| Season of Change As I said ~ this time last year, in fact…I have always thought the New Year should begin in September. The crisp, bright fall days, the children hurrying off to school with fresh notebooks and sharpened pencils. I suppose that should be; “fully charged laptops”, though. ;) Anyhoo, I have decided to make some changes to both the style and tone of the blog. For one, I am discontinuing the “Something From Nothing” posts. As much as I like doing them, I find I do not have leftovers frequently enough for a weekly post. From time to time, I’m sure I will make a “something from nothing”, but, let’s face it, the one-year commitment was clearly too much for me…hahaha! Also, to be more true to myself, and my style of cooking, eating and entertaining – I simply must blog about what I truly love…especially to keep motivated to blog more frequently! OK, enough said…on to this weeks’ fun. This post is for (and because of) Dear Daughter, S. who wondered out loud recently, that if one were to make the ubiquitous “California Roll” with the crab with a “K”, if it would turn out anything like the kind eaten in sushi/sashimi restaurants. Well, that was all it took for me….so I cut a package of KRAB in half, and froze the rest, for another experiment. Then dug through my pantry/fridge and Asian food section (a specific drawer in my kitchen), and found the following… Sesame seeds, the KRAB, rice, mayonnaise, avocado (going South quickly) and cucumber. I also found this… I cannot very well make sushi without the nori, now can I? On to the fun…first, I steamed a half cup of rice in one cup of water…and while it was cooking and cooling, I toasted up a sheet of the nori seaweed over a low flame – just until it turns a slightly dark green in color, and is toasted. I also shredded the KRAB with my hands…..breaking it into more realistic-actual-crab-type pieces…I mixed in only enough mayonnaise to give it a creamy texture, and gave it the slightest few drops of lemon juice. Then, I wrapped it, and put it in the fridge to chill while I prepped the rest of the roll. I spread the rice into a large, shallow bowl, and fanned it with the sushi paddle, while sprinkling in a teaspoon of rice vinegar, and a pinch of sugar. One fans the rice to dry it out, and separate the grains. The result is rice that is not sticky, but will hold together well enough to become a roll… Now for the fun part! We lay plastic wrap over our sushi mat… Then, place the nori on the plastic. With moistened hands, spread the rice in a relatively thin layer, to each edge of the nori.. Then, sprinkle with sesame seeds…. And place another sheet of plastic on top of the rice. Now…gather up your guts, and flip the whole thing over! Now, begin building the inside of your roll. A few thin strips of cucumber… Then, some avocado, and your KRAB mixture…. Begin the scary part….carefully roll up from the short end…using the plastic and sushi mat to help you keep the roll tight….and peeling the plastic off bit by bit….here’s mine mid-roll… Use the sushi mat to help you tighten the roll and seal it, once you come to the end…. Now place your roll on a cutting board, and run your hottest tap water over your sharpest knife….using a sawing motion, cut the roll into sushi-sized portions… Place on a plate with some blazing hot wasabi, some pickled ginger, and yes, S. one CAN eat California rolls at home….you want to know the best part? The creamy KRAB mixture, of all things! I have always rather looked down my nose at the crab-with-a-K, but no longer. I think that squeeze of lemon made all the difference. Have a look…. Although I did not get the roll “perfect” and the avocado was an unappetizing color, it was good practice, and most importantly, tasted great! What ethnic dishes do you make that you are most proud of? Eat well my friends, and stay tuned for that much-promised visit from the Kitchen Angels, and the decadent caramel espresso bars! Love and kindness to all, Pixie ———- MilitaryConnection.com, a portal of all things military, has become the “go to” site for resources, news and information that is of importance to the military audience. We have thousands of pages and hundreds of databases to keep you current on the information you need to have. With something for everyone, we take pride in providing all of our resources free to users. Additionally, we feature all types of military spouse articles like this one to keep you informed. We will post your press releases, special events, newsletters, professional conferences and seminars, reunions, job fairs, and videos to help organizations get out the word. One of the areas of our focus is connecting candidates from the military community with outstanding government and civilian employers. We are well aware that candidates from the m
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