Chicken Casserole to Serve Thirty

Below is the recipe mother wrote for her friends and family.  She continued to have dinner parties (thus the 'serve thirty') after my father died.  You can skim the ingredients, but read her instructions.

This was the only picture I could find of Maxine

in the kitchen.  She was not the cook in our family.

My father and sister did most of the cooking.

30 slices of day-old bread, cubed
8 cups cubed chicken (I used the breasts)
2 small green peppers -- chopped fine
2 small onions             -- chopped fine
1 1/2 cub celery           -- chopped fine

6 eggs, well beaten
1 cup milk
chicken broth to make 6 cups
Mix eggs, milk and chicken broth together and put small amount in bottom of pan

Add 1/2 of cubed bread -- next chicken, vegetables and rest of bread
Pour remaining liquid over and let let stand overnight (refrigerate).
Bake 15 minutes at 325 degrees

Mix following and spread over top:
     2 cans cream of chicken soup (do not dilute)
     2 cans cream of celery soup    (do not dilute)
     3/4 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
Over this add 2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese
Bake 1 hour, 15 minutes at 350 degrees

Due to an error, I added more chicken than the recipe called for but I feel it improved the taste.  I thought I was using a four cup measure and afterwards found that it was an eight cup.

Also, I found that I had omitted the cheese--didn't find it until 15 minutes before the casserole was to come from the oven.  I added it at that time and really think it was best to not have the cheese topping on the entire baking time, as it turns brown.  Mine stayed yellow with just a little browning.

I must have had several things on my mind while preparing this casserole as I tripped on the basement stairs and fell flat, holding the casserole aloft and with only two bread cubes bouncing out.  Needless to say, I have several bruises and a twisted ankle to prove I had the fall.

Also, I had  not measured the oven to see if the larger throw-away aluminum pan I was using would fit in it----it didn't.  So I had to transfer, spoon by spoon into a narrower pan.

My paragraph concerning my fall is rather disconnected--I was taking the casserole to the basement refrigerator for overnight.

Guess it was all worth it as everyone liked the finished product.
                                                                      Maxine Haworth

This is typical of how my mother's cooking went.  I wish I had other recipes that she wrote...as many of them are similar to the one above...with her unique changes to recipes.