I came across some "krab" - the stuff many restaurants use in "crab" dishes, and the stuff used to make California rolls. So I figured I'd pick it up and make some California Rolls soon. I'd made California rolls many years ago with my brother Brendan for our parents. I'd even made tuna rolls. I don't recall having ever done it before, but we just did it and they turned out great.

This time around - I picked up the other supplies, just the bare bones - sushi rice, sushi nori, and avocado. I had some rice vinegar on hand. I followed the recipe that came with the bulk sushi rice and made 4 cups of rice (from 2 raw cups; I used 4.5 cups of water). When the rice was done, it looked awfully wet, but it had cooked for the prescribed 30 minutes, and I was eager to go.

I added 1/2 cup of rice vinegar, based on the directions on the package of sushi nori, which said 1/8 cup per 1 cup of rice. I hope that meant 1 cup of raw rice - otherwise, I added twice as much vinegar as I should have. The rice did taste very vinegary. It was good, but it was so vinegary that I think in the end, it overpowered the other more mildly-flavored ingredients. I will have to check with Michael on that.

If I did not add twice the vinegar, then I want to reduce the amount next time, anyhow. I also want to cook the rice just a little longer, or use only 4 cups of water.

I tried making my first roll, and it was a disaster which I quickly consumed to hide the evidence. The second roll was a bit better, so I tried to use our butcher knife to cut it. I may as well have been using a butter knife. Hmmm. I decided to deal with that later.

The succeeding rolls were not really getting better, so I started experimenting. The biggest problem with the first roll was way too much rice. Then the second roll had so little rice it was very skinny. Each time I used the mat to wrap a roll, the krab, and avocado would just keep getting pushed forward instead of being enfolded. So I started putting the rice and filling closer to where I began rolling. That worked better, but I was having trouble getting the visual effect of the rice completely encircling the krab and avocado.

By the end, I was doing a bit better with the amount of rice, the location of the rice on the nori square, and had begun cutting up the avocado into much smaller pieces and cutting the krab pieces into smaller strips.

Then came the issue of cutting the rolls. I was able to locate the knife sharpener that came with the original set from which our butcher knife comes. I'd never used the sharpener, but it was my only option now. So I used it, and lo and behold, it really worked! It could now cut through nori like a fresh razor blade. I even sliced just the outer one or two layers of skin on my thumb while cleaning it, as opposed to it biting down into the flesh, the way I'd usually cut myself.

So I cut up all the rolls and arranged them on a plate for later consumption. I thought about what I wanted to do differently next time, but I think I'd better get some help from Michael, the real sushi chef!