Sushi date!

I've been taking cooking classes a couple of times each month over the past year at a place called Hipcooks. I absolutely love how it's set up. They offer several different menus and you can sign up for whatever one looks interesting to you. It's very hands on, the teachers are wonderful, and the food is always really good! I've taken a Thai class, an Indian class, a soup class, a cocktail/appetizer class, and many more! I also TA for classes (help the teacher, wash lots of dishes, etc.) so that I can earn free classes. It's a great program!
Noel and I have discovered a great excitement for sushi over the past couple of years. Sushi is one of those things that I never thought I'd desire to make. It just seemed too hard and if I'm going to eat it, I'd rather go out for it. Boy was I wrong! I was offered a free spot in the sushi class this week and convinced Noel that it would be a really fun date for us. Plus, then he'd be able to see where I spend so many of my evenings! So, we purchased a spot for him and made sushi together this past week. We both had a great time and hope to have a sushi party sometime! After the initial investment into the tools (which are quite cheap), it's really inexpensive to make your own. How fun!

The teacher called this "Sushi lasagna". It was layers of nori, rice, nori, smoked salmon, nori, rice, etc. The nori was Korean style, which was a bit flakier and seasoned. After creating a few stacks, we cut them into little squares to eat. So easy and so fun! You could really stack anything in it!

Getting ready to make some sushi.

We rolled thin strips of English cucumber with spicy tuna and then garnished it with julienned carrots, roe, and radish sprouts.

Nice work, Noel!

Here are a couple of our creations. We were basically given tons of ingredients and told to put whatever we wanted into our rolls. I tried an inside out roll (left) , which was a bit tricky. My "fillings" kept popping out the end when I was rolling. I think I just chose things that were a bit too slippery (mango and eel). Noel made a regular roll (right) with tuna, avocado, and other yumminess.

What a fun night and a fun skill to learn together!