Serene Sushi Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats. Zim here. Today, I'm putting a little Asian-inspired twist on Serene Scenery Sunday and will show you how Mom's sushi rolls came out. You may remember that Mochi's mom sent our mom some of the key ingredients and equipment needed for making sushi ... and that I had wonderful sushi-filled dreams yesterday! So today, I'm giving you a peek inside the kitchen here at Ao4 HQs and at our sushi. Without further ado... let's get to it!

Here's a collage of pix Dad took, as Mom got started:

Sushi-making, Phase 1

She did the rice, fanned it as she mixed in the vinegar (the fan's from when she lived in Korea; is that mixing too many cultures?), cutting up the veggies, and hauling in some freshly caught crab. Err... OK. So it's fake crab. In a bag. Cut us some slack; we live in Kansas. Sorry... better get my serene theme back...

Let's move on to the next stage - building and rolling the sushi!

Sushi-making, Phase 2

She had the seaweed sheet, the rice, some toasted sesame seeds, the veggies and crab ... mmmm! Here's how her first ever sushi rolls came out:

Mom's California Rolls

Not bad, Mom! Yes, the picture in my dream bubble yesterday was really Mom's sushi! Guess who got the first taste?

Dad!

He really enjoyed it, as you can see! And Dad knows sushi. ...or as our dear friend and punster Marvin said in a comment yesterday, "...if you knew Sushi like I know Sushi..." Ha roo roo roo! That's STILL bouncing around in Mom's head; way to go, Marvin! We love you, buddy! :)

Moving right along... while Dad was enjoying the sushi, the rest of us were working! Check out this next collage:

KP Duty

Click on this pic or any others to go to our FlickR page for a larger view

Yep. Working hard! Watching Mom assemble, roll and cut, doing some taste-testing, giving Mom the Sad Eyes and Harp Seal Look - it was tons of work! But well worth the rewards!

(An aside from our Mom - the Ao4 only get to taste vet-approved foods, and very little of that. Also, Ammy had a little taste and joined the "Not Really A Fan of Sushi Club", so there are no pix of her. Sorry.)

Where was I? Oh, yeah. So Mom made the California Rolls first - with crab, avocado and cukes. The next round was Vegetable Rolls, with avocado, cukes, and carrots. Let's take a look:

Vegetable Rolls

I think she showed improvement in her technique just from the first round! Oh! And see on the plate there? That's pickled ginger in front (to cleanse the palate - funny, we didn't get to try that) and wasabi! Oddly enough, no wasabi for us, either! Go figure! Dave likes jalapenos; I think he'd probably go for wasabi, too!

Photo collage dedicated to this segment from last season's The Amazing Race. Ha roo roo roo!

Mom and Dad had a great time - and had a wonderful, serene evening together, making and eating the sushi. And even though we Sibes worked incredibly hard doing our part, we also found great serenity in the process. Except maybe for Ammy. But Mom made it up to her with some cookies.

Have a Serene Sushi Sunday!

Play bows,

Zim