Three Hour Tour and Some Cooking

Not really, but Mom and I had a fabulous day today and ended up on 12 Mile Island a/k/a Maple Island and the Gilligan's Island theme popped in my head. Weird. I know.  Anyway, we started our morning out cooking.  Gathered all the ingredients we would need for cabbage rolls and chicken-zucchini casserole.

Mom had picked up a fabulous (and huge) head of cabbage which we set to boiling right away.

In the spirit of multi-tasking, we got right down to chopping and slicing and simmering zucchini and onion in another pan.

Time to roll the meat mixture in the cabbage leaves.

Little bundles of yumminess.

Into a slow oven it goes. 

After cleaning the kitchen, Mom and I headed off to the Island.  I spent my teenage summers, and the my children's summers here.  

You can only get to the island by boat.  If you take the ferry boat, your first sight will be this lovely gazebo.

Today was the Festival in the Lane.  One of my favorite events! That's when islanders get together and sell wares, food, drink, play games, Chinese auction (love this! and won, too!!).  Talk, laugh, reacquaint, meet anew.

The island is beautiful though I did not appreciate until I was a Mom myself.

Mom and I had a wonderful time visiting old friends. Temperature wise, it was on the cooler side - great for walking!  

Even better - dinner was waiting for us when we went to our respective homes.  

Cabbage Rolls, My Mom’s Way

Growing up, these were known as Pigs in a Blanket. We never called them cabbage rolls. Also, back then, my Mom would have to cook the rice first.  Now, she microwaves it using Minute RiceReady to Serve. Fast. Easy. Perfect! We used the whole grain brown rice.

Ingredients

·         1 head of cabbage

·         1 pound of ground beef

·         1 egg

·         1 onion chopped

·         2 individual servings Minute Rice Ready to Serve, cooked

·         1 jar sauce (We used  Ragu, a large can of tomato sauce, or tomato soup will do, too)

·         ¾ cup water

·         salt and pepper, parsley, whatever you fancy

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Now, we heated ours to 200 because we were going out for a few hours and were slow roasting these babies.  Core the cabbage and boil in salted water for about 10 minutes.  In the interim, mix the ground beef, egg, onions, rice, water and spices together in a bowl.  Divide your meat mixture into 12 portions (or more).  Separate the leaves from the cabbage and roll up a portion into each leaf. Place seam side down in pan.  Cover with sauce. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  (Or slow roast for a few hours).

Buono mangiare!