What’s Up Magnolia? Blue Skies Come After Stormy Weather and a Reuben Casserole

Wednesday morning, November 30 found the sun shining in a blue sky after yesterday’s stormy weather. Straight line winds hit out in the Peoria community of Amite County knocking chairs off the porch and putting many branches on the ground to be picked up the morning. In the wee hours, hail began pelting my tin roof, winds blew the back door open, knocked over a mirror, and put water all over the floor. I thought the roof was coming off and tried to get under the bed.

Now, it could be that the bed is too close to the floor or I’ve gotten to big to fit under it, putting me in mind of diets rather than the recipes I was going to share.

Now different people react differently and my sister says she heard the storm warning go off on her phone and debated the relative merits of getting in the closet or waiting for the roof to come off or the windows to blow in first. She says she opted for the latter.

In Magnolia yesterday run off voting for judges carried on and turnout looked steady at the community center, but the library closed at 3:00 pm due to incoming inclement weather. Ms Edyth Lensing, the Magnolia librarian, allowed as how they were in the process of taking bids to fix (finally) the porch roof and related leaks. We are pleased to note that the waist high saplings that were growing in the gutters of the library have been removed as well. I’m sure we all await the repairs with great anticipation.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Think-ing about holidays and our favorite cooking traditions, provides us with so many reminiscences of past tales. The feasts that turn out great come and go, but the tales that live on are the ones that are less than perfect. In our family we have always preferred a good story to a flawless success.

When we were children in the 1960s our father was right proud of his “Lil’ Smokey” grill. He was less than proud of his lemon and white pointer, Lem. One year as he was smoking the holiday turkey for that afternoon’s dinner a thirst came upon him as it was known to do and he left the grill uncovered to just step in the house to get a libation. It would only take a second. Returning to his chef’s duties drink in hand, he caught sight of Lem rounding the corner of the house at an impressive clip with that half smoked turkey clutched in his jaws.

How a turkey can be so hard to produce prepared adequately is the subject of much speculation. Sarah, our niece, once called her grandmother on Thanksgiving morning to say she had just purchased a frozen turkey, and had company due within the hour. She wanted advice on how long she would need to microwave it for the best results. She inquired with a perfectly serious tone of voice and waited as her grandmother moaned her chagrin that this was going to be really bad and not possible. Sarah had gauged her audience correctly. Her grandmother’s anguish over the impending party disaster was palpable. Sarah waited long moments as her grandmother twisted and wrung her hands metaphorically before she let on that it was just a joke.

We do want to share a recipe that is a family favorite based on the classic Reuben sandwich.

Reuben Casserole 1# can sauerkraut (drained) 1 c. sour cream ½ c. chopped onion 1 12 oz. can corned beef 12 oz. Swiss cheese (grated) 1 stick butter (melted) ½ pkg rye bread with caraway seeds (blended into crumbs)

Mix sauerkraut, sour cream, and onion in a bowl. Spread onto the bottom of a 9x9 pan. Crumble corned beef over the bottom layer evenly. Spread grated Swiss over corned beef. Toss melted butter with crumbs. Spread over top of cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

This casserole freezes well before baking.