Welcome the return of comfort food season with this great 1950s casserole recipe

For the third time in a single year, quite a rarity on the ol' calendar, we get to experience a Friday the 13th. I'm not a very superstitious person myself, so this doesn't phase me in the slightest. If anything, I actually tend to find Friday the 13th to be a really positive day for me - or at least not one that differs from your run-of-the-mill Friday.

{Vintage Friday the 13th image source}

Presently my mind is focused far less on bad luck and suspicious mojo and much more on the fact that we are really and truly into comfort food season once again. Winter may still technically be more than a month away, but in Canada it might as well start on November 1st for all intents, because once Halloween wraps up, most of us switch into winter holiday mode and the weather tends to take a substantial nose dive early in November as well. Not always, and certainly more so in some parts of the country than others, but in general, yep, November = the start of winter here.

I'm a huge fan of comfort food, of gathering friends and family around the table and satiating our bellies and souls alike with food so delicious you nearly tear up with joy as you smell it cooking. Food that evokes thoughts of cozy autumns and icy winters past, of childhood memories, and sometimes of places we've traveled to throughout our lives as well. Such food doesn't have to be an epic calorie feast either, but sometimes it is, and there's nothing wrong in the slightest with that (at least once in while!). We need the extra fuel to stay warm and stave off winter's energy zapping chill.

Today's vintage recipe falls somewhere in the middle I think, though it could be more or less of a treat, just depending on what you put inside it. This 1950s recipe for Chili or Stew Casserole is dead simple to make and isn't too hard on the wallet either, especially if you put existing leftovers to work in it.



{Tasty mashed spuds combine with your favourite chili, stew or similar filling (a thick corn chowder is fabulous here!) in this classic mid-century cold weather perfect casserole that first appeared in the pages of Women's Day magazine back in 1952. Vintage recipe ad image source.}


One of the great things about this recipe is that it can easily be made vegetarian or vegan, if so desired (simply omit meat and/or other animal products), and you can also use a good all-purpose gluten-free flour for the topping. I've made GF versions of this recipe numerous times and it always comes out aces!

You can also swap out the regular potatoes for cooked yams, sweet potatoes, mashed turnips, hearty squash or pumpkin verities, mashed (and drained) cauliflower or broccoli, carrots or, one of my personal favourites, parsnips.

Likewise, as with many casseroles - and this is certainly one of their most appealing qualities - you can add or subtract from the filling, if so desired (for example, you add further cooked chopped veggies to stretch out a small amount of leftover stew or chili). This dish is also nice, especially if you're using chili for it, topped with a little grated cheese before you put it in to oven to bake.

This is not the first, nor, I'm sure, will it be the last vintage comfort food recipe that I post here. I love dishes like this that satisfy and more than live up to their name. They make us happy, are reliable, and work well for as well for solo meals as they do large crowds - plus they usually freeze wonderfully to boot (perfect for those busy December holiday season weeks that lay ahead). What's not to adore? :)

I'm not one to shrug off November

...instead I'll happily don a timeless navy blue shrug and welcome it with open arms!



Outfit details

Prescription eyeglasses: (frames) Venus Eye Design V-12
Navy Blue headband: unknown (possibly back from my Girl Guide days)
Pearl necklace: Birthday gift from Tony ♥
1950s plaid shirt: etsy seller Precious Garbage 
Navy blue shrug: Sears
Vintage style eyeglasses brooch: etsy
1950s corduroy bucket purse: etsy seller Rue 23 Vintage Clothing
1950s navy blue pencil skirt: eBay
Yellow and purple bangles: Forever 21
Green bangle: Local swap meet (I think)
Faux pearl stretch bracelets: Real Canadian Superstore
White eyelet sling-back flats: Payless
Lip colour: Red Apple Lipstick's Firstorm Lip Gloss over their Red Lipstick

Photography by Antonio Cangiano  











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Yes indeed, though November sometimes get a bad wrap, I can't help but enjoy it more often than not, especially when the weather wants to cooperate! November can be jam packed with pre-Christmas activity, but it also brings with a certain late autumn serenity that is a welcome treat after a highly busy summer and start of fall.

It's a month when I love to spend time at the library (loading up on wonderful reads - yes, mostly history books - shocker, I know!), predicting the first snowfall (I'm pegging it as November 25th this year, Tony's even more optimistic and is saying December 14th), cooking hearty stews, baking up rustic, heavenly scented pumpkin and fruit breads, hibernating more in my basement craft room, dusting off my heavy winter coat, and finalizing my holiday card list.

