I'm not sure where the green bean casserole came from originally, but it has been around for decades, and gets a boost in the media at the hols thanks to Durkee & Campbell's (shown below).
![Image](http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2342/11794286/20953672/343537142.jpg)
My encounters with this concoction have come from pot luck Thanksgivings, not from my family, but it usually pops up due to intermarriage with "outsiders" who seem to have been weaned on the stuff, often along with sweet potatoes with mini-marshmallows, (shown below, ugh). Hey, we all have our quirks. We like worchestershire on scrambled eggs, for instance.
![Image](http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2342/11794286/20953672/343537387.jpg)
So, Judith, since you've described an Italianate Thanksgiving does that mean no turkey graces your table? Do you have a large amount of fish dishes around Christmas and New Year's as many Italian families I know have done traditionally?
Btw, guinea hen sounds yummy, Christine, but is probably not in our budget. Turkey is popular because many of us like it, (and are probably unwittingly addicted to that l-tryptophane stupor that accompanies it), and because locally it can be had for as little as 49¢ a pound! It's mostly the side dishes that tend to vary in quality at these feasts.