Onigiri (Rice Balls)

Very easy, but delectable. It’s just sushi rice formed into a shape with stuff in it, sometimes wrapped in nori (seaweed paper.)
Here’s how I made mine.
Sushi Rice:
1 & 1/2 cups sushi rice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
roasted sesame seeds
Sushi rice tastes much better than long grain rice and will form better balls. It is found in the oriental section of Kroger’s.
1. Put the rice in the rice cooker with 2  cups of water.
2. While the rice is cooking, bring the vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil, then set aside.
3. When the rice is done, pour in the sauce and fluff gently.
4. Sprinkle sesame seeds liberally  and then fluff some more.
5. Taste.
If it needs more sesame seeds, repeat the last 2 steps until it’s good.
6. Form into shapes. I just use my hands to form it into flattened ball shapes or into triangles. I have also done squares and hearts. The rice could be packed into anything to give it shape though, e.g., cookie cutters, mugs, rubber ice cube trays, etc. The key is to make sure your hands and whatever implements you use are wet so the rice doesn’t stick.
7. (optional) Wrap with nori. For ideas on how, see Google.

Dutch Babies (German Pancakes)

4 Eggs
½ c. Milk
¼ c. Flour
4 T. Butter (use less)

Pre-heat oven to 425. Place butter in skillet and melt in oven. While melting butter, mix eggs, milk, flour, and salt with beaters until foamy. Pour into skillet and bake.
Serve with lemon juice and powdered sugar.
When I was on my mission, my companion, Elder Brown, made German Pancakes for us once. I’ve been making them a lot lately.
The recipe above is copied directly from Grammy Marian’s recipe card. I didn’t know until this year that this was something she loved.
The picture on the right shows a Dutch Baby with pureed frozen strawberry. It’s best to add some sugar to the strawberries, as they’re a bit tart otherwise.
Lemon is a great topping for these. One time, I also made an orange sauce that was really good too. I just juiced an orange, put in a little bit of orange zest, sugar, and cornstarch, and left it on the stove on low for a some time, while I went and did other things.
I usually just bake my Dutch Babies in a Pyrex dish or something. Sometimes I do it in the toaster oven, but then I have to be careful that it doesn’t puff up so high that it makes a mess inside there.