Sushi Making Makes Family Fun

Sushi!  There's a whole lotta sushi lovers in this house.  Add us up, 1 Me + 1 Husband + 1 Rockin' Awesome Boy + 1 Princess = Option 1: Enjoy Sushi Less Often or Option 2: A Wallet Busting Bill.

None of us particularly like either solution.  So, we came up with Option 3: Make Your Own Sushi Night!

I first got out the sushi cookbooks at the beginning of the summer when the kidlets started asking for it more and more and more, hoping to inspire them for some sushi making.  But, Hubs & I had never made it before, either.

So, for our first time taking the sushi making for a spin, we decided to go with more run of the mill ingredients.  And after a quick look-see at a YouTube video on rolling technique (I'd link ya up here, but Hubs pulled up the video & closed it before I could copy & paste, but an easy peasy search on there will work), we started rolling.

All rolls had an assortment of veggies (carrot, cucumber, red & purple bell peppers) plus a protein.  We rolled some up with egg, baked salmon, (mock, aka GFCF) tempura salmon, and salmon skin.

I had never had purple bell peppers before, but I've been seeing them everywhere lately, so I picked up a small one for sushi night.  We were surprised to see that it's white on the inside!

Sushi Making Night was worth far more than those pennies and dollars we saved by making it rather than going out.  The kidlets helped prep the food, they practiced their chopstick skills, and when looking around the table, it was easy to see that we were all smiling.

Such a fun evening, one that we will definitely do again!  Do you like sushi?  What's your favorite?  Have you made it at home or a party before?

* The only adjustments we had to make to keep the meal gluten & casein free was to make our own 'tempura' batter & use a gluten free Tamari Soy Sauce, which we keep on hand for Asian cooking.

 
MomTrends, stop by and see some photos from her summer vacation at Lake Como in Italy!

Sushi Gone Wrong

Writing along with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop using the prompt:  Describe a food you abhor.

The evening began with a food I love.  A delish sushi meal had just been consumed.  And even though the person sitting across from me was unwilling to try sushi, not even a bite of a California Roll, as innocuous as they come, I enjoyed my favorite pieces of nigiri and sashimi.  And then it happened.

We had paid our bill and were just about to leave when the two gals at the sushi bar, who seemed to be trying one of everything on the menu, turned to me and said, "You have to try this!"

I wasn't really listening to them before that, but the looks on their faces screamed that I might be in trouble on this one. 

I had just given the 'how do you know you don't like sushi, if you don't even try it' lecture, so I knew there was no way I was getting out of it.  And since I'm not overly fond of hypocrites and didn't want to blatantly be one, I knew I had to eat it, even though there was every bit of evidence that I wasn't going to like it.

I picked up the yellow piece of nigiri sushi.  And then just as I was about to pop it into my mouth, the gal who had insisted I try it ever so kindly informed me, "It tastes like the smell of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium or the smell of a cat litter box."

Joy.  Though I was completely not thrilled at the prospect of trying it, I was more aware of that Hypocrite label I'd be wearing brightly if I didn't go through with it.

And into my mouth went the sea urchin.

And yes, it did taste like the smell of a cat litter box.  And no, I've never had it since.  And no, the Hypocrite label wasn't sewn on me that night.  Mission accomplished.