Kaimusailing

Somewhere previous I had said, maybe they are just trying to irk me. That was about stealing $.50 bowls and other sundry ersatz items. The broken refrigerators I removed from Kaimu and placed in the Free Pile were removed by a fellow known as The One Armed Bandit, holy cow, I didn’t know how to dispose of these derelict items, but the bandit took them. What does he do with them, or the fifty cent bowls, I’m sure he got those too. I don’t want to kill him, unless he brings them back. What does he do with all that crap?
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People get ripped off, but the real damage is not the loss of material wealth, it is, for someone like me, the realization that there are heartless people, takers, not givers, who poison society. Liars and cheats. It’s not political, but I judge those people who should be doing their public jobs, and the judgment is not pretty. Joe Biden is under a lot of pressure. He has been a public servant for a long time, but not without some blots on his resume. The Trumpists are on him like like fleas on a dog. It doesn’t matter who the Democrats put in office after the twice impeached D. Trump had to leave, the Trumpists ignore any truth, they like a liar and a cheat. We are continually getting ripped off, we the people, yet we vote for our leaders who are dishonest and corrupt. It’s not new.
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I was waiting my turn at the communal bathroom when Eloisa came by with her new bike. It’s a Jamis Explorer 3.0. She needed air in the tires. I met her over by the machine shop, turned on the big compressor, ran the air hose outside, and filled her front tire to 55 psi. She filled the back tire to 65 psi. That’s the pressures written on the sidewalls of the tires.
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We took a slow ride through Land’s End, a nearby fairy tale neighborhood with beautiful houses, most nicely landscaped. Her dog Blue was getting a workout. We returned to the boatyard and put him inside so we could go for a real ride. Out of the boatyard, across New Point Peter Road, into another neighborhood, nice, but not as nice as Land’s End, and we came out on the road again.
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You set the pace, I said, knowing that all too often the male rider goes off and the female has to try to match him. She set a pace that was remarkable, but I knew she couldn’t keep it up. I could gut it out for a while. We came to the stop sign at the end of the road and I said turn right. We continued on North River Causeway to a gated community called Cumberland Harbor. We were not allowed inside the gate, but we could see a beautiful fountain. Must be nice in there.
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Eloisa had said something about getting refreshments, but the convenient store, the closest place, was two miles up the road. I asked if she wanted to go the extra two miles and she said yes. I had never biked to the store or the Pirate’s Point restaurant there, this would be the first time. It was a beautiful day in the 60’s and not much wind to hold us back. I am not aerodynamic, but she is.
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Up the road, stop at the store, she bought water and something else. I said I was rejuvenated and we rode off back to the boatyard. There was a slight breeze in our faces. It was not a struggle I hadn’t endured before. We were in the boatyard and at Robert’s boat. Oh, you found someone to ride with, I wasn’t sure who he was addressing. I had mentioned that I thought about making stuffed cabbage rolls, golobki. He said, there’s the vehicle.
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I returned to Kaimu and felt I needed a rest before climbing the swimming ladder to get on board. Whew. Get my wallet, compose a shopping list, review Martha Stewart’s Golobki recipe. Add what is needed to the list. Off I go to shop.
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Earlier I had a conversation with Mariola, maybe the best cook or chef ever, plus, she’s Polish, who better to talk to about Golobki. She kind of turned her nose up on Martha Stewart. We use dill as the spice, she said. I have dill. Some don’t like it. Some don’t like cabbage.
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In the store there was supposed to be meatloaf meat mix, veal and pork, it’s one of the specials for the weekend, but I couldn’t find it. The store was very neat, noticeably. One of the guys neatening the store was in the meat department and I mentioned that there was no meatloaf meat mix. They went out of their way to find out why. It’s not in for the weekend yet, they said. That’s OK, I had a pound of ground pork, that’s what Mariola uses.
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By the time I got back to the boatyard it was too late to start making the stuffed cabbage rolls. That’s OK, I needed a break anyway. There was still a few slices of leftover pizza.
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The logistics of making the stuffed cabbage rolls gets complicated when you have a kitchen out of commission, a boat galley that’s cluttered with no counter space, and the need for at least two burners, possible in the galley, but the out of commission kitchen only has a single hot plate.
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I can probably make do with just two burners, but I have to make rice, sautee onion and garlic, have a big boiling pot to blanch and peel off cabbage leaves, counter space to prepare all this stuff. Doing it all at one time isn’t necessary, making the rice and blanching the cabbage is all that has to be done before starting with the sauteed onion and garlic. The rice, ground pork, sauteed onion and garlic, and blanched cabbage leaves are assembled into a large pot that is lined with a few cabbage leaves. These are sacrificial, expected to get burned.
