I’ve been comforting a sickly, teething baby all day, and this is the first chance I’ve had to type two-handed.  So please forgive (and understand!) the tardiness of this post and please forget that just about every other post I try to have ready on a specific day is also usually late.

I think I’m a misplaced Southerner.  Really.  I remember reading somewhere that the warmer the climate, the more relaxed a person usually is about deadlines, schedules, and appointments.  I belong somewhere on the equator.  With palm trees.

SPEAKING OF COMFORT…

This weeks recipe topic is Casseroles and I hope, despite my lateness, hundreds of people participate in this.  Because one cannot have too many casserole recipes.

I’m going to go ahead and guess that most of the readers out there have made tuna noodle casserole before.  But I’m going to post my recipe anyway.  Just in case you haven’t.  Or in case you use CONDENSED CREAM SOUP rather than BUTTER AND FRESH CELERY.  Because such an act is surely as treacherous as they come.

 Tuna Noodle Casserole (Olde-School Style)

Ingredients
3 cups medium noodles or 1 cup elbow macaroni
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs*
1 Tbs butter <s>or margarine</s>, melted
1 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c butter <s>or margarine</s>
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 c milk
2 6 oz cans tuna
1 c cheddar cheese cubes
1/4 c chopped roasted red sweet pepper or pimiento (I omit this to make the meal a bit more frugal.  This saddens my husband.)

1. Cook noddles according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.  Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs* and the 1 tbs melted butter; set aside.
2. For sauce, in a medium saucepan cook celery and onion in the 1/4 cup butter until tender.  Stir in flour, salt, dry mustard, and black pepper.  Add milk all at once; cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly.  combine sauce, tuna, cheese, roasted sweet pepper, and cooked noodles.  Transfer to a 1 1/2 quart casserole.  Sprinkle with crumb mixture.  Bake, uncovered, in a 375° oven for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and crumb topping is golden.

*See tip for bread crumbs here (scroll allllllllllll the way down).

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What is your favorite casserole? Share your recipe with us! Link to your recipe post, NOT your homepage, and be sure to include a brief descriptionafter your name on Mr. Linky! (So I can find you later when I’m looking for something new for dinner.) And thanks, all, for keeping it family friendly!

Next week on Recipe Swap, its… Paws Epicer: Noitide Sdrawkcab!  (That’s the backwards edition, in case you couldn’t tell.)  Is there a meal you’ve tried and tried and just can’t get right?  For me, it’s meatloaf; I just can’t figure it out!  So next week, I’ll be posting a request for YOU to tell ME your recipe!  You can type it up on the comments or blog it and link it in the comments.

Also,  that post will be the central hub for you to leave your requests for recipe help.  Post your desperate pleas on your blog, link it in my Mr. Linky, and then go visit the other links to help them out, too!

I hope that’s not too confusing.  First trimester exhaustion is setting in and I think 8:30 might be my new bedtime!