayo
2 T Dill Weed
2 T Onion Flakes
2 T Parsley
2 pkg Corned Beef

When I make it I actually add pepper, garlic salt, and I do 4 packs of corned beef. Just get the budding corned beef and dice it up. Mix all the ingredients together and let chill for a few hours. We always served it in a rye bread bowl and used the bread pieces for dipping. Addicting!

Hunkering down with some White Bean Chicken Chili

As hurricane Sandy was approaching the east coast, everyone in this area was heading to the grocery store in droves to get storm essentials. There are several grocery store options near me but my favorite is Wegmans. If you don't have a Wegmans in your area then think of it as a Whole Foods and regular grocery store mixed together but it also has a killer hot and ready food area and AMAZING wine and cheese section...oh everything about Wegmans is amazing.......except the crowds. The store near me is apparently a favorite of everyone else in this area and it doesn't matter when you go, there are always a ton of people there. During the holidays they actually have police men directing traffic into the store parking lot and have several exits blocked off so you can only leave one way. I hoped that maybe since I am currently a stay at home Mom (and actor/singer) that I could hit the store during the day on Friday and it wouldn't be so bad but of course it was pure pandemonium. I pulled into the parking lot and it was packed but thankfully this store has "parents with children" parking (i am so in the Mom club now that I get special parking? Awesome! We deserve some perks right?!) and I was able to slip into a spot right next to the cart corral. I put little Lily into a cart, grab my short list, say a prayer, and head in. Just getting to the doors can be nerve wracking as I dodge every other Mom in Sterling with the same idea and working folks on their lunch breaks trying to grab some sushi or hot sandwich. And it just gets worse in the store. I walk down the entry hallway and there is a stream of carts coming at me, briskly walking, to get the hell out of there and just as I was about to turn the corner into the produce section, I am stopped by someone. This very sweet older woman spies Lily in her carrier and just stops in the middle of the chaos and says; "Oh you are the nicest thing I have seen all day!" Now this was so very sweet but it forced me to also stop in the middle of the chaos. She was smiling at Lily and asked how old she was and then said "well you be safe in there, seems like every other mother and child in there area is in there and she is way too sweet to get in the middle of that!" As she says this I turn my head to look out on the sea of people pushing past each other grabbing up apples and bananas, Mom's scolding children not to touch anything, older folks moving at there own pace while crazed Mom's speed around them to grab carrots, and business men and women just trying to avoid all this to get over to the hot food and shaking their heads. This lovely woman and I are at the mouth of the beast where every thing is coming and going. We are only paused for a moment but I swear if these carts had horns on them, people would be honking at us to MOVE!
I see the pile up behind me and figure I better get moving so I thank the nice lady and push forward with caution.
Once completely inside I make sure to always watch where I am going and look both ways before exiting an aisle. If you just keep your eyes peeled and try to be quick, then you can make it through unscathed. To my shock, after I left produce and entered into the wine and cheese section, it was almost empty! Oh sweet sweet charity. Well I took my time there and really enjoyed searching out a good cheese to take home, grabbed a couple (or three or four) bottles of my favorite cheaper Cabernet and then decided, since it was so nice in the section, that I would check out the imported and craft beer section to take something nice home for Nick. I probably would not have bought so much in that section but I was scared to leave it!
Next I made sure to turn quickly to the left out of the section, avoiding the meat, seafood, and bakery all together...it was a blood bath over there. hehe
I was able to grab bottled water, some dry goods, more coffee, some baby food that didn't need refrigerating in case we lost power and all my homemade stuff gets ruined, and got the heck out of that place.
As I was leaving and thankful that I was a smart and quick shopper, I saw this poor poor couple trying to make it inside. They made the mistake of walking up to the wrong door so they were trapped by the brick wall outside as the flood of people exiting were not letting them cross over to get the the entrance. Even I walked passed.  They were kinda giggling about it, but I was just as bad as everyone else and scooted by thinking, you are on your own folks!
The storm hit on Monday and into Tuesday across the east coast and caused horrible devastation in places like New Jersey and did terrible damage in New York, Ocean City Md, the DC Metro Area, and more.
We hunkered down here in Sterling and were very very lucky that we didn't experience and damage to our house or property and never lost power. While the winds blew and rain can down in sheets a crock pot of chicken chili bubbled in my kitchen. I always make something in the crock pot during a storm where we will be stuck inside and its usually some kind of chili. The thing I love about chili is how easy it is to make, the variety of ways you can make it, and how different it can taste eat time you make it. Yet again I was searching through my supplies and didn't have my typical chili supplies so I made due with some logical substitutions that worked out great. I wrote down what I did but its difficult to really write a precise recipe for chili because part of the fun of making it is going back and tasting it throughout the day and adding a dash more of this and a drop more of that. So use the recipe below as a guideline but by no means should you stick to it. Have fun and find other spices to add, different veggies, and make sure to taste it from time to time and sprinkle in some more love.
 
White Bean Chicken Chili

3 Chicken Breasts shredded
1 Cup V8
1 Med Onion chopped
1 Med Green Pepper Chopped
1 Med Red Pepper Chopped
1 Can Great Northern Beans
2 Cans Diced Tomatoes
1 Packet Taco Seasoning
1 Light Beer
1 T Chili Powder
1 T minced Garlic
1 T Cumin
1 T Hot Sauce
2 T Apple Cider Vin
1 T Garlic Powder
2 T Minced Onion
1 T Paprika
1/2 T Celery Salt
1/2 T Curry Powder

Season 3 chicken breasts and bake in the oven at 350. Cook until done but be careful not to over cook and dry out the chicken. Once chicken is cooked and cooled, shred the chicken and put in the crock pot. Go ahead and dump in any juices from the chicken that may be in the pan as well. Add all the rest of the ingredients and cook on med for a few hours. Check on the pot every once in a while and add more spices if you feel the chili needs a little more flavor.
You can eat the chili once hot and bubbly but its even better to wait and turn down the pot to low for a couple hours.
once you are ready to eat, think about adding some slices of avocado, sour cream, crumbled tortilla chips, or some shredded cheddar or smoked Gouda.