Flooding, take 4

You wouldn't believe it if I told you.

Really

No, I'm serious

Ok, here goes:
The first house I bought had a sump pump in the basement, which was electrical with no battery back up; for those of you in CA, people have basements out here so that you can hide from the tornadoes. I always have been fascinated with basements because basements + earthquakes = tortilla. They have "full", which was the only kind I had ever seen (in Exeter- god help you) where it's a room with tiny windows at the top; they have "look outs", which is when the ground is at window level (cats LOVE this); and they have "walk-outs", which aren't really basements at all, but an entire floor of the house with patio that is tucked under the rest of the house (you use stairs inside the house, of course!). Oh, and they don't usually say "patio"....not sure why....but we have lots of "decks", which is the 2nd story patio where you do the "grilling" that I know as BBQ.

Anyway, anyway.
House 1: Flood due to loss of electricity during thunderstorm so that the sump pump stopped
House 2: Clean water tank on back of toilet broke upstairs and ran through the house (fun, huh?)
House 3 (current): flood due to weld breaking in water main= 28,000 gallons in the basement
House 3 (current): flood due to non-soldered pipe joint (professional plumber accident)

Now the funny thing is that I just got done re-dry walling, re-carpeting, replacing all the wood, cabinets, EVERYTHING. And the last thing to finish was the sink. I had a pro do it. Last day of construction, too. this was it.

And why do you care?

Well, besides being incredibly entertaining to laugh at and terribly theraputic for me to write all this out, I made a bit of a boo-boo in one of my recipes, left some things out, that kind of thing, as I was distracted by the sound of rushing water. It actually turned in to a really great rice pudding, but very smooth.


GF Puto Pudding

2C sushi-grade rice
1 1/2C water
1/2 C sugar
1 15.5oz can of coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix the rice in the water WITHOUT RINSING overnight.
2. Pour the rice and the water into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
3. Add the vanilla extract, coconut milk, and sugar and puree again.
4. Pour into a glass 9"x9" baking pan (square).
5. Set this square dish in a 9"x13" glass baking pan, filled with water.
6. Bake at 250*F until set (approximately 30-40minutes).

The pudding is white, opaque and delicious!

Serve cold with honey or molasses. Or top with azuki beans, peaches, or raspberry jam!

You might also try making this with rose water.

After the parody of Super Tuesday...

So, I, like many thousands of others today, went to attend the caucus. Now, being from CA, I've never attended a caucus, only a formal primary. You actually vote confidentially, formally- LEGALLY. The rules of a caucus are that you show up. You don't have to be registered, you don't have to be legally able to vote, you just show up. No one checks. Over half the people that showed up for the caucus here in the southwestern suburbs of Minneapolis were not naturalized citizens (12-14 years, a test, pledges, etc, etc). That means that there votes were illegal. They were cheat votes. And all of them voted for the upstart, mud-slinging, doesn't-know-what-healthcare-is, please-let-the-GOP-win, democratic candidate.

I think you know who.

And what I don't understand is: people here in Minnesota vote for candidates not for lowering health care. We've got more concentrated populations of MS, MD, CF, etc, etc, etc, but especially celiac disease. Universal health care would allow more doctors to be attending to us. They would have more funding for clinical research, which would find us the cure that all of us know is out there.

So, that being said, please consider that when you vote next.

And now that I have ranted on about my miserable experience with the under-staffed, overrun, illegalities of the Minnesota caucuses, I'll give you the recipe for the meal that I craved to soothe my nerves.


GF California Roll Sushi Rice Salad

1 ripe Haas avocado, sliced
1 lb fish of your choice, cooked and chunked (I recommend crab, imitation crab, scallops, lox, or smoked salmon.)
2 sheets of roasted nori, torn into 1" strips (sushi-grade seaweed/kelp)
4C sushi-grade (medium grain) rice, cooked
1/2C white, granulated sugar
1/2C sake or rice cooking wine (cooking sherry will NOT work here)
1/4C rice vinegar
1/4C sesame oil

1. In a 2-3 quart saucepan, mix the sake/rice wine, sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes (you're making a glace' or glaze for the rice)
3. Allow this glaze to cool.
4. Mix in the cooked rice, throughly.
5. Toss in the avocado and fish.

I recommend serving this along with wasabi paste and soy sauce (stay tuned for how to make these goodies GF!) or with a ginger salad dressing like the one below, sesame goddess (ginger helps with digestion, particularly digesting bad news).



I also recommend hot or cold sake (this is Japanese rice wine) along side. My newest favorite is Fu-Ki sake. (BTW: it's pronounced "saw-kay")




Enjoy your goodies!
The Irish Lass