Sushi is one of those foods that I have never even remotely considered making myself. Its labor intensive… slicing, chopping, rice cooking, rolling, garnish, etc. This is a food that exudes precision, uniformity and elegance - I don’t do well within these boundaries. Not only are there numerous rules to mind, but the reward just isn’t that great… it will always exist to me as an appetizer- meaning all that work for not even a full meal. This is a cuisine best left to professionals. That being said, I have no idea why I decided last night was a good night to make sushi. Well, I do know why.. kind of- its been hot in Seattle the past few days and I figured this would take a minimal amount of stove use plus this was the only thing that sparked my appetite besides cold beer. So it goes… a bad idea. I’m exaggerating just a little. It wasn’t awful but it did take a good amount of prep and the rolling part proved to be a challenge. I picked up both brown & white sushi rice, cucumbers, carrots, avocado, honey-sesame baked tofu, scallions, nori sheets and all the fix’ens (pickled ginger, wasabe, soy sauce). I made the rice, cut up all the other ingredients and set up the accompaniments…this took a little while too long. When all was good and ready out came the bamboo sushi rolling mat and the work of setting up the rolls began. What a fucking disaster. The kitchen became a mess of sticky rice (I found some in my hair this morning), soy sauce spills and veggie clippings. In the midst of this catastrophe, I looked like a damn monkey…it took me a little while to figure out the coordination to roll while simultaneously keeping the filling in tact. My first roll was ugly, the second one barely an improvement. Even though the first couple rolls were a bit of an eyesore they did get better looking down the line. Most importantly, whether or not they were hideous, they were all tasty. They tasted surprisingly like…well…sushi-which was a shocker to me. I prayed that they wouldn’t taste as bad as some of them looked and was relieved when they turned out exactly as they should. This whole “making sushi” thing probably won’t be something I’ll do very often if ever again. I suppose “practice makes perfect” rings true here, but patience is not a quality that I possess or care to possess…overrated. I’ve learned my lesson in more ways than one. I went heavy on the wasabi last night-big, big, stupid mistake. It tore my innards to shambles…I guess there’s a reason they only give you a little pot of that stuff at restaurants. Idiot.