Buttered bread crumbs: an inexpensive topping that makes my casseroles "pop"

I use this bread crumb topping recipe for many of the casseroles that I make, from vegetables in a cream sauce casseroles, to Mac and Cheese, to Mediterranean tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini casseroles. Even a pyrex baking dish of plain, canned green beans when topped with buttered bread crumbs, looks and tastes like way more effort and cost than it really is.

The funniest thing happens with casseroles with this crispy crumb topping.  The top inch of the casserole gets taken, leaving the unadorned casserole or veggies, beneath, for "the next guy".

Simple and inexpensive -- about 6 cents worth of butter, plus about 4 cents worth of bread, total of 10 slim cents for a topping which really makes casseroles pop.


Crispy buttered bread crumb topping

In a small skillet, melt a generous tablespoon of butter, over Medium heat.

Tear 1 slice of bread into a food processor and pulse till crumbs.

Toss bread crumbs in the melted butter with a pinch of salt. Stir while sauteing, for about 1 minute.

Sprinkle over the casserole.

Toast, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes. Serve.

Birthday pie

Within a 1-month period, our family has 3 days of birthdays. Our daughters in mid-March, then mine in mid-April, followed by my husband's, just 6 days after mine. That's a lot of cake.

We still have some cake in the freezer from my daughters's birthday. For me, another birthday cake would be cake-overload. So, traditionally, I've made a pie for my husband's birthday. It's always lemon meringue, as that was his childhood favorite.

Lemon meringue pie works well for this time of year, as I usually have lots of eggs still from Easter week stock-up, and it's not dependent on availability of any particular fresh fruit, and I've made enough of them that it's an easy variety of pie for me. (It helps that I have a very reliable recipe.)

There is one other aspect about baking a birthday pie instead of a birthday cake that I really appreciate. A birthday cake from scratch can take me several hours, start to finish. A birthday lemon meringue pie can be knocked out in about 1 1/2 hours, start to finish. Yet, homemade pies have that reputation of "extra effort", put into their making. So, I get brownie points. My husband gets his childhood favorite pie. And we aren't staring down another slice of cake for the immediate future.

Do you always make cakes for birthdays, or do you do something else?