Chirashizushi and Sumeshi and Crabs

Gesundheit.  You know you wanted to say it, didn't you?

Last night was another rotten sleeping night- I let Mimi fuss from about 3:30 to 4:15, changed her diaper, and listened to her howls and whimpers of disapproval until about 5:00.  This is after I managed to fall asleep around 11:00, and fed her (I know, I know...we're working on it!) at 12:30.  Gah.  Whenever I go right to her, she's absolutely fine and I should have left her.  When I try and let her work it out...I discover she has a nasty diaper.  Bad Mommy!  sigh.

BUT, some great friends that we hadn't seen in a very, very long time popped over for a play date this morning.  One of the best parts of having adults over, besides finding out over and over that your child is NOT alone in their ability to test our parenting mettle, is fixing adult food!  Kids had ramen with yoshi sauce underneath the play fort, while the moms ate red leaf lettuce tossed with grated parmesan, quick skillet croutons with parmesan and greek seasoning (follow the link to my recipe site for instructions), and my vinaigrette from the other night.  Yes, I love having adults to share lunch with- do we ever take the time to make good food for ourselves?  Not really.

Luckily both girls took naps this afternoon, I had time to rest on the couch and finish up a fantastic book- if you like fantasy and "girls who DO things" then you'll love this book.  (Girls who do things are kind of the antithesis of...girls who wait for other people to do things.  Heh.)

We finished up the afternoon with a family trip to the library- Ernie (very easily) met the halfway mark for the summer reading program (500 minutes in a month?  Oh please, she reads at least 2 hours every day!) but was pleased as punch to show the librarian all her colored-in squares and collect her fancy new notebook, complete with an elastic loop on the front to hold the pen she'll get if she can read another 500 minutes before September!  Actually, the challenge is keeping track of that piece of paper until she can turn it in!  It's the traveling reading chart- today we found it in the art cabinet.  She's decided that this notebook will be her special notebook for when we start school in September- good thing she's still excited to home school!

A quick stop in the grocery store* for supplies and Mimi's special lactose-free milk (she's been without for 3 days now, and was beside herself whenever we tried to serve her water or even juice.)  and home for...sushi! Poor Ernie, we only had one sheet of nori left, so I wrapped up one special roll for her, and made chirashizushi for the rest of us.  If you've never tried making sushi at home, but love the taste, or simply don't want to take the time to roll up enough sushi for your family, this is the way to go!  It means scattered sushi- think casserole.  A nice layer of seasoned rice, and all kinds of yummy toppings sprinkled over the top and the whole thing served family-style.  We had sliced omelette (just a few eggs with a pinch of salt and sugar, scrambled and cooked like a pancake in my skillet), crumbled cold leftover salmon, chunks and rounds of cucumber, and a good drizzling of my spicy sushi sauce I normally use for tuna sushi rolls.  I figured out why my sushi has been so bland- where I normally use a pinch or two of salt in my vinegar-sugar solution for the rice, Mr. Lopez-Alt instructs 3 whole teaspoons.  (see "seasoned rice" link above for more instructions.)  Wowzer.  Salt, where have you been until now?!  Totally made the difference, and actually made the sushi much more filling and satisfying because of the seriously upped taste quotient.  And yes, I found myself gulping back milk- that probably contributed to the "filling" part!

*Oh yes.  Our trip to the grocery was memorable not only because Ernie had to be carried screaming to the car for misbehaving, which has NEVER EVER HAPPENED BEFORE, our car battery died while Daddy and Ernie were waiting for Mimi and I.  The first woman he asked "Would you mind giving us a jump?"  She baldly said "Yes, I would mind" and drove away.  So much for making friendly eye contact and smiles on the way out of the grocery store together!  Granted, I was the one smiling, so maybe she didn't know we were together...the second woman I asked (why are there only woman at the grocery store tonight) apologized, but she simply HAD to get to a barbecue.  Third, a man pulled up, took the 30 seconds to help jump start the car, made sure we didn't have to drive too far, and went in to get his groceries.  Seriously, all we needed was about 30 seconds of power- we were so grateful for the help!  When Ernie figured out the car wouldn't start, I thought she was going to cry.  "You mean it won't go?  Ever again?!"  Umm...no, sweetheart.  It needs a new battery, that's all.  So when I got home and found 2 gorgeous crabs from my dad waiting in the sink...and knew I needed to serve dinner 15 minutes ago to my quickly melting family....sushi casserole won.  I am SO looking forward to those crabs tomorrow!  Dad's a total sweetheart :)  I found some of Mimi's favorite cheese, a super sharp 2-year-aged cheddar from Tillamook, in the fridge too, and some tuna for Ernie.  Ernie LOVES tuna fish.  Plus, this afternoon during naps I heard a quiet knock, and the front door opening...and Mom was there with some dresses- she bought a dress for herself a few weeks ago, realized it did not suit her shape at all, and would look fabulous on me!  I liked it so much, and wear it so often, she picked up two more colors, plus leggings.  I have the nicest parents in the world :)  Good looking, too!