Reuben Sandwich Dip from Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cooking, Christmas 2010

2010 has ended. It's hard to believe that it's already a decade beyond the frantic hype around Y2K. I think that was the first time that people were more focused on outward things like bank accounts being frozen, computers imploding and missiles going off at random because of the date change than they were about inward things like new year's resolutions, weight loss, etc.

Life has changed a lot for me in these ten years. At the end of 2000 I was a single woman about to leave the 30's behind and looking towards the next decade with a certain peacefulness that comes from being comfortable with the age one is and knowing that I've earned every trip around the sun I've taken. At the end of 2010, I'm married to an incredible guy and have an amazing Dudette that keeps me young at the same time as she puts gray hairs on my head. I'm also looking towards leaving the 40's behind this year (gulp). No worries; it's all good.

Because 2010 has had its share of ups and downs for our family, we thought there was no better way to usher it out than to share the evening with our small group from church. These people have laughed with us, cried with us, studied with us and shared their wonderful children with our Dudette.

Since most of them had already tried the Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Hot Dip that's become one of my party favorites now, I decided to experiment with another new on and made the Reuben Sandwich Dip. I'm one of those people who adores reubens even though I'm not a fan of any of the ingredients taken separately. This dip has just about all the ingredients that the real sandwich does; sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, corned beef and rye. It's also easy to make and is one of those dips that can be made well ahead of time, put in the fridge and then just thrown in the oven to cook just before guests arrive. I love dishes like that.

Since I didn't want to make a whole corned beef so I'd have the 6 ounces used in this recipe, I went to the deli counter and asked him to slice of one half-pound piece. That was very easy to chop up and ended up getting me the perfect sized pieces.

I was itching to change this recipe from mayonnaise to thousand island dressing, which is what the real sandwich uses, but I'm supposed to review the magazines as they are so I resisted the impulse and used the mayo. All those ingredients were mixed up, put in a bowl and baked until bubbly.  I served the dip with rye crisps as well as rye bagel chips.

The dip was very good but tasted nothing like a reuben sandwich. I think I would have added more sauerkraut to balance the amount of cheese better. It was still good and there was a lot eaten (it's very greasy though). Whenever I make a dip, I'll head to the caramelized onion or spinach and artichoke ones before this, I think.

Unfortunately, Better Homes and Gardens doesn't have this on their web site, so if you want to make it, you'll need a 14-ounce can of sauerkraut, rinsed and drained, 1 1/2 cups each shredded cheddar and Swiss cheese, 6 ounces of chopped corned beef and a cup of mayonnaise (or thousand island dressing). Mix it all up, put it in a 9-inch dish and cook it in a 350F oven for about 25 minutes.

Happy New Year everyone!