Column and photos by Ali Carter, Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary
My husband and I had a friendly debate after I announced my plan to include a tater tot casserole recipe in this month’s Badger Common’Tater.
Mike feels strongly that casseroles are a winter food, and while I agree that there is value and importance in eating seasonally, I also feel that casseroles are a dish not bound by a particular season. They can, and should, be eaten all year long.
Casseroles bring to my mind long childhood summers filled with church picnics, weekends with my grandparents at their cottage on the lake, graduation parties and family reunions.
As an adult, I look to casseroles as wonderful make-ahead meals that can be crafted from yesterday’s leftovers or from the fresh bounty picked in our home garden.
I love a good casserole. And I am positive that I am not the only one.
As I scrolled through Google, attempting to show Mike that my “casseroles are not a food defined by a season” theory was not as crazy as he believed it to be, I stumbled upon a poem titled “Ode to Tater Tot Casserole.”
The writer highlights the joy that tater tot casserole can bring in this short poem. I am sharing it in the hope that it elicits a chuckle or two and convinces you not to wait for cooler weather before whipping up this Tater Tot Meatloaf Casserole for yourself!
