Sushi and Miso Soup

For Nathanael's 30th Surprise Birthday Party I made Sushi and Miso Soup!  In the morning my friend Kelsey and I prepared all of the ingredients in the black bowls you see in the pictures.  CLICK ON FIRST PICTURE FOR RECIPES I USED.  With the help of some of the other ladies at the party (Natalie, Courtney, Kelsey,...) we made two types of rolls: California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll.  The California Roll was an inside-out roll and the Spicy Tuna Roll was the regular type with the seaweed on the outside.  We also made Miso Soup to go along with the party theme and had fortune cookies and split peas.  Natalie made some teriyaki chicken and rice for the non-sushi lovers and Nathanael's mom made a fumi salad.

I think they were tasty and turned out really good.  It was a lot of work and it really is an art.  Watching a lot of YouTube videos helped and also the girls helping was awesome.  I definitely couldn't have done it without them.  I think the main trouble though is just getting the seaweed to close and not packing them too full.  Doing the inside out roll you didn't have to worry about that, but next time for that roll I would use the full sheet and not cut it in half--it was too short that we ended up rolling them the opposite way!  Also, the Miso Soup was good.  I think it really tasted like it, but I also learned to make sure to get the "soft" tofu next time and what exactly Dashi soup stock is...I think I could have just bought a little package from the market and I instead bought this huge box from a specialty store!  Disaster... 

Did You Know?  You can mix a dash of Dashi soup stock in with infant cereal to help baby diarrhea? Pretty neat fact I learned along the way...