Homemade Sushi : Guest Post By Marissa

Homemade Sushi
By Marissa (Sue's daughter)

Homemade Sushi is waaaay better then the stuff you get at the store and healthy too!
You'll need:
1 cup white rice
half piece of imitation crab
half avocado
1/3 a cucumber
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
3 pieces of Nori seaweed

Also:
Sushi mat (Its a long row of sticks tied together)

To make the Sushi:
I use a rice cooker so I don't know the rules for the pot. With a rice cooker you put in one cup of rice and 1 3/4 cup of water. This should make your rice sticky.
When the rice is cooked add the rice vinegar, sugar and salt and stir them together. Now it should to start smelling like Sushi! (I ask that you don't drool on the food)
Take a piece of Nori and set it on your Sushi mat. (Make sure the shiny side is facing down) Add a thin layer of rice and gently spread evenly.  (Probably half a centimeter thick) The thicker your rice is the thicker your Sushi is so be careful.
When rice is spread line the crab, avocado and cucumber in a straight line in the center of the rice.
Carefully, using sushi mat, roll the rice into long log. It should look a lot like a cinnamon roll. And like a cinnamon roll you carefully cut it into about 6-7 pieces. For each cut wet the knife. The water makes it easier to cut through the nori. Also, I find the end pieces always fall apart so I cut those first and save it as a treat for the cook ;)
Continue with the other three pieces of Nori or until you've used your rice. Depending on how thick you spread the rice these rules will very.
You should have about 22 piece in the end! Enjoy!
Warning: Chew carefully, Nori can be a bit hard to chew at times. Also don't eat too many pieces! Over a dozen and you will undoubtedly get sick!

Thanks Marissa! Awesome job! Just a note to the money conscious. The Nori I found in the ethnic aisle in Superstore 20 sheets for $2.48. That's .15/sheet. 
Want a grand tally?
Sushi costs
Nori .45
Rice .25(this is a guess)
Cucumber .25
Avocado .35
salt and sugar .05
crab .15
rice vinegar .25
Grand Total $1.75 makes about 22 pieces, not included the cook's ends. This is 8 cents/roll!!!

Tasty Christmas Treats

I don't think I have ever blogged about making chocolates.
They are very easy. I got all my molds at garage sales. I have Christmasy ones, Easter ones, Barbie ones???and multi occasion ones.
You can fill your chocolates with anything you can think of.
Today I wanted to make caramel chocolates and chocolates with cashews inside.
I bought these chocolate wafers at Cooper's. You can get them at almost all the grocery stores. They were .59/100g. You can also buy some specialty chocolate at the bulk foods stores. 

I bought 2 bags like this which were just under 2kg in total weight for $12.83. This will make A LOT of chocolates. As you can see in the cup in the first picture you only need a handful of wafers at a time. The chocolate hardens quickly so just warm what you can use up quickly.

First step is to melt the chocolate wafers in the microwave. Usually a minute or two depending on how hot your microwave runs! Put them in for a minute and then stir. Make sure no water gets in your chocolate!
Here are the empty trays. The square ones are perfects for caramel chocolates or even Nutella. The peanuts work great for nuts and 
peanut butter.

Next you CAREFULLY paint the trays with a thin layer of chocolate. Why carefully??? Well, if you miss a spot(it's never happened to me!) you will have a whole in your chocolate where your filling can run out. It's easy to check, you just lift your tray up and look underneath for clear spots. I am sure there is a special tool for painting chocolate molds, but I don't have it. We used to LOVE McDonald's little plastic spoons they had to stir your coffee, do you remember those? My neighbor in Alberta would have coffee there almost everyday and when he found out I loved those little stir sticks for chocolate making he gave me his. Problem is they broke and got lost and now they are no longer. So, my point is find a very small spoon. You need to use very little chocolate so that you have room for the filing and the coating. Now set them outside, or in your freezer for a few minutes so the chocolate can harden.

Next you add the filling. These ones I filled with liquid caramel. It's in the jam and honey section at the grocery store.
I just warmed it for 30 seconds in the microwave so it softens.
You want to fill your trays below the top so you have room to put 
the last layer of chocolate on.

Here you can see the cashews in the peanut trays. The top ones have already been covered with chocolate. Now they need to be set outside, or in the freezer to harden. Once they are done you turn the trays upside down and pop them out onto waxed paper.

Here I put them in a plastic container from store bought chocolates.
I have also used Christmas tins in the past.

There is still room for another layer of treats so of course I HAD to make some microwave caramel popcorn. The recipe is here. My next problem was packaging! I wanted to put another layer in here, but you CAN'T give someone just a small bit of caramel popcorn....it's just not right! So, since I seem to be very low on Christmas tins, I decided to use a gift bag lined with a waxed paper bag.

I am sure you can do something fancier than this, but here's what I managed to make as a gift bag liner bag. A little tissue paper and you are all set.

I tried to get that Ferreo Rocher sticker off but it just wasn't budging! The best way to make homemade chocolates is to do it with friends with Christmas music and something hot to drink. It's easy but can be a bit tedious so conversation and atmosphere help! If you are all inspired now and want to make chocolates right away you can look for the molds at your neighborhood second hand store. You could also buy them at Michael's using their coupon they usually have on their flyer. If you are going to Michael's can you check to see if they have a chocolate painting tool??? Now I'm curious! Happy Chocolate Making!

Homemade Cleaner

Yesterday I felt like washing my kitchen walls and ceiling. Usually when I feel like doing something like that I lie down and the feeling passes! :)
Actually, to be honest....Christmas is at our house this year and I thought it just had to be done!
I wanted a cleaner that would work well for ceiling paint. (I can't tell you how happy I am they don't usually put popcorn ceiling in kitchens!) I had tried spot washing it before only to do a little spot smearing! :(
So, I decided to try this one and I LOVED it. Not only did everything smell nice and disinfected....it washed my ceiling and walls beautifully(whenever I think of washing walls I think of my high school friend, Jackie, who says whenever her walls need washing she paints them!)
I am posting this so you can try it, if you feel so inclined and so that I have a forever record of the recipe, just in case someday I feel like washing ceilings and walls again!
Homemade Cleaner
1/4 cup vinegar
1/8 cup of baking soda
1/2 cup ammonia
2 liters of warm water
Mix all together. Wear plastic gloves.
I actually made double this recipe....so, I have that bucket in the picture left....maybe today I'll do the bathroom????
Happy Cleaning!!