Sunday Dinner

The Kid had a holiday function last night, so we adults just had Reuben Sandwiches and oven fries. The Kid likes Reubens but won't shed a tear over missing them. You know how it is with kids - cooking something they really like on a night they aren't home can quickly turn into a Major Incident. So I just avoid all that noise and cook something The Kid won't mind missing. It used to be easier when The Kid was younger, because the dislike list was slightly longer. But my kid has always been a Foodie at heart; an adventurous eater with a surprisingly sophisticated palate.

The pastrami and baby swiss were on sale at Harris Teeter this week, buy 2, get 3 free. That brings the price to $1.80 per package, or $3.60 per lb. (I've already covered that using pastrami instead of corned beef technically turns my Reubens into Rachels.) The sauerkraut was already in the fridge, leftover from last week's bratwurst dinner. The steak fries were the (little less than) 1/2 package leftover from Friday's dinner.

The only thing I bought new & full price was the rye bread, which is one of those items I never, ever see on sale. Even when a brand of "wide-pan" bread goes on sale, it's only for the various wheat, white and whole grain varieties. Rye and pumpernickel are excluded for some reason. There also seems to be some price-fixing going on, because it's never less than $2.99 at the major grocery chains, and not much cheaper at $2.49 at WalMart. This concludes the long and useless explanation portion of the blog. :)

For the sandwiches, I smeared a little spicy brown mustard on my rye bread, then layered 1 slice swiss, 2 slices pastrami, sauekraut, and another slice of swiss so the cheese would block the soggy fillings from the bread on both sides. A little butter on the outside, then I pressed on the big silver griddle my mother received as a wedding gift in 1949. A toaster went with it, too, but that's long since gone to appliance heaven since you could get a replacement toaster anywhere. But this foldover griddle, I consider it a family heirloom if not an outright national treasure. To put it another way, it would be on my list of items I'd foolishly try to save in a fire.

Totals:

$1 - 1/2 bag steak fries
.80 - rye bread
$1.80 - 1/2 package each pastrami & baby swiss
free - sauerkraut (accounted for in previous meal)

$3.60 for dinner for 2