On a Roll

Karen Danielson isn't exactly a rolling stone, but she's on a roll, or at least on the move, and has a tale to tell about cabbage rolls as she introduces two great new recipes from her up and coming cookbook:

"I'm anxious to see my Nevada family again.  Grandsons Brian and Ian are ready for "Mimi" to come and cook for them.  It's just a novelty, as their mother is a good cook.  But Mimi cooks 'different stuff', and sometimes they like it and sometimes they don't. 

Last time I visited, the boys were in school.  I laboriously worked most of the afternoon painstakingly stuffing and rolling little cabbage rolls and baking them in the oven, timing everything just right so the cabbage rolls would be ready for the boys when they came home for dinner.

Brian and Ian popped in the door and shouted, "What's for dinner, Mimi"?  I proudly announced 'Stuffed Cabbage Rolls', at which time both their faces fell to the bottom of the kitchen floor.  All signs of wild anticipation disappeared from their eyes.  At dinner they ate mashed potatoes and applesauce, without even so much as giving a glance to my grandly presented stuffed cabbage rolls.

Oh, well!  You win some and you lose some-- it's a kid thing!   My feelings could have been hurt (of course they weren't).   But if you could have just seen the look on both Brian and Ians' faces... it was hysterically funny.  Maybe I'll try the cabbage rolls again this visit and see if their palates have matured.  If not, 'let them eat cake'!   Or mashed potatoes and applesauce, anyway.

So I'm packing my suitcases and getting ready to fly off to sunny and hot Nevada tomorrow.  Then I remembered that I had promised to post a genuine Southwest recipe first.  The Avocado Salsa comes from my  daughter-in-law, Daisy, who lives in a developing suburb of Las Vegas.  You don't get too much more Southwest than that. 

The Home Baked Tostito Chips recipe is my own creation.  It's hard to find a store-bought version of tostitos that will stand up to the 'Danielson shoveling technique' when it comes to eating salsa.  These make great, sturdy dippers that are great for scooping up salsa and chunky dips.  They don't break easily and are low in fat.  Hope you enjoy this combo as much as we do."

Karen Danielson

Hope they eat cabbage rolls with gusto this trip (but don't bet the farm!).   I can just hear Brian and Ian forty or fifty years from now, though:  "Gee, I sure wish I had some of Mimi's cabbage rolls just one more time."

Don't forget to share your recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls sometime.  Or are you saving it for your cookbook?