ROCKIN’ CABBAGE ROLLS

Those of you who have cooked with me before know that I don’t always use recipes. I use a method and I adapt it to what I have or what I like.
That is what becoming a cook is all about. It is not following every last detail of how somebody else does it unless there is some important baking going on that requires things done a certain way to succeed.
Take what I give you here and make it your own. Add more or less of what you want. It will turn out fine.
I have tried a couple different ways to prepare cabbage for making cabbage rolls.

• There is the old fashioned way of blanching it in a giant pot of boiling water. Not much fun, often dangerous and takes way too long.
• Another method is to simply freeze your head of cabbage and then when you thaw it out the leaves are limp and pliable. Doesn’t work for me on many levels but mostly because I do things on the spur of the moment and I don’t want to wait for the cabbage to thaw.
• Here is the best method I have found. Put your head of cabbage, with the core cut out as best you can, into a large dish with a 1/2 cup of water and cover this with plastic wrap. Microwave this for 10 minutes with the core end down then turn it over and microwave it another 10 minutes. Bingo it is done with little mess and less chance of burning yourself with that hot water. Just take it out and gently work it apart on a large, clean
  (as if you would use a dirty one) dish towel. You may need to trim a little more of the core to get them all off. Save any torn pieces and those that are too small. We will use them later. I use Savoy cabbage. It cooks up tender and is also a little like crepe paper when you are forming the rolls so it stretches around the meat filling beautifully.

Okay lets go:

• 1 head of Savoy cabbage
• 1 lb. of extra lean ground beef
• 1 lb. of ground pork
• 1 cup of rice
• 6 small tins of tomato soup (since my store is too dumb to carry the giant size tins of it)
• 1 tin of good quality crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of regular or hot paprika
• 2 teaspoons of granulated garlic

1. Start by cooking the cabbage in the microwave.
2. Cook the rice according to package instructions
3. Mix together the soup,tomatoes and the Worcestershire sauce and set aside.
4. Mix the ground beef and the ground pork together with the cooked rice, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika
5. Spoon a little of the tomato sauce over the bottom of your pan.
6. Take about a 1/4 cup of the meat mixture and place it at the base of a cabbage leaf. Roll it over a full turn then fold in the sides. Continue to roll it up and place it in the baking pan with the seam side down. They are cozy and they are happy! Now let’s cover them up with that yummy tomato sauce. Put your pan on a baking tray just in case it bubbles over. Cover the top with all the leftover and torn up bits to protect the cabbage rolls and sauce from burning. Now cover the whole lot with tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half. Check one in the middle for doneness using a meat thermometer.

FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE CLICK HERE.

BAD DATES

These dates don’t start out bad. They are full of promise in fact. They make you feel good. Happy. Energized. They can sometimes save your life.

But time passes. We become complacent. Our needs, once important have now dwindled. We now ignore what once we had to have.

One day though we realize we can’t live without them again. It can be in the middle of the night. It can be when we feel our worse.

But it is too late. They are no longer going to be available to us. They are not going to be good for us. They are not even safe any more.

 

 

THEY HAVE EXPIRED!!!!!!!!

There is a good side to these bad dates. We are so seldom sick in our house we never finish off these over the counter medications. Here we have Aspirin, Dristan, Robitussin Cough, Vicks Vaporub, Buckley’s Cough, Melatonin and some PMS type meds that I don’t even know why I have since I never had PMS.

We just don’t use this stuff more than a day or two in a year and that is a really good way to end up on a bad date. Some of these expired years ago. Hey don’t you judge me. I never go in there.

Make it part of your Spring cleaning routine to clean out your bathroom cupboards and medicine chest. Don’t flush things down the toilet though. Check with your local agencies and pharmacies on how to best dispose of your expired medications.

HAIRS THE THING

What is it about our hair that is so important? It is even referred to as our crowning glory. That is a pretty big position to live up to. No wonder we are often disappointed. We wash it, color it, cut it, treat it, condition it and use many, many products on it. Or if you are like me you mostly do nothing with it but keep it clean and comb it.

I have really thick hair. I can wash it in the morning and hours later it is still damp underneath.

(a long time ago but shows the curls)
It is naturally curly but because of the weight of it often straightens out. That is until I go into the rain. For some reason when the rain wets my hair it curls up beautifully. It is NOT the humidity because here in the Vancouver area we have rain a lot and my hair doesn’t curl more on rainy days than sunny ones.
It is only when the actual precipitation gets on my hair that it does its thing. Soft curls shortening up my hair length by a considerable amount.

Is it the lack of chlorine? Nope. There isn’t any chlorine at our cabin and the water there doesn’t curl my hair more. Is it the temperature? The ions? The pollution….I hope not.
Well whatever it is I love it. Now time to go stand in the rain for a while to make sure I look my best today.

BURNED BISCUITS

I did not write this and I couldn’t find the original author. It is posted everywhere on the internet by different people.

It is a good life lesson. Read it. Live it.

---

Burned Biscuits - A lesson we all should learn.

When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
All my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing...never made a face nor uttered a word about it!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said, "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Mom put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides--a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"