Hot Reuben Dip

Last weekend, we gathered at my sister's house in Michigan for a big party, ostensibly for a celebration of the 4 family members who have birthdays in October. Instead, we used the date to also celebrate my mom's birthday, since we weren't able to get together last year for her big 70th birthday.

We didn't really have a theme for the party, just decorations, a taco bar and our festive White Sangria, and this crockpot Reuben dip with pumpernickel bread. Oh, and a couple of surprises for Mom.

When she arrived from the Toledo area, she found this on my sister's front lawn. That's right, the flamingoes are breeding.

My mom is famous for making funny faces and doing silly things. So we cut out a bunch of her most classic faces and hung them all over the house. We since she's also notorious for cutting off peoples' heads in photos, we included a few headless Moms too. Finally, we made a slideshow of her photos and played it to Helen Reddy and Ann Murray songs. Her favorite was "I Am Woman", which is absolutely the best theme song for my mom. If you know her, can I get an "Amen"?

Left to right: Jim, Adair, Joe, Sheryl, Beth, Belle. Front row: Dad and Mom.

In our family, no get-together is complete without games, and my parents are the king and queen of game-playing. They are slightly, um, competitive. Really, I come by my competitiveness honestly! But this time, I asked the birthday people - Mom, my brother-in-law Jim, my niece Kristin, and my sister Beth - questions like "What 3 things are on your bucket list?" and "What is the weirdest food you've ever eaten?" Jim's parents were great at guessing, but the results were hilarious, especially when I threw in some "ringer" answers of my own.

Everyone really loved this corned beef and cheese dip, which I first tried at a friend's Octoberfest party. The appetizer disappeared at the last party as soon they brought it out to the table. That's a good enough recommendation, right?

To make this dip, we bought a corned beef brisket and cooked it for dinner one night, then used the leftovers to make this dip. You don't have to do it this way - we just wanted a corned beef dinner. You can also find corned beef at a deli counter or sometimes in the packaged lunch meat aisle of the grocery store.

Ingredients

1 14-oz can of sauerkraut, drained
1 9-oz package light cream cheese, cubed
10 oz low-fat Swiss cheese, shredded
2 cups corned beef, finely chopped
1/3 cup low-fat Thousand Island Salad Dressing

Pumpernickel or rye cocktail bread, corn chips, and/or crackers for serving.

Directions

Place all the ingredients into a crock pot or saucepan. Stir and simmer on medium until the cream cheese and Swiss are melted and bubbly. Serve warm - we served this right from the slow cooker pot kept on low heat.

Serves 12-14.