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The assembled cabbage rolls fill the bottom of the pot. A sauce is put together of crushed tomatoes and poured over the cabbage rolls. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour. That’s he way it’s supposed to work.
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I borrowed Robert’s vehicle to load it up with a plastic tray of ingredients, a hotplate, a stock pot, a 5 gallon bucket, the 3 old 66 lb batteries that I had to strenuously lower from up on deck, and a chopping block, purchased to replace the stolen pair. I used a hand truck to move the batteries inside the Breezeway. I attached my smart charger that displays battery voltage when it’s not plugged into AC. They all read 13 volts.
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I plugged in the hot plate with the stock pot with water to blanch the cabbage. I used the chopping block and my dollar store prep knife to finely chop celery and green pepper. An onion was diced. A granny smith apple was thinly sliced and then minced after removing the core. Two cloves of garlic were minced. A saucepan of saffron rice had been previously cooked and was thrown into a large bowl with the other ingredients. It then sauteed the onion and garlic.
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It took a long time to bring the stock pot up to boil, then the cabbage was tossed in after removing the core. 2 ½ minutes, remove the cabbage and peel off any leaves that have been cooked enough to come off. Back in for another 2 1//2 minutes, peel off more leaves. Continue till the cabbage is all peeled. The smallest leaves are put in the bottom of the drained stock pot. 2 cups of cabbage water are reserved. The remaining leaves are stuffed with the rice mixture which includes a pound of ground pork. The mixture was spiced with garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper. I could have used more.
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After filling he stock pot with the rolled up cabbage, the minced apple was sprinkled over them, and then two cans of Cento crushed tomatoes were poured over them. The cans were rinsed out with the reserved cabbage water. About a tablespoon of dill was spread over the sauce. The stock pot was on the hot plate to bring to a boil, then cook for an hour.
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It took a long time for it to come up to temperature. Eloisa and her dog Blue were playing in the Breezeway. She had set up some mood lights and pandora music. Her dog was put to the test, getting his green tennis ball. She would throw it, hide it, put it in the 5 gallon bucket, put it in the 5 gallon bucket overturned, he really worked at it and found a way to get that ball.
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I was texting prospective customers about when the stuffed cabbage would be ready. Finally the mixture started to bubble. It would be ready around 6 o’clock. The renter of the Breezeway came in and said what’s cooking tonight, and I said, Golobki, which is Polish and pronounced Gowumpkie. He went inside his rental and came out with the assault rifle. It always gives me the chills to see that weapon. He went outside with the owner’s son, Clayton, and they began shooting at a plywood target.
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Roughrider Lynn had stopped by to say they couldn’t make it, they had to pick up some free range organic eggs that are in high demand. After I figured out when the cabbage would be ready I texted her that it would be about 6 and she replied they would be there. Robert came down from his boat and when I said 6:15 he motioned to return to his boat, but it was just a joke, he stayed and helped play with Blue.
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Henrick and Mariola showed up, now here are legitimate Polish folk, and she is maybe the best cook I’ve ever met. Her critique would be important. Soon it was 6:15. I had mixed a small sour cream into the sauce, asked if anyone wanted to be the guinea pig, then scooped a large golobket out of the pot with some of the sauce. We were using paper plates and my plate was in my lap and starting to fold up. Lynn said I should do something or I would be getting a shot of hot sauce where it would do the most damage. I set the plate on the table next to me. It was hot, thermally, but tasty. It was not like any stuffed cabbage I had ever made before.
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Soon others began trying the concoction. Clayton asked when the pizza would be ready. I said it’s not Pizza Night, but try some of this. I put a small portion on a plate for him. He ended up giving it to Gizmo, his faithful dog. Actually, the dogs made out well on this night. Blue, Gizmo, Lady, all sampled the Polish cabbage. Clayton showed off his new bike and ran around in the Breezeway. Several of us had seconds, several others did not. Mariola passed around chocolate with nuts, don’t let the dogs have any.
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The box of wine seemed to have no end. Mariola stood there with an almost empty bottle of some liquor and an almost empty glass in the other hand. I said I could take a picture, but I didn’t want to piss her off. She said the last one caused the people in the laundromat to ask what she was up to. I know, my bad.
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The Dirty Dozen started to return to their home bases. Rocky, owner and chief crane operator showed up to gather his son. He seemed tired. We talked a bit. I took away the saucepan with the rest of the golobki, the pepper grinder, the laptop with the recipe still on it, maybe to be rescinded, and I walked the bicycle back to Kaimu. What a day. Oops, I forgot my new phone, bike back, get it.
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Our warm weather came to an end and we had chilly drizzly rain. It was time to putter around inside the boat. The image is of the pre-sunset clouds out the back of the Breezeway.