Sushi Made Me Cool

So, I didn't focus on sushi as consistently in May as I had hoped. However, my goal kind of morphed into all cooking. And then sewing kind of started entering in, too. I started working on one hobby, and several others just kind of started emerging from me! Which was cool.

But I wanted to report specifically on my sushi efforts. In the middle of the month I fed the missionaries in my branch. There are six: four elders and two sisters. Two of the elders were not really into sushi, but the other four missionaries enjoyed the experience. As for me, I was just happy I had pulled off a meal for seven. Me. Cooking for guests. Six of them. Big deal.

Then, yesterday, I had the sister missionaries back again, and my friend Taitum. She brought cream cheese, and I had recently bought a fresh avocado. And this time I seasoned the rice (using instructions from this site: http://makemysushi.com/Recipes/how-to-make-sushi-rice). The experience was absolutely amazing. Every bite was heaven. And it was homemade, so I could make as much as I wanted! And to make this heavenly experience even better, the three people there with me kept saying "You're so cool!" and "Ali, you're amazing!" I didn't even know how to deal with it! I'm not used to quite that much or that kind of positive reinforcement. I have felt valued in personal relationships, but it has been a while since I felt valued in a group. Anyway, having this amazing experience in my mouth and then also being surrounded by compliments... It was kinda surreal... =)

So, even though I didn't cook sushi all that frequently in the month of May, I'm still considering it a total success.

June will probably have two hobbies: swimming (my lessons start on the 6th!), and hip hop dancing (my friend Emma wants to learn with me).

Sushi - Week 1

I said I would return and report! So here I go.

I actually made sushi yesterday! I watched a few videos, then went to the store. They didn't have sushi rice, but they had jasmine rice so I got that. I also purchased siracha mayo, imitation crab (the "string cheese crab" that Sister Cho introduced me to long ago), sesame seeds, avocados, and seaweed.

Then I cooked the rice...

Put it on the seaweed...

Put the crab, spicy mayo, sesame seeds, and chia seeds (for fun), into the middle of it.

Used the aluminum foil to roll it up...

Cut it up...

And placed it on a plate with some wasabi-ish stuff and some ginger.

It was fantastic. I enjoyed every bite. =) So now comes the fun parts, in the coming weeks, where I make several variations and get really good at it. And invite people over to share it with me.

To me, the most significant part about all this is that I CAN COOK!!! I am capable of this thing. For some reason, it is a lot easier to do, now that I am alone. 

Speaking of that, living alone is kinda weird. I simultaneously love and hate it. So I just try to focus on the reasons I love it... And find plenty of reasons to socialize, since the thing I don't like about it is the gosh-darn loneliness.  Luckily I've got a great branch at church, and opportunities for meeting people outside of church also. Life may be uncomfortable at the moment, but that's because it's a beginning of a new phase. Those are usually uncomfortable, but totally worth it. =)