One-Sentence Journal: 1/6/2011

Many thanks to my friend, Amber, for her help in redesigning my blog!

Cooking Brown Rice

Brown rice just screams "healthy," doesn't it?  However, it has a lovely, nutty flavor and even a pleasantly nutty color to it.  I was making some for dinner tonight and decided to make a picture tutorial for making brown rice.

There are two important things to know about prepping and cooking rice: cleaning the rice and the water-to-rice ratio.  Cleaning the rice removes all of the extra starch and dirt--if you don't clean the rice you get CRUNCHY rice even after it's cooked.  Plus, there's all of that dirt that I just mentioned.  Yuck.

     My mother used to clean her rice using a tightly woven basket.  She would dump the rice in the basket and then just run water over it until the water came out clean on other side of the basket.  It was a mesmerizing process, watching the water coming out of basket turn from milky-cloudy to clear.  Now my mother and I both just use the metal container from the rice cooker to hold the rice.  Dump the rice in and fill the container with water and swirl; the water will turn cloudy.  You can even see the particulate matter floating in the water.  Eww.

 

     Repeat that a few times.  Maybe as much as five times.  You want the water to stay clear after you swirl it around.  It should look like this.  See how you can actually see the rice now? 

     Now to the second important concept of rice cooking:  the ratio of water-to-rice.  Since brown rice still has has the bran and germ still attached to it, it needs more water (and probably more time) to cook.  The proper ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part rice.  For example, to get you need two cups of water for each cup of UNcooked brown rice.  I'll be honest, I don't actually measure anything, except the depth of the water sitting on top of the rice.  This is the method my Mom taught me and I've adapted it for brown rice.  I add enough water so that the top of water comes to the first crease of my index finger.  It's about an inch.  Quick, easy, and I don't have to
wash a measuring cup after wards. 

     And last but not least, I pop the metal bowl into the rice cooker.  It's magic!  In goes raw, crunchy rice that's drowning in water and out comes beautiful, aromatic, yummy rice!   My mother gave me my rice cooker about eight years ago, when I moved out.  It's the best and I'm sure she got it from the local Asian market.  If you're ever in the market for a rice cooker, I highly recommend buying one from an Asian market.  It's very easy to use; as you can see it only has two functions, COOK and KEEP WARM.  A bell-like sound goes off when the rice is done cooking.  The metal bowl itself is non-stick and it has a lid so I can just use it to keep leftovers in the fridge.  Enjoy!

Bricolage: Andy, George, and the Piece Of Gravel

Bricolage is a French term that essentially means to "use what you have available to create a solution."  In writing terms it means to create something from things that happen to be around.  Today's creative writing entry is an exercise in creativity and to include something very boring: a piece of gravel.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the characters in this piece developed.  I hope that you enjoy reading it!

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Andy and George were two kids in search of something.  It was summertime and they were BORED.  They had already swiped peaches off of their neighbor's tree.  They had raced each other through the neighborhood three times.  Andy won the first two and George finally won the last race.  They had even tested who was braver by seeing who would get closest to Mr. Haney's rottweiler--a dog that was safely chained up and behind a fence Mr. Haney's backyard.

George was tossing a piece of gravel when Andy had his bright idea.  Who could get it through the tiny hole in George's window, without breaking the window further?  George thought that it was a fine idea and the boys promptly put it into action.  George's window faced the backyard, so they could also keep an eye out for his Mom in case she came out while doing house work.  The hole was in the bottom left corner of the window and about an inch wide.  The piece of gravel was maybe a half-inch wide; so it would take pretty good aim to get it through the window.  George threw first since it was his house.  He missed by a long shot, the piece of gravel bounced off the of wall next to the window and into the grass.  Andy ran and picked up.  He made a show of taking careful aim and pitched the gravel.  It pinged off of the glass and Andy whooped in victory.  George grumbled at him and tried again; it pinged off the glass as well and very close to the tiny hole.  They each took another turn, each one missing again.  George tried one last time--but this time, his mother was at the window, right when the gravel hit it!  Holy Moly!  The look on her face!  George knew he was in for it and there was nowhere to hide.  Andy was frozen in place.  George's mother came tearing out of the house, yelling at both of them.  His mind was spinning as her words sunk in: No dinner! Grounded for a week!  And just wait until his father came home from work!  Oh, jeez, thought George, this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.  He slumped back into the house and while his mother marched Andy into the kitchen so that she could call his mother.

One-Sentence Journal: 1/4/2011

The sunrise on my way to work was beautiful this morning: cotton clouds were screening the sun itself and I could see golden rays of sunlight beaming down from the sky.

One-Sentence Journal: 1/3/2011

The hot water heater died mysteriously over the weekend and definitely without my permission!