Have you ever cooked something that made you feel
particularly proud?

Well this Christmas I decided to make my dad’s
recipe for cabbage rolls or as we call them Gołąbki (sounds like Hol-up-chies).
My family have had them before and though they’re always pleased to see them on
the table, I think they rather take them for granted.

Not so the company we were with this past weekend.
My husband and I prepared a meal for friends and we brought along the leftover
cabbage rolls to heat up and serve. My goodness, the compliments flew around
the table and from the way the folks cleaned them off, I had no doubt that every
bit of praise was sincere.

In case you’d like to delight your family, here’s my
recipe.”

Gołąbki

2 medium heads of cabbage that are heavy
when picked up.

1 ½ cups long grain white rice

3 cups water

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 large can tomato sauce (with Herbs and Garlic)

1 pound bacon

1 medium onion

Sour cream

Cabbage:

Boil a big pot of water. Core the cabbage. Let the
head cook until the outer leaves begin to peel off. Let those leaves cook a few
minutes longer so they are a bright green. Put aside and cook the rest in the
same way. Again, with a paring knife, thin out the core area so the leaf is
easy to roll.

Rice
Mixture:

Cook 1-1/2 cups white, long-grain rice in 3 cups
water (follow directions on package) or if you do as I do, boil the water, add
a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of salt. Then add in the rice. Stir this and then lower the heat to the lowest on your stove ( I use  #1) and let it cook unopened for 22 minutes.

Take a pound of bacon and cut it across into strips
about 1/2 inch wide. Then fry this in a frying pan till just cooked and not too
crisp. Put the bacon aside and pour most of the bacon fat out keeping a couple
of tablespoons.

Chop an onion into small pieces and fry it in the bacon
fat left in the pan.

Then mix the bacon, bacon fat and onions into the
rice and add salt and pepper to taste. Open a can of tomato sauce and add a few
tablespoons at a time to this mixture, enough for flavoring and coloring. Taste it so you’ll
know where it’s to your taste.

Roll the rice mixture into a cabbage leave – putting
enough in each one so it’s a decent size. Line a baking pan or roaster with the
left over cabbage and pour some of the tomato sauce over this.

Then layer the cabbage rolls, putting them close
together into the pan.  Pour the rest of
the sauce over them and add the last of the leftover leaves as a blanket on the
top.

Cook for 2 hours at 350