The traditional Christmas Eve meal in my family has been the Ruben for about as long as I can remember. I don’t know how it ever got started but one year we made Rubens for Christmas Eve, and because we enjoyed it so, and because it was so easy to clean-up afterwards, it became a tradition. And one that I have chosen to carry forward into adulthood.

When I first met John and told him about it he thought I was a little nuts. That is until he had his first Christmas Eve Ruben. And so the tradition lives on.

For those of you don’t know, a Ruben is a hot sandwich made with Pumpernickel bread, Swiss Cheese, Corned Beef,  and Saurkraut. In delis and restaurants they are often made with Thousand Island or Russian dressing as well. But that isn’t something I added to my recipe until a few years ago. Then you wrap them in foil and put them in a 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Not something most would consider appropriate holiday food. But they don’t know what they are missing.

Just finished watching The Woman in White. If I hadn’t read the book it would have been interesting. Having read the book, the film was pretty disappionting.

Lesson: Don’t try and squeeze a fantastic 500-page book into a two-hour movie.

But Andrew Lincoln made a handsome Walter Hartright.

Perfect timing.Today a Netflix copy of the 1997 adaptation of The Woman in White. Perfect for a cozy evening.  Ian Richardson is perfectr as Mr. Fairlie, haven’t run into Simon Callow’s Count Fosco yet.

Our dinner guest is running late and won’t be getting here until 8ish.

Normally we have prime rib on Christmas Day. But this year we felt like we didn’t get enough in the way of Thanksgiving leftovers (sandwiches!) so we decided on turkey.

But turkey dinner means a fair amount of prep work.

My sister made Special K bars when we were out in Phoenix a few weeks ago. They were amazingly yummy. I think these Chocolate Scotcheroos are the same thing, expect they use Rice Krispies instead of Special K.

Sheesh. I forgot to get peanut butter. Thankfully the grocery store is only two blocks away.

What I watched (John snoozed):

As Time Goes By. Not my favorite Britcom, but it can be awfully cozy.

What I wish I could watch:

The Good Life (Good Neighbors in the US). Best Britcom ever.  There are so many great British sitcoms I don’t know why they only ever seem to show As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, and Are You Being Served. It’s like PBS bought the rights to those three years ago and they have been playing them non-stop for the past decade.

I think the only thing better than spaghetti, is leftover, reheated spaghetti.

John has a cold so he gets to rest and get better. He is happy as a clam with a stuffy nose and cozy on the couch reading Green Thoughts by Eleanor Perenyi.