Monday, July 15, 2013

Seafood Experimenting

After getting bored of preparing and eating the same meals over and over.......and over....we decided to experiment with a little seafood (or imitation seafood, as these sushi rolls would have it). They were a cinch and now California Rolls are a regular on our menu.


Just slice - avocado, crab meat, cucumber, cream cheese. The sushi rice is cooled and then a solution of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt is mixed into it and the combination becomes very sticky which helps in keeping it together once rolled.


The rice spreads onto the Nori paper very reluctantly but you just make it stay. Then just assemble.


And roll. The plastic wrap under the Nori helps to keep the rice and filling from sticking to the cloth - or bamboo mat if you have one - while tightening it back against itself.


One down, four to go.


We found this Wasabi Powder to be the most flavorful and authentic. It reconstitutes to a nice paste and will knock your socks off!


Tada!


For Father's Day, we tried our hands at lobster tails. After they cooked we diced the meat, made traditional New England style lobster rolls, and were transported back to Connecticut for a few blissful moments.

Well, that was fun. So what's on the menu for tomorrow night? Hmm...looks like tacos.

Nathan's 3rd Birthday

We asked Nathan what he wanted for his birthday this year. He promptly replied, "A waygo man, gween fwip fwops, and a cweature powa suit." Oh! Is that all?? Check, check, and check. We threw him a Wild Kratt's birthday party complete with Creature Power Suits for the kids, and invited some friends over for a cookout and "Creature Adventures".






Even Stella's in on the fun. We were also lucky to have Jake and Carly visiting the weekend of his party - it was so fun to have them here.


One of the Creature Power Discs the kids got was a cheetah. In the video above, they're chasing each other around, trying to snatch another's cheetah tail from where is it clamped onto the back of their shirt. Way to go, Buster!


Another of the Creature Power Discs was a butterfly and the kids had to wrap up as a chrysalis and then bust out of it metamorphosing into a beautiful butterfly. Carly embraced it - I love the way this video ends!


Happy 3rd birthday, Nathan! Now stop growing.

Interestingly, shortly after his birthday, he asked when Christmas was coming and stated that he wanted a computer. A laptop, to be precise.