Sushi! This is the way I roll!

As my birthday treat to myself, I decided to sign up for a sushi making 101 class through the UofU Continuing Education. It was held at Orson Gygi on April 6th and it was so much fun. I learned that my mom taught me to cook rice like the sushi chef - wash and rinse the rice a few times until the water is clear and then add water by placing your hand on the flattened rice and fill up to where your wrist bends. Works great for sticky rice! I learned how to make a california roll and a spicy tuna roll. Here's some pictures of a salmon nigri and a couple of rolls I made on my own - one with crab and avocado with salmon on top and a tuna roll. I am definitely not a very good roller! But the best part of being able to eat/take home everything you made! I discovered that I really like fresh tuna! I also learned how to make various dipping sauces but I'm definitely NOT a master sushi roller! So I can't perpetuate the stereotype that all Japanese know how to make sushi! I better stick to my favorite gyoza!

Yurting is fun!

This past weekend I went on my first yurting trip. It was fantastic fun but I realized that I'm not really in good shape. I guess you have to exercise regularly to really claim to be in good shape. I snowshoed in with a few other sisters from my ward with the late departure group. So we trekked in to the yurt in the dark. The stars were incredible and even though it was kind of cold and we had to rely on our headlamps, it was so much fun. My RS President goes on several of these trips every winter but this was my first experience and I thought it was great fun. We stayed at the East Fork yurt near Evanston, Wyoming. The next day I snowshoed up to Lily Lake - some cross-country skied. Despite my blisters on my heels, my sore legs and arms, I would definitely go again. We had a really fun group - 10 women in total. We had assigned meals and carried in our own gear. At night we fluctuated between very hot sauna-like experience for those on the top bunks and freezing cold after someone didn't close the door all the way when they came back from using the outhouse. Luckily it was just one night as far as sleeping goes - but it was the first time in a very long time that I actually remembered my dreams! I only wish I had remembered to take my camera with me. Luckily I can probably get some from my friends.

First Attempt

Okay, so I'm new to this blogging stuff and have succumbed to the pressure of family and friends. Perhaps I'll make it part of my new year's resolutions! My brother recently sent a fun link to a make believe Disney announcement and I wanted to send it to my staff since one of them is going to Disneyland over Christmas but I couldn't get it to send. So I'm going to try to link it to my blog and see if they can access it from here! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas! It's been snowing the big flakes that I LOVE in Salt Lake City! I've been dreaming of a white Christmas!