10 Essential Things to Know Before Visiting a Sushi Bar By Mark Etinger

Are you a sushi beginner? Never been out for an evening of Japanese seafood dining? Then get yourself ready with the following essential information about how to get the most out of your sushi dining experience.

10 things to know about dining out for sushi

1. This is NOT Chinese food. Far too many people walk into a fine neighborhood sushi establishment and immediately request the Chow Mein special with a chicken egg roll. That's Chinese food, people. Sushi is a fresh, raw and healthy delicacy from Japan.

2. Watch out for the sake. Sake looks harmless enough; it is served from decorative bottles in tiny cups and glasses. But watch out for the alcohol kick from this strong spirit. To experience a sushi restaurant in full, enjoy a glass - but in keep it all in moderation.

3. Start with cooked menu items. It is a common misconception that all sushi is raw. Beginners may want to give cooked items such as California rolls or unagi (eel) a try before moving on to raw dishes.

4. Stick with what you know. Many of the types of fish you have enjoyed for years are available at a sushi bar - simply in raw form. If you like salmon or grouper - stick with their raw equivalent when ordering sushi for the first time.

5. Be prepared for the omakase. Omakase is loosely translated as "chef's choice" and ordering it puts you in the hands of the experienced sushi chef. Bear in mind, that while this option may indeed produce some delightful dishes, they may be a little too advanced for the novice palette.

6. Go veggie if you like. Did you know that you can eat a completely satisfying sushi dinner without eating any fish? It's easy if you stick to the vegetable rolls (such as the cucumber roll) and substitute veggies for seafood in other dishes.

7. It's good to ask questions. At some snootier fine dining establishments (French restaurants, we're looking in your direction) asking questions is frowned upon. However, at sushi bars, questions are encouraged. The best sushi chefs love to talk about their craft and share insight into the different dishes they will be serving.

8. Sushi is a healthy meal. Sushi is low in fat, filled with important nutrients and packed with vital protein. If you eat out once a week, it is much better for your body than a burger joint or chain restaurant.

9. Start the kids out young. The best way to raise a child with a sophisticated palette is to introduce them to different dishes at a young age. Taking them to a fun sushi restaurant is a great way to start them out on a life-long love of great seafood and Japanese cuisine.

10. You can enjoy sushi AND keep kosher. More and more, sushi restaurants are offering full kosher options as part of their menu. That means individuals who wish to maintain a strict adherence to their kosher diet can enjoy all the fun and good taste of a real sushi bar.

When was the last time you had really great sushi? OK, how about the last time you had really great kosher sushi! Sushi K Bar is New York's favorite kosher sushi restaurant and home to some of the freshest, most delicious seafood you have ever eaten. Hand-selected chefs from Japan will prepare your sushi delights with great care using only the best vegetables and of course, the most flavorful fish in the sea. To see the entire menu, and learn more about how yummy kosher sushi can be, visit http://www.sushikbar.com today.

Avocado As a House Plant? 4 Tips on Growing Your Own Avocado Tree By Ahmad Ranson

California Avocado trees are one of the most popular tropical fruit trees. Avocados are available all year and are harvested from November 1st through October 31st. When it comes to pesticide use, avocados rank among the lowest. California is the ideal place to grow avocados, but California avocado farmers aren't the only people capable of growing beautiful avocados. You can grow a beautiful houseplant, or even your own tree when you follow these simple steps. So don't throw away that seed.

- Wash the seed. Using three toothpicks, suspend it broad end down over a water-filled glass to cover about an inch of the seed.
- Put it in a warm place out of direct sunlight and replenish water as needed. You should see roots and stem sprout in about two to six weeks.
- When the stem is six to seven inches long, cut it back to about three inches.
- When the roots are thick and the stem has leafed out again, plant it in a rich humus soil in a 10-1/2" diameter pot. Leaving the seed half exposed.

An avocado is a shallow rooted tree that needs good aeration and does best when mulched with coarse material such as redwood bark or other woody mulch about 2" in diameter. Use about 1/3 cubic yard per tree, but keep it about 6 to 8 inches away from the trunk. Plant in a non-lawn area with full sun, protected from wind and frost. The ideal time to plant is March through June. During summer there is risk of sun damage since young trees can't take up water very well.

To learn 5 more tip on growing avocados you can visit growing avocados.

Far Flung Flan By Fiona Astin

Sat on the covered patio of the first day of our holiday in Morocco, the last thing I expected to be presented with for pudding was Crème Caramel! My brother-in-law comes from neighboring Algeria, and always returns from visits home with an array of variations of baklava made by his sisters (layers of filo pastry stuffed with chopped nuts soaked in sugar-syrup with rosewater, also a popular dessert in Greece where the sugar-syrup is replaced by honey). So, not knowing too much about Moroccan cuisine I'd expected that a North African pudding would involve bite-sized pieces of sticky sweet pastry concoction. The texture of Creme Caramel couldn't have been further from my anticipation, but out it came nonetheless.

Now I've traveled in Spain and South America, and come across the ever-present 'Flan' in many parts of the world as a result. Flan and Creme Caramel are essentially the same thing, the UK equivalent being 'Baked Egg Custard' (although the latter usually comes in a sweet pastry case, is sprinkled with nutmeg and is known as a Custard Tart). The common denominator is a recipe involving milk and/or cream mixed with eggs (whole or just yolks) baked until set, usually in a water bath ('bain marie' in French or '/baño de María' in Spanish).

