Sushi with My Sister

For my birthday, my excellent sister got me a sushi-making kit. Serendipitously, she then arrived in town for a weekend visit. We hemmed and hawed for a while, trying to figure out where to have dinner. And then it dawned on us. We could make sushi. On our own! In Mom's kitchen! After an odyessy to find tuna and salmon that was safe for raw consumption (we eventually found some at a nearby Korean-run grocery frequented by a largely Hispanic clientele), we were ready to get started. Since we were (and are) pathetic amateurs, I won't bore you with the details. Instead, I offer you these pictures of our adventures:
































Please note that in the nigiri picture, the one in the middle is actually a wind-up toy. It's plastic sushi that whizzes around in circles when you put it in gear. It was was part of set that was a gift to the Human Vacuum, but I brought them along for inspiration/to serve as our mascots. Mom, who is not a big fan of raw fish products, had noodles and chicken teriaki and kibitzed with us. The Sister bravely attempted an inside-out. (She also deserves photo credits for this entry, particularly the arty shot at top.) Our maki and nigiri weren't as pretty as they might have been, but we nonetheless happily ate them until we feared that the rice exanding in our stomachs would make us explode like seagulls.