The truth has finally emerged about the iconic – though not universally loved – All-American Green Bean Casserole. It seems that its inventor herself saw it more as a creative ‘experiment’ than a future Holiday ‘fixture’…
The classic Green Bean Casserols has fallen out of favour with younger generations in recent decades. There are those of all post-war generations who either love it or hate it. And a few who make it without fail every time they host a Holiday Feast because … it’s traditional.
One curious fact that Reilly shared with the outside world later in life was that she never actually made her painstakingly perfected Green Bean Casserole at home, for her own family… Thus will some Thanksgiving feasters mourn, while others yet cheer…
My take
Dorcas Reilly: Remember that name. The veteran of the Campbell’s Soup Test Kitchen. In 1955, she single-handedly came up with a simple 5-ingredient recipe using ‘pantry staples’, which should have ensured that she would be enshrined in the history books. Maybe the timely Thanksgiving revelation of her inspirational feat will help raise her heroic profile…
Reilly has done her best to ensure that her name is enshrined in her family’s annals: She named her daughter Dorcas, and she has a granddaughter named Dorcas.
Dorcas Lillian Bates Reilly passed away in 2018 at the age of 92.
~ Maggie J.