I confess here and now that I don't like creme caramel and despite having been presented with native versions of it by well-meaning hosts in Spain, Mexico and Ecuador alike, I've never taken to the texture. That having been said, my Grandma used to make a mean custard tart and the additional contrasting consistency of pastry makes it one of my first choices when birthday cakes arrive in the office.

On investigation, it turns out that the creme caramel has conquered many parts of the world. Far beyond Europe, variations of the recipe are popular in South America (particularly Mexico), the Caribbean, the Philippines and even Vietnam. Little wonder then, that it's also crept into the gastronomic psyche of North Africa.

Creme Caramel is quite a basic recipe requiring no sophisticated processed ingredients. It's all about chemistry. The gentle heating of the mixture causes the proteins in the egg to coagulate and so firm up the liquid to a soft jelly-like consistency. More modern recipes may use the processed form of gelatine to set liquids to a similar form, but gelatine is derived from animal bones and so is unsuitable for vegetarians.

It seems that the recipe originated in Ancient Rome, which is believed to be the first civilization to domesticate chickens for egg production. The Romans were inventive experimenters in the kitchen and their produce included a condiment sauce known as 'garum' or 'liquamen' which my pre-teenage step-son delighted in telling me is made of fermented fish guts. During their culinary trials, the Romans also discovered the setting properties of baked egg, making both sweet (with honey) and savoury versions of egg custard (including with eels). The equivalent Ancient Roman dish was known as 'Tyropatinam' and consisted of milk, whole eggs, honey, liquamen, cinnamon and pepper, whisked together and cooked over a slow fire until set. The word 'flan' comes from the Latin word 'flado' which translates as 'flat cake'

Flan conquered palates across the spreading Roman Empire and did not recede with the fall of its originators. Instead it became adopted and adapted to suit local tastes and availability of ingredients. In different parts of the world, recipe variations include fruit, vanilla, coconut milk, lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and honey.

Back on my Moroccan patio, enjoying my first exclusively grown-ups holiday for many years, I decided to brave the creme caramel and see whether I had got over my childhood revulsion (to be fair, I'm sure my childhood experiences of the dessert always originated from one of those 1970's cardboard 'ready-mix' packets). Not really - the texture still defeated me. However, the surprising geography of the flan has intrigued me sufficiently and I'll have another go when I travel to Catalonia in the summer. There must be something in it - all those flan-loving civilizations can't be wrong?

Staying Vegan By Geoff Willis

The first few weeks of being vegan can seem pretty easy. Although you are still working out the kinks, and getting rid of the animal stuff you had before you became vegan, you are getting the hang of things pretty quickly. Then, all of the sudden, you get an unbearable urge for pepperoni pizza! What are you going to do?

The best thing you can do in this situation is to make a pepperoni pizza. Not with real cheese and ground carcass, but with the closest replicas you can find at your local grocery store. I don't eat a lot of mock meat and soy cheese, but in these situations I do. It helps me beat the craving and gives me time to reflect on why I am vegan in the first place.

Early on in your veganism, don't let the "vegan police" get to you. I'm sure that you've encountered these types before. They spend their time telling you that you aren't doing enough for the animals, or ride you because you are still wearing a leather belt that you had before becoming vegan. Don't worry about these people. They were once in the exact same situation as you currently are. There aren't many people that have been vegan since birth, and even those people will have grown past the "police" stage. If you want to become one of them, go right ahead, but use your policing to teach new vegans something rather than beat them up for not being as vegan as you.

Geoff Willis is also the other of the blog Stay Vegan and an article on How To Find Vegan Gifts.

Dining Etiquette - Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew By Cornelia Robinson and Toni Purvis

"Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Most adults can remember constantly being told this rule as children, yet, as much as we've been reminded not to, we quite commonly break this rule.

One of the greatest pleasures of dining with others is not just the food, but the conversation as well. Meals serve as great forums for business-related discussions, chats with friends, and talks with family members. However, talking and dining can turn into an unpleasant and unsightly experience given the wrong set of conditions.

When we eat with our mouths full, we not only expose fellow diners to half-chewed and salivated food, but we also run the risk of spitting particles of our meal onto plates other than yours. Gross, right?!

To help you not be a "gross" diner, we are providing the following rule, which we challenge you to follow every time you partake in a meal:

Don't bite off more than you can quickly chew.

Mealtime is not the time to stuff your mouth - especially when you're in the company of others. Take your time and cut your food into manageable pieces before you eat, and only cut off each piece of food as you're ready to eat it. With food that doesn't require cutting, such as a small sandwich, always take small bites.

By taking your time and chewing small pieces, you won't disgust others by the sight of food in your mouth, and cost them their appetite. Additionally, you never want to have so much food in your mouth that you can't quickly swallow to chime in and contribute to ongoing discourse. Choose to shower you meal mates with pleasant conversation, and not with bits of food flying from your mouth!

Bon appétit!

Toni Purvis and Cornelia Robinson, The Etiquette Aficionados
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