Mmmm, Sushi?

Being one of those "creative types", has been a mixed blessing. While I enjoy saving a buck, the challenge of learning a new skill and the pride knowing I did it my self, there are some things that should be left to the professionals. For example plumbing, legal work, taxes, electrical, and yes making sushi.

Today I learned a valuable lesson- while you may have all the equipment to do a task, such as making sushi, doesn't mean you can master it the first try or that you should even try. That is why they call them- Sushi Chiefs, after all. However, it's the process after all that is rewarding, and that was what I want to gain from today's little effort.

Now keep in mind, the process of making sushi- even the lowly California roll is painstaking- two hours roughly by the time the rice was cooked, cooled and other items prepped, With hope and anticipation I call my daughter from her room- home from college for the weekend, to participate in the rolling of these little master pieces, a skill she excels at. Now to chill the rolls, cut and present. Finally we sit down with the satisfaction of a job well done,a little soy sauce and wasabi- first bite, yum, knuckle knock celebration at a job well done. And then we discover the sticky rice, was too sticky and we used too much creating starchy masses that overpowered the crab, avocado and cucumber. There is certainly room for improvement. Its not that it was bad, it just wasn't, well, Sushi. Ok, so it was bad. But a start, and we did it!

We were watching Gordon Ramsey critique a chief on kitchen nightmares and in response the chief said," well, my food isn't all that bad". This made me laugh, that's what I'm after when we go out, next time my husband asks me where do I want to for dinner, ill say somewhere where the food is mediocre. I think not! So maybe, next time I'll take my daughter where the sushi is made by someone who knows what they are doing and enjoy every bite.


It ain't all bad
Its been a cold, nasty winter and with the recent blizzard we have stayed in all week. Playing around in the kitchen comes second nature, no recipe books to get in the way things just come together based on general rules of cooking , some couch surfing with food network and asking the chef for tips when we are traveling. Most of the time, they come out great. The words, " I have to making dinner" , make me cringe- I did that for years, it usually meant making one of eight dishes I knew by heart- ya, know , meat loaf, mashed potatoes and the like. But now, the kids are grown and Steve might ask whats for dinner and the response is," I don't know , I'll come up with something" . To my husbands delight when I surface with some deep fried morsel the envy of any Chinese restaurant. For instance this week generated the best crab Rangoon ever, pot-stickers are a family favorite, chicken chunks are incredible are super simple as good as they have at our favorite pub. Now, that its not required that I make well balanced meals at 6pm after helping with homework, there is more joy in the process. I wish I would have known this before. If I really don't want to bother we might just order pizza or go for a burger. In the summer of course its riding season, so we usually go for ride and end up at some obscure little diner far away where the chicken wings are to die for or closer to home where they have the most incredible coconut cream pie in the world. Ive never made coconut cream pie, I would just as soon leave that to the experts. I think her name is Sharon.




The why,of why I try
My desire to learn and do came at an early age when my biological mother encouraged me it would be more fun to make my barbie clothes that buy them- and it was! Little did I know at the time they cost so much and that was not exactly in the budget. We also enjoyed making delicious homemade braided breads, salt dough ornaments, and even a archaic cooling system for our garage apartment. This rather clever approach was implemented by a draft system through the house, that pulled air over water filled ice trays laid in the window sill and then over a two ft tall aluminum foil covered freestanding cardboard blind that reflected the sun while allowing cool air to enter and flow through the house with the aid of a box fan in the window the opposite side of the house. While everyone else paid high utilities for air conditioning I played in the shade and rested in the evening with a book and a simple draft.

This ingenuity is something that I take pride in and it usually comes in handy and saves a buck. When I was twelve I helped re roof the house, fix sump pumps, and mend just about anything. I went so far as to make my own prom dress> This is not something I would wish on anyone. This dress was, old school- all satin with a corset complete with boning, off the shoulder sleeves and a eighteen foot ruffled hem line. It looked great, for the time period- we are talking the eighties and I had Fara faucet hair.

Sometimes my family looks at me in mild curiosity when I have a solution for what seems like a big problem, It doesn't even occur to me that its anything special. I was rather amused though when the cable on our garage door lock broke and my husband went to the hardware store looking for that exact piece, there was no such piece available, in reality all it needed was a little fence mending skill. That's cool ill fix the garage door- he can file the taxes. Its all good!