Reubens

When I was in college (some may say, Shanon, you are still basically in college), but anyways, my roommate would leave messages on our dorm voice mail for me. One in particular, I will never forget. See, after approximately my first year, I decided, I needed to start filing my documents. And I thought I was pretty cool. I mean, the fact that I even had documents. Anyways, I obviously couldn't have a filing cabinet since I moved every 5 months. Instead, I had a box. And it was a filing box. And I named it. "Shanon's Box of Important Things". Written in permanent marker on the top. Very visible.

This box had my passport, birth certificate, social security card, financial aid documents, etc. Important stuff. One day, I got home from class, saw the red flashing light on our dorm phone, got really excited because messages are what I live for (still) and then, of course, checked it immediately. "Hello Ms. Shanon. This is Sally from the office of administration." The woman was very administratively official, kind of nasally. It went on (and on, this message was about 10 minutes long), "I have a report here that your box, your box of important things has gone missing." My heart started racing and I began to look around the room to try and remember where I kept that box.

Then, the message starts to get weird. And not really make sense. The story keeps changing. And then, all of a sudden, I am in trouble for misplacing this box. Then, after seriously like 5 minutes, Sally ends the message by saying, "Please keep this in mind as you go throughout the day." What I was supposed to keep in mind, wasn't really clear. The point is, I seriously believed this message for several minutes and thought my box went missing and someone was reporting this to me. Turns out, this was just the one of many phone messages from my roommate. She's pretty good. Or I am pretty bad. Either way, I still have my box, now a file cabinet. And yes, that makes me feel even cooler.

This has nothing to do with Reubens. I have mentioned my extensive experience (6 months at IHOP) in cheffing up diner sandwiches. I thought I would share my procedure with you all. Honestly, I think I am pretty awesome at grilling sandwiches. Even though, I still burn them every once and a while.

Reubens

Rye bread

Butter

Swiss cheese

Corned beef

1000 Island dressing

Sauerkraut

A pickle

Preheat a griddle to medium heat. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Laybread, butter side down, on hot griddle. Put some slices of Swiss cheese on each piece of bread. Put corned beef directly on the griddle to warm it up. On one

piece of bread, put a little dressing and some sauerkraut. Once beef is warm (and even a little browned), stack it on top of the sauerkraut. Put the other slice of bread on top. Flip sandwich, as necessary, until it is nice and golden brown.

Serve with a pickle.

(Servings: ??, Prep time: 0-5 min., Cook time: 10 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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Corned Beef and Cabbage

Sometimes it doesn't make sense to make Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick's day. Nevermind, it ALWAYS makes sense.

I love it. We always had it growing up. It is so delicious. And the smell in the house might be the best part. I remember the first time I made it. This was also the time I learned that Scot had never had it!!!! But there have been more plenty more shocking meals/ingredients that he had never had. Like sweet potatoes. Which, my family still teases him about. I think he learned to never mention things like that around my family again.

Also, did you know Scot has like mad yo-yo skills? He can do all the tricks. He just happens to be yo-yo-ing right now.

Ok, back to the corned beef. This is weird, but I didn't actually follow this recipe. But I SO wanted to. I just got way too hungry to take the extra step of glazing it and baking it. And I am 100% confident that it would be amazing. I just did the traditional version of boiling it with the spice packet. And you really can't go wrong.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

by Closet Cooking

1 2 pound corned beef brisket

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cabbage (cut into wedges)

2 carrots (peeled and sliced)

2 potatoes (peeled and cut in half)

1. Place the corned beef along with the spices into a large pan and cover with water.

2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until fork tender, about 1 hour per pound.

3. Remove the beef from the water and pat dry, leaving the water in the pan.

4. Mix the honey and mustard and brush onto the top of the beef.

5. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the beef.

6. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 20-30 minutes bringing it to broil for the last few minutes to caramelize the glaze.

7. Meanwhile, place the vegetables in the pan with water and simmer until tender, about 20-30 minutes.

8. Slice the the beef again the grain and serve with the vegetables.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 5 min., Cook time: 3 hours, Difficulty: Easy)

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