Thanks everyone. This was a low-key birthday, which is how I like it. No cooking. That was the day before, my daughter made us a mahi mahi stir fry that was very good. She learned how to juggle two woks at once. Last night we went out to sushi, as that is daughter's new food passion. Then we browsed our favorite vintage/hipster clothing store. I've almost stopped buying clothes at regular retail stores; this store provides in retail-speak, an edited eclectic selection at remarkably cheap prices. I bought a like-new cotton-cashmere sweater from Club Monaco (a Ralph Lauren sub-brand) for $8 - hard to beat that, even if the horizontal stripes are not exactly slimming. Call it a challenge. We also poked around Powell's bookstore, where I checked out some books on 1980s BMW sedans. I am getting a slight hankering for a "new" car project, and I've always liked the late 1980s BMW 5-series sedans, the last of the boxy no-nonsense Teutonic Beemers. They are quick, solid, and great bargains as future classics. Plus I'm told a fellow who knows how to work on cars (that's me) and who likes to work on cars (that might or might not still be me) can transplant a V8 motor from a later BMW in place of the stock 220 hp six-cylinder M30 motor. We bought a magazine on 3D printing for my son. Home 3D printers are now as cheap as $500, and that would be a pretty interesting thing for us to play with. My favorite present was a cutting board that has gridlines and measurements for various cuts. Now I can judge exactly how thick to slice for medium dice (1/2"), batonnet (1/4"), julienne (1/8") and fine julienne (1/16") sticks and brunoise. Very useful for the OCD cook. My least favorite present for this b-day will be making an appointment for my first colonoscopy. Oh joy! The pleasures of entering my fifties. Actually I should have done this last year on my 50th b-day, but have been putting it off. The pastime currently occupying us is planning for daughter's impending start of college. She is now receiving her college admission and rejection letters, and we are going through the various dormitory choices and studying credit requirements for different degree programs. At this point she is most seriously considering either Fordham University in Manhattan, McGill University in Montreal, UC San Diego, or the Clark Honors College at University of Oregon. I'm quietly rooting for U of O, it seems perfect to me. The Honors College is a small liberal arts program with just 700 students and their own professors, counselors, building and housing, set in the big campus of a 30,000 student research university. 2 hours from home, far enough for her, not too far for me. It is eminently affordable if you pay in-state tuition. If she wants to get a single room with private bath, to spend five years in school doing multiple majors, to study abroad and take trips, we can do all that and she can still graduate with zero student debt. She likes the campus and the town, and already has some friends who started there last year. So, I hope she picks it. Fingers crossed! We went to the beach last weekend. The Oregon coast is gorgeous. I haven't been for a couple of years. My friend led us in making a huge sandsculpture (a dragon consuming a hilltop city) that, I'm told, made the local TV news. It was very relaxing, and made me think that perhaps I work too much. This post was edited by johnliu on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 10:32

Happy New Year to you! Your party sounds lovely, we are having a similar sounding party at our house tonight. The backyard rink is just about frozen, so with any lucky the kids will be skating for much of the night and the dads will stand around the fire pit drinking. I haven't decided what's going in the large glass drink dispenser yet, but it's usually a variation on a paloma, since tequila and grapefruit soda is my personal fave. I like to take one strong drink, then keep refilling with fresca, since I'm kind of a lightweight! We have loads of champagne too, so I'm sure I'll switch to that at some point. That does seem a lot of meat on your menu. Maybe california rolls instead of sushi? I'm planning on a french fry bar (I know, I'm obsessed with my new Actify!). I have potato, sweet potato, and butternut squash fries and a bunch of toppings. Since the fryer only makes about 3 potatoes worth of fries at a time, at 30 min a bunch, I'm making them all ahead of time and will put them back in for 5 minutes to re-crisp and heat up. I have a load of toppings and dips. We also have puff pastries with different veggie fillings, veggie trays, and a chocolate fountain with way too much junk to dip. We are not a meat-eating crowd, and I always tend to go overboard with vegetables. I like always having a vegetable within arms reach. I might be the only one that eats them, but it's my house! For the skating crowd, I have popcorn, pretzels, hot chocolate, and chocolate chip cookies. I've learned from past years with the rink to always have those four things on hand so that I can feed a large group without going broke. Have a wonderful party and a very Happy New Year! AM

if your rice had a crunch it was not cooked long enough or did not have the appropriate amount of water .even if you used a rice cooker, when it finishes, it does have to sit for a few minutes, do not lift the cover just leave it alone for 10 more minutes, i also let my raw rice sit in the appropriate amount of cold water in rice cooker for about 5 minutes or so before i turn it on to start the cooking process. as for vinegar/sugar proportions some people like it with more vinegar and less sweet, I usually make my vinegar/sugar mixture ,taste it then start also ingredients for my sushi if i am making inari i dont make the rice too sweet because the age (fried tofu skin) is usually sweet. if i am making California roll (crab/avacao) i like it with more vinegar. Botan calrose works its a medium grain that will hold up for sushi ,musubi, recently there has been the term sweet rice which is too sticky and not used for sushi making, sweet rice is "mochi rice" or "sticky rice". i hope this information helps

In case anyone is interested in making this after the table quiz, here is the recipe again. I misspelled Tenkasu in the first part of my post, but it is spelled correctly in the recipe part. Anyway, you can substitute Rice Krispies for it if you cannot find it, but it does help the texture of the final product. I should have adjusted my recipe to include 1/8 cup more flour, but if you make this, you simply have to add enough flour to make the batter thick enough so that it will not be too runny. If the batter is too thin, the pancakes will spread out too much and be very difficult to flip. I do not use bacon in mine (as a rule), but it is a nice addition, if you like it. Also, you do need a fairly large turner for these, or else you can just make them smaller. I use what I think is a cake lifter, but I bought it specifically for okonomiyaki. The name means "as you like it" and so there are many variations, and you can vary the recipe to suit your taste. I find this dish to be a very welcome addition to my breakfast menu.