Home-cooked Sushi!

No, this isn't what I meant. Although I did knit them myself...
Friday I finally got to cook my own sushi, and boy, is it harder than it looks! I kept forgetting basic stuff like wetting your hands before shaping the rice so it doesn't just stick to your hands, and my rolls didn't quite want to. But the highlight of the evening's fiasco--er, meal, even beyond the prep/cook time of about three hours (the time just flew!) and subsequent hour-or-so late dinner, and my dad's accidentally eating his half-inch ball of wasabi, thinking it was just a piece of sushi (poor guy, shoulda warmed him, huh?) was when my brother Zach completely gagged on the tobiko I bought from Akina Sushi-Teppan (they'll even sell you "kits" to make your own sushi at home, and they teach sushi-making classes!) and had to go-er, regurgitate his mouthful of fish eggs in the kitchen sink. (Although he did tell me the other stuff "wasn't too bad" afterward.) Nate, however, was a real trooper, and (I'm pretty sure) actually enjoyed the meal... for the most part. Me and Mom loved it, though, and that's what really mattered. ^_^
The real story, however, is in the series of total and complete miracles that God beautifully orchestrated to just about make my year. First off, one of the recipes called for tenderloin steak (the Inside-Out Rools with Beef Teriyaki for the boys), but (much to my noob stickler side's glee) said that really any kind of meat (even tofu) would work, and while we didn't have beef steaks we had swordfish steaks, so we used those instead. (This was the most minor, so bear with me...) Second, when our search for tobiko came up empty, Mom (or me, I don't remember) suggested I call some nearby sushi restaurants to see if they'd sell me any. I called Ooka first, knowing they served it (and wasabi tobiko too!) but there was no answer. Then I remembered that Akina, which is closer anyway, does serve it (most I've seen just serve salmon or maybe smelt roe), so I called them up, and lo and behold, they were willing to sell me some 8 tablespoons for 4 bucks! (You have no idea how thrilled I was! I've been looking forward to this forever!) This was around 1:30 or so, and they close for lunch at 2: perfect timing. When I get there, I almost didn't take my purse in (Mom said I wouldn't need it, just the four dollars she gave me), but on a whim (or the leading of the Holy Spirit) I took it with me. As it turned out, there'd been a miscommunication, and the little container probably had a bit closer to four tablespoons in it, and the price was actually $4.31-my pathetic bit of change was about come in handy, I thought, and when I looked in my wallet, I discovered much more change than I'd anticipated, and (remember I have NO INCOME WHATSOEVER) seven one-dollar bills. So I bought two more little cups. And then the guy tells me that they sell people whole kits for homemade sushi because of their classes, complete with rice, nori, and topping; all you have to do is put it together! Miracle after miracle, people! And so I told him; he seemed impressed.
And for a final touch, only God saved my rice from a certain doom (and the rice is the backbone of the sushi, as everything else we had, save the tobiko, had to be at least partially cooked); I forgot to watch it as it began to boil, and when I looked it was really going!
So not exactly perfect (not my Dad's cup of tea, as he put it), but all-in-all, absolutely wonderful. I finally got to use my pretty dishes, too! Next time, though, we fry the fish outside.