TUNA CASSEROLE

by Danna Shirley

           As the third and last daughter in my family, I was not the one relied upon for cooking our dinner. Mom started substitute teaching when I entered kindergarten. My oldest sister, Nan, was eleven at that time and so Mom taught her to get a few simple things prepared for dinner while she rested after a long day on her feet in front of twenty children.

            I was asked to make the salad or peel the potatoes or set the table but nothing as advanced as cooking. Of course, all three of us girls did the cleanup after dinner.

            When I moved into my first apartment, all I really knew how to cook was a tuna casserole. Just four ingredients. Cook the noodles, drain and add a can of tuna, add a can of mushroom soup, stir, sprinkle crumbled potato chips on top, and bake at 350º until golden brown. Easy peasy!

            My first roommate, Linda Autrey, a friend from school, liked to cook. My second roommate, Susan Wagner, a friend from work, liked to cook. I let them.

            When I married, however, I was called upon to cook every night. I made many tuna casseroles. Finally, my sweet husband, Ron, took over a lot of the cooking. As the oldest of four boys whose mother also worked full time, he was far more advanced in the kitchen than I. He did teach me a lot, though. Like how to fry crispy chicken; mine was always kind of soggy. He introduced me to shrimp and lobster, Yum, two dishes I never had growing up because my dad hated the smell of fish cooking.

            My own family made a habit of joking about poor Ron only getting tuna casseroles and therefore, had to take over the cooking at home. The real truth was that he liked to cook and I didn’t. He would pull all the spices out of the cabinet and bottles of dressings and marinades from the refrigerator and come up with the most flavorful meals.

            As a widow, now, I’m back to hating to cook, especially just for one. I do a lot of fast food and will sometimes even have a bowl of cereal or a bag of popcorn for dinner, much to the chagrin of my sisters. Nan still loves to cook and will even read recipe books for pleasure. Egad! I just don’t get it.

But, you know what? I think I’ll make a tuna casserole for dinner tonight. Oops, no can do! I’ll need to go grocery shopping first and I don’t like grocery shopping either. ☹ Maybe Red Lobster instead. 😊