Living Near Family... & a recipe @ the end

Living near family opens up a whole lot of opportunities that simply don't exist with just friends. I have some wonderful friends, but none of them invite me over for holiday dinners. And maybe that's because they know I do have a family to spend the holidays with.

Today being Easter, I went to my auntie's house for lunch. It was very delicious. Isn't every meal a little more delicious when someone else makes it?

So mom asked if I would make my green bean casserole... which I make a little differently than most people. (Recipe below.) I told her I couldn't, as I am out of milk. I had the remaining ingredients in my pantry. Ideally, for this experiment, I probably should have tried to improvise without milk... added water or some funky combination of condensed milk or half and half and water.

Mom must have really wanted my green bean casserole as she offered up a half-used half gallon of milk. Boy was I ever so grateful to have that!! I had to toss the rest of my milk a few days ago as it had grown mighty ripe to sour smell.

To be fair, I did not ask for the milk. I simply explained that I didn't have the ingredients to make the dish. I will admit that I was practically jumping for joy when she offered me her half-used container. I don't think I've ever been so delighted to receive secondhand milk.

Lunch was good -- interesting -- as family gatherings usually are. This being a public forum, I will just leave it at that. Nice day -- and a great blessing to have Dad home.

Now for the recipe... this one is unique but worth a try.

3 cans of French cut green beans (drained)
1 can mushroom soup
1 can milk
1 can shitake mushrooms (drained)
About 3/4 cup of veggie sticks from Trader Joes mashed up
1 large can of French's dried onions (divided)
2 packets of soy sauce you get with take-out at your local Chinese or Japanese restaurant

Add all of the ingredients except the French's dried onions. Stir. Add 1/3 of the big can of fried onions and stir again and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle remainder of fried onions on top and put back in oven for 10 minutes.

Serve. And of course... enjoy!