Though the temps have certainly swooped lower than they were earlier this fall now that we're into November, and while my heavy duty winter coat  is rearing to go, it hasn't been called up to the frontline quite yet. No, these days I've mostly been wearing medium weight skirts, my beloved Freddies jeans, knit cardigans, vintage gloves, and cute button front blouses (and umbrella to fend off the rain we've been getting often lately!).

This particular 1950s plaid shirt is quite big on me. I knew the sizing was a bit large when I bought it online, but I didn't realize until I tried it on just how much extra fabric there'd be around my midsection. I think its a darling top though - perfect for everything from camping trips to days, like this one, spent running errands or visiting relatives - and with a lot of tucking in of the extra material in the back, I can usually get it to look a bit more like it's actually the right size.

I'd been running around town for quite a while before these snaps were captured and didn't realize that some of the fabric had wiggled loose a tad in the front on the right side (so hence why it looks a little poofier there), but that's certainly not enough to deter me from sharing these photos with you.

The gloves, which you may recognize from this post last spring, are so sweet and lovely to wear. There's just something about looking down and seeing faded white crochet on a sea of elegant navy blue that makes me smile.

Plaid also makes me smile, and so does this adorable spectacle shaped brooch, and this 1950s pencil skirt (which I debuted here last month in this post), all of which seem like such a fun way to dress for a month that sometimes needs a bit of pepping up, due to the fading colour around us and the "in between-ness" of Halloween and Christmas (especially since those of us up here in Canada have already celebrated our Thanksgiving last month, so we don't have that to look forward to later in November).

Soon though, I know, these winter coat-less days will be completely behind us, and those few immensely hardy roses in our yard will vanish once and for all until spring's delicate return in 2013.

Hard to believe, isn't it, that we're less than two months away from the start of that year, a new year, and all the prospects and possibilities that another January holds in store for us all. Let's not jump ahead too much though. I still want to savour the moments of late autumn sunshine that remain, bake a few more pumpkin breads, and mail out those aforementioned Christmas cards first. :)

Happily welcoming November's return

✯ Day 305 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

There's always a certain unmistakable blending of seasons that takes place on the first day of November. Though we're squarely smack dab in the middle of autumn still, waking up on this initial day of the month one is struck instantly by the fact that Halloween, sadly, is over for another long year. For those who adore October 31st dearly like I do, this can take a little while to get over.

However, on the other (if your weather is anything like mine this week, "gloved") hand, there's that voice is your head (perhaps it sounds like Bing Crosby crooning one of his classic holiday songs)reminding you that the winter holiday is soon around the corner. And as it does, a hint of excitement begins to well up inside your soul.

My Halloween was fabulous - candy and decorations, spooky make-up and lots of great memories - and while I am a little blue that's over once more, I can already feel a stirring of anticipation and happiness flowing through my veins for Christmas and New Years, and every last wonderful tradition and event that coming two months hold in store.

Though up here in Canada we've already celebrated our Thanksgiving (back on October 10th), this special day is on the horizon still for my neighbours to the south. November also brings with it the solemn, but endearingly beautiful, observance that is Remembrance Day on the 11th.

Beyond holidays, November means (in this neck of the woods usually at least) the switch from the glistening, golden sunlight of earlier fall to the soft, subtly grey tinged pale light of early winter. It's pots of hearty soup simmering for hours on the stove to nourish chilled bodies, the mandatory wearing of heavy coats, and stores suddenly overflowing with Christmas decorations.

{Wonderfully adorable November 1956 cover of Woman's Day magazine featuring a trio of darling green-eyed, autumn hued kittens via cloth98 on Flickr.}

 

November is a sweet month in many ways (so hence the kitty cat filled image above). Though it can be a busy one, it spares us the last minute rush of December, allowing us instead to begin planning for the holiday season and savouring its first signs, without the frazzled days of office parties, last minute shopping, and gigantically large meals to cook.

For many November’s return means the first nights of frost and the first snowfalls of the year since early last spring. The hours of daily light are dwindling, but that marvelous sense (which my especially husband adores) of wanting to snuggle up inside and brace yourself against the biting cold outside is just beginning to hit its stride.

I'm really looking forward to celebrating the remaining two months of 2011 with all of you, as we wind down the final sixty-one instalments of this year's Vintage 365 project, sweet dears.

Whether you feel like today is eons to soon to start thinking about the winter holidays or are already swapping your Halloween decorations for Christmas ones, I wish you all a beautiful, serene, cozy November and countdown to Christmas!