Senator Robert Byrd
My home state of West Virginia recently lost one it's greatest champions with the death of Senator Robert Byrd. Senator Byrd was the oldest serving Senator and left behind a fascinating legacy. The senator also had a troubling history, particularly where civil rights were concerned. During his years in the Senate he remained conservative but grew to moderate his views and eventually pushed for community programs, endorsed creating a federal holiday for Martin Luther King's birthday and endorsed Barack Obama for president. He had great love for his family and was a wicked fiddler but his fiercest devotion was to the state of West Virginia. His actions in the support of the Mountain State were spectacular. May he rest in peace.
It took me awhile to post this as I had been fruitlessly searching for a recipe of his favorite foods..and finally, I discovered it. This recipe is for his favorite cabbage rolls. Among the many contrasts in the man's life, this serves as yet another: One of his early jobs was as a butcher but late in life he championed animal rights and spoke against factory farming. I will assume he would prefer the beef in this recipe to come from grass-fed, humanely raised cattle...
Senator Robert Byrd's Favorite Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup cooked white rice
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
10 cabbage leaves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 16-oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
Directions
Mix ground beef, cooked rice, chopped onion, salt, pepper and egg together. Trim off thickest part of stem from cabbage leaves. Divide meat into equal portions, wrap each in a leaf and fasten with wooden picks. Brown cabbage rolls slightly in oil. Add tomato sauce and water to pan. Cover and cook slowly for about 40 minutes.
Greg,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. It's defintely an interesting time in politics for WV. Robert C Byrd certainly had a rocky rise through the political ranks but he always kept his home state at heart. I have travelled the roads of many other states and after hearing all the jokes about WV I can truthfully say that we have some of the best highway systems in the US thanks to Robert Byrd. He knew how to call in favors and he was a shrewd politician. However, again, he ALWAYS kept the state of WV at heart. He gave favors to other states because he had the power of the swing vote. And he held on to those favors. When WV needed them he called them in. As the Chair of the Appropriations Committee he could do that but he honestly did it fairly. He was a master of the Constitution and defended it in Congress till the day he died. There is not one member left than can boast that. For all of Robert Byrds weaknesses, there are at least two strengths that he generated later in life to overcome them. I didn't always agree with Senator Byrd but I will say that being a life long resident of WV he served us VERY well. There is no replacement for him however we are now facing a special election next month and things are about to get very interesting for the state of WV. God rest Robert Byrd's soul. He served us well.