Sushi

Here is a sushi that I have made twice now, and I really like it.

Start with the sushi rice. This recipe gives you enough rice for 4 rolls, you'll probably have extra of the fillings. Take slightly more than 1 cup of sushi rice, (like 1 cup and a tablespoon extra,) put it in a pot with 2 cups of water, and a strip of kombu. Bring this to a boil, cover, lower heat to the lowest temp. Cook for 10 minutes. Don't stir, but lift the top to let steam escape if the pot splutters. Turn heat off, and let sit for 10 more minutes. Then add 2 Tablespoons of brown rice vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. I actually used 2 Tablespoons of light Agave nectar, but I realize that this may be a problem ingredient. Traditionally the sweetener is sweet rice syrup, or Mirin, if you can get that, use it.

while the rice is cooking, prep the rest of the stuff.

1 carrot sliced into thin strips, toss with 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger, 2 teaspoons champagne vinegar, set aside, toss every few minutes while you make everything else.

1 cucumber (prepped to your tastes, some take the skin off and the seeds out, some don't), cut into manageable chunks, tossed with 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil, red pepper flake (a pinch), a pinch of salt, and the tiniest bit of crushed fresh garlic. Again, toss this every few minutes.

1 umeboshi plum, cut into tiny bits

1 green onion, cut up.

1 avocado, sliced into chunks

Assemble this into sushi. You take the nori, and put 1/4 of the cooked rice on it in a flat layer that covers most of the sheet of nori, but leaves about 2 inches uncovered at the top. About 2 inches up from the bottom, arrange the fillings in a row. After you have arranged this, and then roll it into a roll from the bottom. It'll take some practice. If you have questions about how the rice and fillings are arranged, take a look at the picture.

This picture, I mean...



Marvin (the cat,) loves nori, and believes that he has a compact with Satan that entitles him to nori whenever it is produced. So naturally, any pictures of sushi-making will necessarily include Marvin skulking at the edges.

(no subject)

I am gonna go on a limb here

Katherine's gonna win. Don't misunderstand me, she is working hard not to win, (girl has some serious self-worth issues,) and Taylor is just red-hot. I'd like to see Taylor win, but I just can't buy it.

While Taylor is consistantly good, the producers see Katherine as a rock-solid sell that they can squeeze albums out of, their own in house Whitney, while they view Taylor is a one-album novelty act. They haven't believed in him, ever, and he has survived because of his raw talent and attitude. The producers have never thought that he would draw the AI target audience, and they play him down with adjectives like "Goofy" and "Silly" that undermine him. I imagine the producers were quite suprised by the Ace contingent deserting Ace for the Taylor "Soul Patrol," but they underestimated how much weight safe/fun carries among the 12 year old girls, much more than the hunky/smarm vibe. They can get hunky/smarm in Tiger Beat, but what they can't get is Taylor. Taylor is a strange bird, a safe way to indulge the Daddy Complex, he is the older cousin that always gives you piggy back rides.

And for that reason, the producers aren't hitching their wagon to that star. I can't see Cowell and the other producers not trying their darndest to sway this one for Katherine, seeing her as Kelly Clarkson mark two (and Katherine has a lot more potential than Kelly Clarkson, I'd even say she is better than Celine or Mariah, she just needs refining,) and all they see is that they have an iron clad contract and a huge marketing train ready to leave the station. Taylor is good for a larf, a one-night stand, but they want to come home to Katherine. So they will fix it (probably through creative editing of the "personality segments" and clever song choices,) for Katherine.

That's all I'm saying, and if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but I'm calling it for Katherine.