Musings of a Messy Mind

We have been having glorious weather here in the Tampa Bay area, highs hitting eighty degrees, bright blue skies and gentle breezes. I was remembering my childhood in New England where March was still decidely winter and I began craving childhood comfort food. One of the first comfort foods that popped into my memory was Golabki (stuffed cabbage).It isn't always easy for me to share recipes as a lot of what I make isn't from a written recipe. A recipe is just a framework. If one tries to understand the basic structure, there is much room for the individual cook's creativity. This dish was often our Saturday evening dinner. It's basically how my grandmother and my mother made theirs. Stuffed Cabbage/Golabki Ingredients : 1 medium head of cabbage 1/3 lb salt pork 1 large onion finely diced 1/2lb ground chuck 1/2lb ground pork 1 1/2 cups cooked long grain rice (after cooking;not 1 1/2 cups dried rice) 1 egg 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 can tomato soup or t...

I am determined that I can cook everything in the travel trailer that I cook at home. I said cook, not bake. I haven’t tackled baking yet. We’ve become friendly with a Canadian couple who are Full-timers. They live in a large motor home and follow the sun. Last week, friends of theirs who also have a motor home drove down from Toronto. We planned a dinner for the six of us. I said I’d do main course and salad if they’d do pre-dinner nibbles, bread and dessert. Cassoulet is a nice, easy dinner. Unfortunately, the dutch oven I usually make it in is too big for the trailer’s teeny oven. I turned to my new best friend, the crock pot. Actually, the only thing I did differently was to toss everything into the crock pot rather than the dutch oven and bake. This meal serves 6-8. The meal was a huge hit. The Canadians loved it. Cassoulet 1 lb dried white beans (I use Cannellini) 1.5 lbs sausages (I used Johnsonville Bit O’ Garlic Irish Sausages as I cannot find French garlic sausages here...