Camp Isanogel 2009

I'm working at camp this summer. . .

Go ahead, some of you and laugh, others clap and still more booo. But, despite what anyone thinks it is the most enlightening and rewarding experience of my life.

We are through 2 weeks, of hosting campers, 3 weeks if you count training. This session is a 2-week experience, with a mix of campers staying for one week or the entire session. I have taken note over the last few weeks and added up experiece after experience, hoping to begin this blog anew for those of you interested in the lives of those spending their summers assisting campers with disabilities, the situations we find ourselves in and the campers, themselves.

So, as I'm exhausted, being on duty for more than 80 hours a week, and dealing with things I never thought I would have to, I'll leave the story telling off to tomorrow and hopefully you'll join me for a ride that I hope can last every camper day, for the next few weeks.

寿司

Today I awoke late and didn't go to the newspaper because my stomach had been bothering and I just figured it would be OK to take the day off.

The theme of my day took a different turn however as I have been interested in learning the secret of making good sushi. I just can't get enough of the stuff and thought I've learned to cook everything else why not sushi.

And before you get that idea in your mind, it is not the raw-fish variety instead a variety where well, I do whatever the heck i want to do with it.

After a brief interview for another job at Isanogel camp, where my sidekick is working, I made my way back to Meijer with the thought of picking up some essentials to making sushi.

I headed directly for the ethnic food aisle and proceeded to look over three different packs of rice attempting to decide which one would work the best. While I was at it I picked up other essentials including rice vinegar, soy sauce, Nori (seaweed paper for wrap), imitation crab meat, frozen spinach and a new knife w/o a serrated edge.

After leaving Meijer I made my way back to the flat/apartment, can't get that out of my lexicon. I went through the processes that I have been reading about for a few weeks that ran as follows:

Rinse 1 cup rice until the water coming off of it is clear
Fill up a pot with 2 cups of water and 2 Tbsp. of rice vinegar and pinch of salt
After letting the rice drain I dump it in the pot and evenly layered it at the bottom of the pan with all of it being fully submerged.
I turned on the heat to simmer/2 and let it sit for about 25 minutes before turning off the heat and letting it sit for another 15 minutes.

After I let it do that I opened up the lid and found the rice to be quite sticky - SUCCESS!

I then took out a layer of Nori, seaweed paper and applied the rice about 1/2 thick on the paper leaving one end of the paper without rice on it.
I then took bacon I had fried and laid it out in the middle before rolling the entire roll up and then slicing it up.

You can put whatever you want in the middle with the rice being the staple but this time i was modest making the bacon roll and one with baby spinach and pastrami.

Its rather easy if you are good at making the rice, which I am. (;