HANDSTYLES!

oh man, duders!
last night,
we brought the dinnertime activation to the table with turbo-charged freshness
and all of the available hottness,
and even a little bit of loudness,
to the countertops of the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress test kitchen.
real talk.
my buddy, travis, a.k.a. vegan_magic_time,
a.k.a. active participant,
a.k.a. runs-SO-much,
a.k.a. sesame tofu strip provider,
came by for a collaborative meal and catch-up hang out session.
was it good?
don't be dumb. of course it was.
was the food expert?
c'mon.
what are you?
an A*-hole?
when a couple of passionate vegan food enthusiasts get together,
how could it turn out like crap?
we'd never allow it, because that's not our style.
wordimus prime.
i had that nishiki steaming,
and those water washed short grains were good and gummy when he got here.
a little rice wine vinegar and a bit of persuasive paddling,
and before you could say 'wasabi'
(absent, due to the disinterest of the ladies in attendance),
we had ourselves a pretty awesome mise en place presentation,
which in turn led to a pretty elite flight of rolls.
rolls?
sushi rolls.
yeah!!
check the nori-type teleport:

tick. tick. tick....kaboom.
and for the record,
the end roll bouquets are what's UP.
really.
check out the full-tilt display, friends:

i mean,
that's friday night LOVE right there.
we made six different combinations,
and all six were super sexy.
the really fancy jauns, however, were absolutely incredible-
pan-fried julienned potato, braised in seitan broth, and twice-fried with GPOP?
so dope.
and when it was combined with sauteed garlic scapes, tangy watercress,
AND vegan creamchee'??
damn.
your face might not be ready for that.
the sesame tofu, sauteed asparagus,
and avocado all took turns being impossibly delicious-
then, there's the crisp freshness of shredded scallions, skin-on cucumber slivers,
crawnchy carrot sticks, and protein-packed pea shoots, bro.
on the ones, for serious, there were no weak links.
travis and i took turns rolling,
and he brought the real-life documentation up a full notch
with a homemade Folk Life camera rig i'm envious of.
i'll admit,
i potty-mouthed my way through quite a few hopefully valid points,
but perhaps those prolific and profane provocative pronouncements
were tempered by the big ol' batch of from-scratch fuego
we created while we spoke.
i had a good time.
harvest and maple stuffed their faces,
and crabtree did his best to climb into all the orifices he was unwelcome in.
basically,
events unfolded as expected,
but the food surpassed even my grandiose designs.
F*ing fried potatoes, man.
*
the light failed before we finished.
i guess that's a hazard we accept when creating complicated stuff.
it takes time,
but time doesn't wait for us to finish.
therefore,
the warm light of the kitchen had to replace the natural luminescence of late evening,
and those yellowy shots are what i was left with.
i could've used this one:

....but i couldn't leave it alone.
it's a recurring problem in my whole life.
ha.
i can guarantee better photos over at travis's spot:
vegan_magic_time.
if you need MORE of this-
and i think you do,
you'd do well to get on it,
get after it,
and get into it.
we're making the most of what we like.
i hope you are too.
-
a whole lot was happening, and i think we all enjoyed it.
i know i did,
and i know we ate the heck outta all of it.
six full fat stuffed and stacked rolls, down the hatch.
why
because too much is the right amount,
and expert is as expert does.
believe it;
never quiet, never soft.....