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Diane Prather

Diane Prather's columns appear in the Craig Daily Press each Wednesday and Friday. You can contact her at 824-8809 or e-mail .

If you're a recipe "clipper" like me, you've probably saved a bunch of clippings that you cut out so long ago the paper has yellowed. One time years ago, when I was extra ambitious, I even attached some clippings to paper and organized them in a notebook. The tape I used is so old that it has all come off the paper.

Anyway, I decided it's time to actually try some of the recipes or throw them away. So one evening last week, I made "Ground Beef Casserole with Herb Stuffing," origin of the recipe unknown.

First, the ingredients and directions for making the casserole, then some comments.

You'll need: a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, 1 egg (beaten), 1 medium onion (chopped), 1/2 medium green pepper (chopped), 1/2 cup crushed soda crackers, 2/3 cup water, 1/3 cup butter or margarine, 2 cups herb seasoned stuffing mix, 2 medium stalks celery (chopped) and 1 can mushroom soup.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Do not grease the casserole dish.

Combine the ground beef, egg, half of the onion, green pepper and crackers. Mix well. Line the casserole dish with the mixture, pressing it evenly over the bottom and against the sides.

Combine the water and butter and heat until the butter melts. Add stuffing mix, celery and the remaining half of the onion. Mix lightly, but thoroughly.

Spoon the stuffing in the center of the casserole. Spoon the undiluted soup over the stuffing.

Bake uncovered for one hour. It makes four to five servings.

Now, a few comments about how I made the casserole. First, I used 2 pounds of ground beef since I don't like having a half pound left. Two pounds worked just fine.

I bought a 10-ounce box of herb-seasoned cube stuffing - not the stove top variety (although it might work). The box was on sale, too, and there's enough left for more casseroles.

To save getting lots of dishes dirty during the preparation, I beat the egg in a bowl, added the rest of the beef ingredients, put it in the casserole dish and washed the bowl. That's what I used to mix up the stuffing. One bowl and a saucepan where all I had to put in the dishwasher.

I used a rectangular casserole dish that is a little smaller than a 13-by-9-inch dish. I put the beef mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the dish, but then spooned the stuffing evenly over it, instead of putting the stuffing in the center.

The soup was spooned evenly over the stuffing.

The casserole, served with fresh asparagus, made a good meal. My husband, Lyle, said for once I put enough onion in a casserole. Perhaps the stuffing brought out the onion taste since I used about the same amount of onion as always.

Now it's your turn. Try a recipe from a clipping you've been saving and share with us. Call me at 824-8809 or write to me at Box 415, Craig 81626.