Sushi Night

 The last few days of year 2010 were suprisingly warmer than it has been for a few months now.  A welcomed break from the snowy cold.  All kids were ordered outside, to play and burn off some of their energy from being cooped up in the house all week.  Colds and fevers swept through the house, holding hostage everyone but myself and Alaina.  The smell of Vick's vapor rub still lingers in the air...  Since little wheezy Ani was still oozing green snot she was willingly carried in her "pack pack", a Didymos wrap that is worth it's weight in gold when you have more than one child! 

 Gwen, lover of life and beauty and nature, found her most rare treasure of the season when she saw, beneath the withered grass and soggy dead leaves, a speck of color.  She dug fervently, uncovering a fresh new dandelion and ran like the wind to show me.  I wish the photo of her face  had turned out.  Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks were flushed from excitement... 

 We ended the night with make-your-own-sushi.  I cut up cucumbers, little strips of cheese, smoked salmon, avocado, cream cheese, spicy salmon, and some black and red lumpfish caviar, to be wrapped in sheets of seaweed.  Then I made my sticky rice in the rice cooker.  I like to add a little more than the usual amount of rice vinegar and a few sprinkles of cane sugar.  The hint of sweetness is appealing to the kids but not overpowering.  Everyone was able to put whatever they wanted inside and ate it up!  

 Ethan discovered he loves salmon, Alaina even enjoyed it and she is my most picky eater, and Ani was content to eat the sheet of seaweed and a baseball sized sticky rice ball.  I love that they enjoy such a wide variety of food!