Sushi!

Mom & I with our hard work.

Many, many years ago I took my first trip to NYC with my now Mother-in-law to pick up my now sister-in-law, Patricia, from college and do a bit of sight seeing.  We ventured to Rockefeller Plaza and ended up getting lunch.  Patricia wanted to get sushi.  She got a harmless California Roll.  I, after just having discovered a slight liking of fish, was obviously curious but very frightened.  "Isn't it raw fish?" I asked.  Of course, I tried it after many "Fear Factor" faces and was not pleased to find that it was very very fishy tasting.  "It's too fishy for me," was all I could muster to say but in my head I was saying "Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!"  I came to learn after giving it a try again and again once back at MSU that it actually was the seaweed not the fish that had put me off that first meeting with sushi.  Though I couldn't have predicted in NYC, seaweed and I are now friends and sushi and I have become the closest of friends.

However much I love cooking, sushi is a bit intimidating.  It takes a lot of skill to do what chefs do at the best of sushi restaurants and I do not think I have the education to be able to achieve the artistry that is on my plate at those restaurants.  That however will not stop me from trying to learn more about this yummy food.  Not too long ago my Mom called to tell me that a local chef was doing a sushi class and wanted to know if I wanted to go with her.  Without a doubt I was going.

We had a great time and I earned a ton of confidence making three rolls all by my lonesome.  Our teacher was good and took much of the intimidation factor out of play.  The scariest was flipping the rice covered nori to make a roll with the rice on the outside.  If a drum roll could have been conjured it would have been quite appropriate as I stared down at my soon-to-be spicy tuna roll trying to work up the courage to flip it over.  Of, course my rolls were not restaurant caliber, but they were tasty!!  I cannot wait to get some sushi rice and start practicing on the boys at home.