The Casserole Queens Cookbook

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Families have been distracted from spending time around the dinner table for at least a generation.

Fast paced lives filled with extracurricular and social activities have turned dinnertime in America into something more nostalgic than it is nourishing.

Enter the Casserole Queens: Sandy Pollock and Crystal Cook. These high energy, upbeat women, who dress in stylish nineteen fifties style dresses, heels and pearls have a food delivery business in Austin, Texas that focuses on casseroles, naturally.

We spoke last fall during the Texas Book Festival, when they were touring with their new book The Casserole Queens Cookbook–which has since become a New York Times Bestseller.

They’re mission: to entice all of us back to the dinner table to share meals and to make memories. If any cookbook can do it, this one certainly has a shot.

Filled with page after page of funny and heartwarming stories from the women’s lives, and simple to gourmet recipes for every skill level, The Casserole Queens Cookbook “has something for everyone.” Including tips on how to kitsch up your kitchen and deciding on the perfect casserole dish for your creations.

Sandy says they both came from homes where their mothers were “crazy good cooks”, and  where there was a tradition of family dinners, many of which involved casseroles.

“There’s something comforting about casseroles,” the apron clad Crystal Cook told me during our interview. “They are a delicious plate of calm in a stressful world.”

“Of course, say the word ‘casserole’ to some people and they are immediately turned off; casseroles have a bad reputation for some reason,” Sandy told me.

That’s changing.

Although he women “raided” their mothers’ recipe boxes to come up with some of the recipes for their business and their book, Sandy said, “We updated many of the them to satisfy changing tastes and ingredients.”

Sandy and Crystal believe they were meant to get people to sit down together around the dinner table with a minimum of fuss.

“Casseroles can be really simple to make using fresh or canned ingredients,” Sandy explained.

Crystal added: “They [casseroles] don’t have to be expensive or take a lot of time. And that takes the pressure off the home cook.”

When the pressure’s off, home cooks may actually feel more inspired and able to roll up their sleeves and do some seriously fun cooking. Let’s get real–it’s hard to say the word “casserole” and not smile.

Whether you make a casserole to start your day or to end it, The Casserole Queens just hope you’ll give casseroles another chance, because they taste better than good. They taste like home.