"Oh no! No, no, no, no!" Amanda sounded like she was going to cry at the sight of the broken casserole dish on the kitchen floor and the scattered remains of a green bean casserole oozing everywhere.

"Oh no, indeed," commented Dotty, craning to look over the kitchen island with a grimace. "Isn't that your dish for the Teacher Appreciation dinner tonight?"

"Yes!" wailed Amanda, "and it starts in two hours! I don't have everything I need to make another one in time! And I still have to pull together the agenda for the PTA meeting that we're having after it, and I haven't even started to get ready myself!"

"Will it matter?" asked her mother. "Most potlucks end up with too much food anyway."

"Yes, it matters," Amanda sniffled. "I was in charge of keeping the list of who was bringing what and Cheryl kept making comments in the rudest way about how we never have enough side dishes and always too many desserts, so I specifically put myself down for a side dish! And now we're down one!"

"No problem," said Lee unexpectedly. Neither of the women had noticed that he was rooting through the fridge, pulling out an odd assortment of items. "As long as you have… perfect! I knew I could count on you to have the world's best stocked pantry, Amanda."

"Lee, Sweetheart, what on earth are you doing?"

"I'm saving your bacon – or in this case, your side dish." Lee grinned at her, tapping the side of his nose. "Barney had a secret recipe for when my uncle had to entertain the brass and it was always a hit. I can still make it in my sleep."

"Really?" Amanda sounded doubtful although she was heartened by the mention of Barney – she knew from experience that he really was an amazing cook. "What is it?"

Lee laughed. "Um, it doesn't really have a name – we always just called it Barney's corn thing."

"Barney's corn thing?" repeated Dotty wrinkling her nose. "Sounds charming."

"Wait until you try it," Lee winked at her. "I'll make a double batch and we can have it with dinner while Amanda's at her meeting." He turned to Amanda who was looking torn. He made a shooing motion at her. "Scoot! Go shower, get more beautiful and I'll handle this. Scout's honor."

At those magic words, Amanda's face dissolved into a grin. "Fine – I'll leave you to it."

"Dotty, you start shredding this cheese while I chop the onions and crush the crackers," instructed Lee, turning to the pile of ingredients and squaring his shoulders.

"Crackers?" Amanda's head reappeared around the door from the stairs. "Are you sure…?"

"Trust me, it'll be good. Now scoot."

Amanda scooted.

"Oh my goodness, that was absolutely delicious, Lee!" Dotty enthused later as they stood at the sink doing dishes. "But you know, I think it does have a name – it's like spoon bread."

"Spoon bread?" repeated Lee. "That's a thing?"

"Well, it's a Southern thing – but Barney's version definitely amped it up! I think you'll need to make that for Christmas dinner – Lillian will love it." She held up the dish. "I mean look at this, I think the boys may have actually licked out the dish!"

"Is it better than Carrie's turkey stuffing? I wouldn't want to look like I was trying to one-up her," he laughed. "But yeah, it was always a big hit – it drove the officers' wives crazy that Barney would never tell them what was in it."

"Why not? Was it some sort of closely guarded secret?"

"No," Lee laughed. "He just knew that if they knew how fattening it was, they'd never eat it again – and he didn't want to ruin them enjoying it!"

"Well, it was worth every calorie," agreed Dotty. "You should feed that to Amanda, maybe get some weight on her."

"I don't think she'd thank me for that," grinned Lee. "And besides, I think she's perfect."

"Good answer, Stetson," said Amanda from behind them as she appeared seemingly from nowhere, leaning in to give him a quick kiss and drop the potluck dish into the soapy water. "But honestly, you could make that every week and I don't think I'd ever get tired of it. You need to make that for Christmas dinner." She turned to slip off her winter coat and hang it over a kitchen chair.

"I already told him that," smiled Dotty.

"Well, it was a huge hit with the teachers. In fact…." Amanda dug into her purse and pulled out a piece of printed cardboard. "They decided to have a contest this year and you won for best new dish!" She presented it to Lee with a flourish.

"You're kidding!"

"Would I kid about something as serious as the Arlington Heights Middle School PTA Teacher Appreciation Christmas Potluck competition? It was cut throat, believe me, but you won by a landslide. Everyone wants the recipe."

Dotty laughed. "I helped make it and believe me, they really don't. I've never seen so much eggs, cheese and butter in a single dish."

"Did you really tell them you hadn't made it?" asked Lee. "They wouldn't have known if you hadn't said anything."

Oh no," said Amanda with a look of such smug satisfaction that both Lee and her mother started to laugh. "It already drives Cheryl crazy that you're so good-looking. Getting to tell her you cook as well was all the prize I needed."