Sushi & Valentine's Day

I'm so behind on blogging it's ridiculous. But my excuse is a good one...I've been busy working on my little side business and planning a huge fundraiser at work. Both were very successful and a huge hit so I can't really complain. J Before I blog about any of that though, I wanted to share the wonderful Valentine's Day I had with Ron.

Knowing that the weekend was going to be fairly hectic with having to bake 250 cupcakes for a wedding (look for those details in my next post J) Ron and I decided to have a laid back day and make dinner at home. My lovely fiance surprised me with my favorite flowers, tulips, and a beautiful card with a hand written message. He's so good at that sappy stuff. I think it comes from having 3 sisters.

Deciding on what to make for dinner was an easy choice. We’ve become quite the experts at homemade sushi and thought this would be a fun and delicious meal for the “hallmark holiday”. We decided to spend a little more money and picked up smoked salmon and an Ahi tuna steak along with all the usual fixings...avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, cream cheese, green onion and cucumber. Luckily since we have made sushi in the past, we already had nori sheets (seaweed), sushi rice and wasabi on hand.

                     **For those of you wanting to try the art of sushi making and have never done it 
                        before, you want to make sure you have all the necessary equipment.

                                     - Sushi rolling mat                            - Sushi Rice

                                     - Rice Paddle                                     - Wasabi Powder

                                     - Nori Sheets                                     

Ron decided to get creative with our recipes and make additional sauces for our sushi rolls - similar to what you would get in a restaurant. He came up with the following menu:

                    ~ Salmon Roll with cilantro, cucumber and jalapeno with a spicy mayo sauce
                    ~ Ahi Tuna Roll with green onion, cucumber and cream cheeses with a sriracha sauce
                    ~ Salmon Roll with cream cheese, jalapeno and avocado with a spicy mayo sauce
                    ~ Ahi Tuna Roll with avocado, green onion and cilantro with an avocado sriracha sauce

While Ron prepped, chopped and mixed the ingredients, I was in charge of rolling everything. Now, let me tell you....rolling sushi can be quite the art. It has taken many tries for us to know the exact amount of ingredients that will fit in a roll without spilling out. You have to work quickly with the rice so it remains sticky and holds the roll together.

                   **If you are looking for a fun, creative and tasty dinner to make with your significant other or 
                       friends, sushi is definitely the way to go! It takes a little extra time than most dinners but the 
                      conversation is great and rolling the sushi is always a comical experience. 
   
After about an hour of prep work and rolling, the sushi was complete. We added dollops of all the sauces to the rolls, poured the champagne Ron brought and sat down to enjoy a wonderful evening and our second Valentine's together. J 

Ready to roll the sushi.

Our finished rolls.

Nom nom nom!