CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE--Trish Snyder

My grandmother served this casserole for holiday dinners when I was little. She died when I was about ten. My brother Steven resurrected the recipe when I was in my teens and I decided I loved it. Its been a Thanksgiving tradition ever since.

1 head cauliflower,* broken into bite sized pieces
2-3 cans cream of mushroom soup (2 for a normal size head of cauliflower, 3 for a gigantic one)
1 pound of bacon, cooked crisp and chopped *
16 oz. package of shredded cheddar cheese *

Boil cauliflower pieces about five minutes,* until just soft. Drain. Mix soup, bacon, drained cauliflower, and cheese. Pour into a casserole dish and bake in a 325 degree oven. Check after 20 minutes, if not bubbling in the center let cook for fifteen minutes longer.

*Christmas, 2007--Modifications I made:
I used 1 1/2 heads cauliflower. I used less bacon--precooked, crumbled bacon--probably about 1/2 cup. I also forgot to buy cheese but had some Velveeta--I know, processed cheese food (don't shudder. We use it to make the cheese/salsa sauce for dipping corn chips, which is rather tasty). I used about 1/3, maybe a little more, of a 2 pound box of Velveeta, cut into chunks. I heated this with a large (called a family size) can of cream of mushrooms soup and then poured it over 1 1/2 heads of cauliflower that I had boiled for 3 minutes. I put this into a 9x13 pan, sprayed with a vegetable spray. Topped it with a good layer of the canned french fried onion rings and heated in the oven. People said they liked it a lot better than the green bean casserole so many people make for the holidays.