Add a New Comfort Food to Easter Dinner

Easter Sunday wouldn’t be the same without the comfort foods _the ham, the hot potato salad and, of course, green bean casserole_ that can transport you back to childhood.

Huntley entrepreneur Mark Wingate gets that feeling whenever he and his family make Spagooey.

 If you are looking for a new dish to introduce at Easter or looking for something to make with those hard-boiled Easter eggs, try Mark’s recipe for Spagooey.

 Here’s his story of Spagooey, in his own words:

Back in 1970 our family moved from Richfield, Minnesota to Springfield, Illinois (God, I hate that town) for my father's job. 

 Being new in town, one of the families at our church, Jan and Francis Bohrman, invited us all over for dinner at their home.  I expected burgers or chicken on the grill, hopefully NOT casserole, but more of picnic kind of food. But to my surprise, we all crowded around their table in the small kitchen and were handed a large, empty bowl.

I wondered if we were going to have a soup or something like that until the Bohrmans announced that we were going to be having ‘Spagooey’ and we were going to be in charge of fixing it ourselves.  We were handed a cutting board and knife and instructed in the ritual of concocting the magical mixture.  There also came a warning at this time: "Do NOT take or make too much, this is more filling than you think!"

Okay, maybe this won't be so bad, I thought.  I like lettuce. Baked potato, that's good, too. Hard-boiled eggs, check!  Green onions? Ok, I'll try them.  Bacon. BACON?  I LOVE BACON!!

So, there we all are, each one of us taking and cutting the ingredients into our bowls following the directions.  When all of us were done with the cutting and putting in the ingredients, Jan and Francis passed around the vinegar, salt and pepper.  "Use enough vinegar for flavor, we will add the ‘oil’ next," we were told.

I looked on the table for the oil.  I didn't see that bottle on the table or on the counter next to me (it was a small kitchen), but I saw Francis moving toward the stove. 

"Okay, now everybody pass me your bowls so I can add the oil as the final component," he said.  He tilted the skillet that had been quietly simmering on the stove, and dipped a large serving spoon into the HOT BACON GREASE and put two spoonfuls onto the first bowl.

You could hear it sizzle and sputter as the hot ‘oil’ hit the wetness of the salad throughout the kitchen.  Bowl after bowl were passed to him, each getting the same treatment.  No one was spared!

Bacon grease? What the heck, I thought as I mixed the contents of my bowl and took a bite.  Hmmmm. It’s not terrible, I thought to myself.  I took another bite of the "Spagoopy" as I called it in my head, making fun of funny name.  But I kept on eating, each bite tasting better and better until the whole contents of the bowl were gone.

I loved it!  So did everyone of my family. We sat around the table laughing and talking into the night with Jan and Francis about where it came from and how it got its name.

It was a wonderful night and the beginning of a lifelong friendship.  We may have moved up to Chicago, but we never forgot that night or making Spagooey. 

I have passed the recipe onto my kids, other family members and friends. And they have passed it onto their friends.

Try it for yourself, and pass it on.