Stuffed Cabbage Head

Man this was a mess to make. You have take the leaves apart from the main cabbage growth section. That was fun!!!! But then the rest of the cooking was pretty good. It says to use spaghetti sauce for the topping and we just had some sauce left over from what me make homemade pizzas from. So i used that and it turned out so yummy.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/cabbagemaindishrecipes/r/blbb585.htm

25 to 30 Cabbage leaves
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1 1/2 pint boiling water
2 tbsp. bacon drippings
1 med. onion, chopped fine
1 stick celery, chopped fine
1 cup lean ground beef
1 cup ground pork
1/2 cup cooked ham, chopped fine
1 egg, well beaten
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper
1 clove garlic, mashed
A large white cotton cloth about 28 " square
American or Velveeta cheese to grate

Preparation:Immerse cabbage leaves in salted boiling water; cook 2 to 3 min. or until wilted, adding a few at a time. Avoid crowding; drain and cool.
Cook rice in boiling salted water 12 minutes; drain and transfer the rice to a large bowl.
Cook ground pork in bacon drippings until brown, stirring occasionally. Add slat, pepper, garlic, onion, and celery, cook 5 minutes longer. Pour into cooked rice.
Combine, rice, pork mixture, ham, ground beef, nutmeg, thyme, and egg, mix well and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Spread out the cloth. In center, place 4 cabbage leaves, to later resemble growing end of cabbage. Place about 1 tbsp. of mixture in center of each leaf and spread a bit.
Continue building up the the head, using up the least attractive leaves first and placing dressing over each. Then at the last try and cover top and sides with the more perfect leaves, having used up all the dressing in the center.
Bring up all 4 corners of the cloth and tie a string tightly and closely to the cabbage. In a large pot, pour 1 pint or more of water; place a rack or crumpled aluminum foil in the bottom. Place wrapped cabbage on rack, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over med. heat. When water comes to a boil, reduce heat and cook 1 hour.
When it is done, turn off the heat and let set covered for 10 minutes. Then untie string, unwrap, grate cheese over top, cover again for a couple of minutes, then gently lift our cloth and slip onto a platter.
Serve sliced in wedges, cut like a cake, pass your favorite tomato sauce over each helping.