Looking for the sun: SUSHI!!!!!!!!!

First off ... Sam you are SOOOO fired! You were supposed to be the photographer... there are no pics of the ingredients... lol goober! So I will show you the best I can...

We made sushi... we did NOT use anything raw... not all sushi is raw! It is however all tasty! LOL

If you want to try your hand at sushi on a small scale... with little work and expense you can get this at walmart... it contains a bowl of sushi rice, soy sauce and a couple of small pieces of nori. It isnt bad.. I keep a couple in the pantry for a fast, healthy snack.

Now you want to do it the more traditional way then you are going to need to make your rice.... you can NOT use regular rice you need sushi rice. It is not oblong, it is almost like little pebbles.

You want to rinse it until the water runs clear then you want equal parts of water and rice.. you cook it the same way as regular rice, heat to boil then turn to low until the water is gone.

While the rice is cooking you want to do the vinegar mixture. In a small saucepan combine 3 tbsp of vinegar, 3 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp of salt and heat until the the salt and sugar dissolve.... do not boil!

Put the rice in a large bowl and add the vinegar mix... work it into the rice

You will need a bamboo sushi mat...

Cover it in plastic wrap...

This is nori... toasted seaweed.... trust me it is tasty!... it is dry, thin, and fragile. The rice will make it pliable.

This is were the girl child is fired.... the stuffing.... we used avacado, cucumber, cooked salmon (left over from the night before) shrimp, and cream cheese. You can use really anything.. I have seen asparagus, carrots, onions.. you name it. You can use any seafood that you want as well. If you like and have access to the raw salmon (or smoked) the raw tuna then by all means do that. We also had soy sauce... we are not fans of wasabi (japanese horseradish --- holy cow that will clear your sinuses!)

Ok so on to the show...

Lay a piece of nori on the mat and add some rice... now this rice is STICKY... I mean REALLY STICKY. You want to be careful to not add too much rice because then you wont me able to roll it once you add the stuffing. It is ok to see little bits of nori under the rice.

Add what you want it your roll.... a word about this... you want small pieces... so if you are using avacado or cucumber slice them thin and like matchsticks.

Now start to make your roll... tuck and roll it in quarter turns. Squeezing it tight as you roll... you want the rice and stuff to all stick together..