By Bill Duhart | For NJ.com

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If you ask Dorcas "Dottie" Reilly how to make green bean casserole, she doesn't need to look at a recipe card. She has the ingredients memorized.

That's because she invented it.

Even at 91, although she's recently been slowed by dementia, the New Jersey woman still remembers how the dish she created for the Campbell Soup Company in 1955 made her famous and has been a Thanksgiving staple for generations.

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Dorcas Reilly and her husband Tom, both 91, share a laugh before posing for a portrait in their Haddonfield home, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. Reilly created the Green Bean Casserole while working for Campbell Soup Company in 1955.

Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media

"How many ingredients are in the green bean casserole?" her husband Tom, also 91, quizzed her in their Haddonfield home the day before Thanksgiving this week.

"About seven," she responded with a smile.

"She's the most humble person you've ever met," said Tom, who made small talk and googly eyes at Dottie Wednesday afternoon in their sunlit dining room. It has been nearly 75 years since he first laid eyes on her in the hallway of Camden High School.

"It's very tasty if it's made the right way," Tom said. "It's a very simple meal. It's comfort food. We've heard many people recognize it as the original comfort food."

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The Reillys aren't exactly sure how green bean casserole became such a beloved side dish of Thanksgiving meals, but Tom said they plan to have it on their table Thursday.

"Our daughter is going to make it for us," he said.

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Dottie Reilly seres up some green bean casserole.

Dottie, who graduated from Drexel University's home economics program in 1947, was working in a test kitchen for the Campbell Soup Company in Camden in 1955 when she came up with the recipe. The goal was to create a wholesome meal out of ingredients many families already had in their kitchen.

The recipe includes a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, four cups of green beans, milk, spices and a can French's fried onions. Prep time is 10 minutes and baking time is 30.

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"At Campbell's headquarters, you mention her name and they bow down to her," Tom said with a chuckle.

Campbell's started putting Dottie's recipe on labels of their cream of mushroom soup around 1960, according to published reports. Tom said it still leads to cans of the soup flying off shelves this time of year.

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Jessica Beym | For NJ.com

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Tom said Dottie was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio in 2002.

"Green bean casserole has evolved into a classic because the original recipe provides a great foundation for home cooks to tailor and make the dish their own. In my family, my niece loves to top off the casserole with extra French fried onions," Cindy Ayers, former head of Campbell's Kitchen said at the time. "Each family has its own way of preparing green bean casserole, and it's the personal touch that makes the dish a lasting holiday tradition."

The recipe card is there next to the invention of the first controlled nuclear reactor and Thomas Alva Edison's the light bulb and the phonograph, according to Campbell's.

"The final card which had all the specific information on it was signed by her and all the home economists at Campbell's," Tom said. "It's like having a copy of the Declaration of Independence with everyone who signed it."

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Dorcas Reilly, 91, shows a collage of her memories of making Green Bean Casserole, in her Haddonfield home, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. Reilly created the Green Bean Casserole while working for Campbell Soup Company in 1955.

Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media

Tom said they don't have green bean casserole more often than anyone else, but they still like coming up with new ways to cook with canned soup.

"I enjoy pouring a can of chunky soup over a baked potato," he said.

The family will gather for Thanksgiving dinner at their table, as it has been for the past 49 years at their home in this leafy suburb.

Their daughter, Dorcas Faith Tarbell, 59, who will prepare the meal, including the green bean casserole, lives nearby in Haddonfield. When asked Wednesday who makes the best green bean casserole, Dottie had a two-word answer.

"I do," she said.

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Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook.