In the Future, I Will Be Careful What I Wish For

I asked Hick to bring home a Reuben Sandwich lunch for my supper on Friday. You know, since he chickened out on the Chicken Salad Sandwich, and didn't bring it last time I asked. Hick said he was also going to get a Reuben for himself, although he would be eating one in person for lunch. He called ahead. Hick says the Reubens go quickly, and if you don't get your take-out order called in early, they will run out.

Hick ate his lunch, and then brought our suppers home to put in FRIG II.

Grilled Reuben

Broccoli Cheddar or Veg Soup

Slaw

Crackers

Variety of Desserts

I didn't know if they would send soup in a carry-out lunch. Hick said sometimes they do, sometimes not. I said I wanted the vegetable soup, but he said you don't really get a choice. Only if a worker makes your take-out lunch right before you leave. Which he said his friend did last time with the BEETS fiasco. But it was unlikely on Reuben day, because they have so many and make them all ahead. So I'd get whatever they put in the container.

Anyhoo... Hick came in carrying two white plastic bags, each containing a foam container of lunch, and a small foam container of the dessert. Hick was carrying them both in one hand. Making one lean sideways at a 45-degree angle.

"Whoa! You're spilling stuff inside! You know how that slaw juice runs all over everything!"

"I'm just carrying them, Val."

"Set one over here and let me look inside."

I think I know part of the problem why those Senior Center workers are stressed on Reuben day! They had tied the top of each plastic bag in THREE knots! Did they think Reuben was going to fight his way out of a white plastic bag? A single knot should suffice.

Anyhoo... inside the container were Potatoes, Slaw, a Reuben Sandwich, and a cardboard container of soup with a lid that did not leak.

I set the soup out onto the table, and moved the sandwich to see if anything had leaked on it. Indeed, it had! That bottom piece of bread was as soggy as a wet sponge! It barely held together as I turned it over to take its picture. The potatoes are the villain! That's where the liquid came from.

Yes, there is still plenty of liquid left in the potatoes themselves. Who packs a take-out container like that? Do they not have access to a slotted spoon at that Senior Center? While we're on the potatoe topic, I have no idea what they did to those potatoes. They were the worst potatoes I've ever eaten. I tried, but only choked down half of them. I couldn't figure out the flavor. It was not butter, because after six hours in FRIG II, that liquid did not thicken or solidify. Kind of a sour taste, yet sweet. YUCK! The best I can figure is that they drenched canned potatoes with Italian Dressing.

The slaw was also terrible. Hick actually traded out the soggy sandwich in this one, to allow me to have the container. Because the other one had a lot of carrots in the slaw, which I don't like. Anyhoo... it was not a white creamy slaw, but a vinegar type of slaw. I left about a third of it.

When I looked into the vegetable soup, I figured the vegetables had settled to the bottom. Um. No. When I poured it into a cup to heat it up, there were two slivers of grated carrot, and two tiny shell noodles. Hick said I could have his soup, which at least had two broken pieces of green bean, two tiny cubes of potato, and one tiny cube of carrot. It's like those workers FOUND the slotted spoon, and used it to seine out the vegetables from my vegetable soup!

I warmed our sandwiches in the oven, giving Hick's soggy slice extra time. It dried out, but did not get as toasty as the other slice did. Gotta say, those sandwiches were delicious. Too bad the other stuff came with them! Hick only ate his sandwich. And one of the desserts, saving the one I gave him for the next night. It was a cherry crisp that actually looked good, but I'm not much on their desserts. Unless they actually have cake, often advertised, seldom served!

Still, it was a meal I didn't have to cook. The Reuben Sandwich was great. I will ask for it again next menu, but I will not be expecting anything else. Better to be surprised than disappointed.