Scalloped Oysters

This is a recipe for a dish I remember from Thanksgiving and Christmas when I was growing up: scalloped oysters.  Pretty much only my mother and I would eat them.  When I was trying to recreate that dish as an adult, I looked around online.  There are a lot of recipes, most of which are a variation of this:

2 cups cracker crumbs
1/2 cup (2 sticks) butter (3/8 cups also works, and some recipes call for 1/4 or 1 stick)
1 pint oysters, liquid reserved (which I don't deal with; I just dump it)
1/4 tsp Worchestershire sauce
3/4 cup half & half
3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (or 3 tsp dried)
Salt and pepper as desired




Melt the butter and pour over the crumbs, mixing well. In a small (I use a 6x10 Pyrex) dish, put 1/3 of the crumbs, followed by half the oysters, then another 1/3 of the crumbs, and the rest of the oysters.  Then put the half and half mixture (with parsley, Worchestershire sauce, and 'oyster liquor' [if used; I omit this] added) on top of the upper layer of oysters, followed by the rest of the crumbs.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or if doing with a turkey, 325 for about 50-60 minutes. I grease the dish beforehand, but I'm not sure that's necessary.

This is similar to what I remember.  I don't add any salt or pepper, and I don't add any alcohol--some recipes call for wine or sherry.  As noted above, I also don't add in the excess liquid from the container of oysters.  The dish is oyster-flavored enough and doesn't need an extra boost. Mixing the parsley and Worchestershire sauce in with the half and half works fine (some recipes call for 100% cream, but this is fatty enough without that).

It's pretty easy to do.  If done together with everything else that commonly goes with a Thanksgiving meal, it comes at a hectic time in the process, when everything else is nearing completion--so it pretty much has to be easy or it couldn't get done.

A bonus:  leftovers freeze well.  Back in the day my mother and I were the only ones who ate these; nowadays it's just me.  So I have a lot to put away for later.