Comments on: One dish wonders! Casserole recipes from the collection.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:22:11 +0000

Great work–and without mentioning that Adlai’s grandfather was born in NC or the fact that their shared first name probably comes from Adlai Osborne of Salisbury.

By: Lew Powell

Lew Powell — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:36:56 +0000

Nice work, John…. Surely the Stevenson-Reardy recipe deserves a place in “Historic Casseroles of America.”

By: John Blythe

John Blythe — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:55:34 +0000

Mystery solved. Here are some excerpts from an article by Craig Claiborne in the January 29, 1962 issue of The New York Times.

” ‘Was there every so much to-do over recipe?’ Mrs. Viola Reardy asked recently.

“Mrs. Reardy, the diminutive, soft-spoken housekeeper for Adlai E. Stevenson, referred to the shrimp and artichoke casserole that she served several days ago to President Kennedy and acting-Secretary General U Thant of the United Nations. Since that luncheon she has received letters from several sections of the United States either requesting the recipe, volunteering other recipes, or offering to exchange recipes in the future….

“Mr. Stevenson, she divulged, likes to cook, although he indulges in this pastime more at the farm [his farm in Libertyville, Illinois] than in New York.

” ‘Here he makes steak, salads or an egg dish once in a while, but in the country he sometimes makes casseroles. And soups,’ she added, ‘which are his specialty.’

“One dish that Mr. Stevenson is pleased to prepare on occasion is a lamb curry with rice.”

The article then continues with Stevenson’s recipe for lamb curry and Reardy’s recipe for shrimp and artichoke casserole.

Reardy’s recipe is similar to the one from Meredith Spangler posted above, except that Reardy’s includes instructions for making cream sauce and she uses 1 lb of shrimp.

I’ll report back once I’ve tried the recipe.

By: John Blythe

John Blythe — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:20:02 +0000

A little more…..For some reason I referred to the recipe as Shrimp and Artichoke SALAD. It is, in fact, a casserole. My web search for the story behind the casserole continues. This page (http://lexiskitchensb.blogspot.com/2011/12/mrs-reardys-shrimp-and-artichoke.html) attributes the casserole to Viola Reardy, who was Stevenson’s housekeeper and cook.

By: John Blythe

John Blythe — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:52:30 +0000

As some of you may have noticed, the first recipe is from Meredith Spangler, the wife of former UNC system president C. D. Spangler. I’m curious as to why her recipe bears Adlai Stevenson’s name. Since there’s at least one generation’s age difference between Mrs. Spangler and Stevenson, I figure they probably never met. And it strikes me as a little odd that Stevenson, a former Presidential contender and one-time U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., spent his time sharing recipes.

If the WWW can be trusted (and that’s a big if), Stevenson, as UN ambassador, once served this at a luncheon where guests included President John F. Kennedy and U. Thant, a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary General of the U.N. Here’s a link to one of the many web pages connecting the three politicians and shrimp and artichoke salad: http://www.food.com/recipe/shrimp-and-artichoke-casserole-154107

And here are several photos of the three men together at a luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City:
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-1962-01-19-B.aspx

Perhaps they’re biding their time until the shrimp and artichoke salad is ready.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:39:10 +0000

Those are quite some cooks!