As part of my transition to eating healthier, I decided to ditch the lion’s share of my regular fare and expand my horizons a bit. It was then I was reintroduced to sushi at Sea Shai in Middletown. If you like sushi I highly recommend you visit, and if you don’t like it I highly recommend you go there to have your mind changed. The first thing I thought to myself while dining at the sushi bar was, “I am not going to try and make this at home.” Within a few weeks of that moment I was importing Nori. In order to pull this off, I had to buy:

A Santoku knife

A bamboo mat

Sushi ginger

Wasabi

Nishiki (medium grained rice)

Nori (the seaweed wraps)

Most of it had to be picked up online, but after getting everything together- I decided to up the ante a bit and add tempura vegetables, chicken, and shrimp into the mix, so to speak. To create another list, here are things I was attempting to do all at once that I had never attempted before- and the outcome:

Cutting and pitting an avocado (Unmitigated Success)

Preparing sushi rice (Triumph)

Deep frying (Hobbled across the finish line)

Battering - As in flour and eggs, not pummeling. (10^th Runner up)

Cooking Shrimp (No one got sick, that has to count for something.)

Rolling Maki (Why does it stick to my hands but not itself?)

Lessons Learned: Canola oil is not an appropriate substitute for peanut oil. Temperature control is everything in frying. You can’t be stressed and handling sticky rice. You have to keep your hands wet all the time to avoid the constant clinging of rice to your fingers. The blade has to be cleaned between every cut, and you really have to mash the hopes and dreams out of every roll to get it to fuse into that firm state and familiar shape. I tried the rolling process again the next day with much better results.

All in all, I look forward to it rolling the sush’ once more- but it would be much enjoyable more in a party setting.

Ok, So it wasn’t an action blockbuster. I’ll get you next time, Nichole!
Julie & Julie was a decent movie. It follows the tale of a woman feeling lost in the world, until she finds herself by cooking her way through Julia Childs’ “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and blogging the experience.  It is really two movies, one covering the rise of Julia Child and the other is the story of blogger Julie Powell.

If you are a female  blogger, or live with one, you’ll have a special appreciation for it. The layers of media involved- the cookbook, that inspired the blog that inspired the book that inspired the movie- strikes a more intellectual tone than the typical “movie, based on a cartoon, based on a toy” model that has become so popular recently.

I enjoyed the movie because of the character and portrayal of Julia Child. Meryl Streep was fantastic as usual. I found the story of Julie Powell got in the way. Movies about books about bloggers. Can’t get much more self absorbed than that.

Best Part: Meryl Streep’s Acting 8/10

Worst Part: Julie Powell’s Whining 3/10

Overal Score: 5/10

http://www.projo.com/news/content/PALIN_RHODE_ISLAND_08-20-09_E5FF0HR_v23.3c1d727.html

Sarah Palin is moving to Rhode Island.

The Ugly Truth is a movie starring the girl from Knocked Up and Leonidas. As a romantic comedy, it is better than most. I am not a supporter of the genre, but I don’t begrudge those who fancy such faire. I had some decent laughs and discovered that Katherine Heigl is a really talented comedienne. I also remembered Gerald Butler is a decent actor- being not only the scourge of the Persians, but also the stand in father in Dear Frankie.

Here is the basic idea of the film. Heigl plays a local TV morning show producer who is as rigid and principled in her approach to producing as she is in her approach to love. Unfortunately she is not very successful in either role. Leonidas, The host of a breakout cable access show may be the answer to her ratings problem, but can she handle his misogynist behavior? His straightforward approach to male female relationships is as offensive as it is effective, so in desperation Heigl turns to Leonidas in an attempt to land the perfect man. Can she follow his rules? Is that what he really wants?

While not burdened with an overabundance of depth, this film delivers a fairly unique story that avoids many of the Romantic Comedy clichés. This means no airport chase scenes, no tragic betrayals or subsequent proofs of affection. It was a simple story that didn’t insult the intelligence of the audience. The humor is a little crass, but no more than what you would expect from the trailer. Long story short, if you liked the trailer, you will like the movie.

Best Part: Comedic energy between the leads – 8/10
Worst Part: Not much depth – 4/10
Overal Score: 6/10