Retrospective

With my house staying perpetually clean with the ins and outs of the various people needed to determine the sale of a house, I’ve found a little more time on my hands somehow. Odd, I know.

So today, that extra time was spent making things. I used to never cook. Now, I sometimes cook. This week, with the exception of last night, I’ve been cooking at home frequently. Today, I had three cooking goals and I’m now within 15 minutes of achieving the last one.

My first goal was to make sushi. My eight-year-old son has been asking almost daily when we were going to make it and finally, today seemed like a good opportunity. For any reader now feeling squeamish, I want you to know this: not all sushi is made with raw fish. You can have perfectly delicious sushi made with cooked crab, cooked shrimp, smoked salmon or without any meat at all. I only started eating sushi about three years ago at the urging of my dear friend Christy Smith (who pens the “Half Baked” column here on Talk of the Town). One taste and I was hooked. My son seems to love it about as much as I do – minus the time we accidentally got a kind with fish eggs on it. Uck. He didn’t ask for sushi again for a couple of months after that episode. I’m now very, very careful when ordering it. If the menu says “roe” you don’t want it – unless you know you like that sort of thing.

So, today’s adventure in sushi making went pretty well. We used a kit we got at the local Kroger store and used crab and cream cheese. The end result was neither as attractive nor as consistently perfect looking as the sushi you’ll get at fine Japanese restaurants, but it tasted basically the same and we were delighted to have tried it.

The next goal was making something I saw on a television show awhile back – dulce de leche. This carmel-like deliciousness is a treat often enjoyed in South America and, based on the television show, looked easy to make. The first time I attempted to make it, I bought unsweetened condensed milk. NOT what you need – you need sweetened condensed milk. Guess what? Making it was even easier than it appeared on television and it is amazing. I’m now trying to figure out what I’m going to do with it. I think it would be delightful drizzled over brownies or on ice cream. I think I’m going to try it over warmed bananas like I saw on television.

My third goal for today was utilizing the salmon I got on sale at the grocery store this week. I’m kind of bad about buying things and not using them and I didn’t want these two perfectly lovely salmon filets going to waste. I used to drive all the way to Warsaw to go grocery shopping at the Marsh store there. Silly, I know. Gas was cheaper back then and I just really liked the store…well, I liked things I could get at the store and one of those favorites was their stuffed salmon filets. I determined I could probably make them myself at home and they’d taste the same. Again, not tricky to make – just salmon filets stuff with crumbled feta cheese and fresh or frozen spinach.

Well, we’re now within a short while of those being done and when they are, I will have been successful in making all three dishes I set out to make today. Thus far, my son has voiced approval for all three. My daughter, age 5, was less than pleased. She claims to not like sushi, said the dulce de leche was “ok” and said the salmon “looks gross” and the feta cheese smells “ugh!” Quite the critic, eh.