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Sometimes I come across “high end” recipes for grown ups that would be a lot of fun for kids. This sushi dish featured in the Denver Post is one of them. Now before you go, “My kids HATE fish!” this is vegetable sushi. It’s colorful, easy to make, healthy,and you get to dip it. (What kid doesn’t love dipping things?) If you have the patience, get the kids to help you chop veggies, mix the sauce, and assemble the sushi. My husband and kids enjoy making sushi together. Me? I enjoy eating it!

Vegetable Bouquets with Spicy Dipping Sauce
By Diane Carman, makes 25-30

Many regular supermarkets have all the Asian ingredients you’ll need from daikon radish to sushi nori (dried seaweed). If not, maybe there is an Asian grocery store near you. We love visiting our local Asian market and as a mom you’ll love their prices on meat, fish, spices, and produce.

Ingredients:

1. 1 carrot, scraped
2. 1/2   mango, not too ripe, peeled
3. 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
4. 1 small daikon radish, scraped (if you can’t find daikon radish, substitute jicama, which is mild tasting and very crunchy )
5. 1/2   red bell pepper
6. 1 package of Sushi nori (seaweed)

Dipping Sauce:

1. 1/4 cup soy sauce
2. 1 teaspoon sugar
3. 1/2 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar or worcestershire sauce
4. 1 teaspoon Chinese sesame oil
5. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Chinese chili oil, or to taste

Directions:

1. Cut carrot, mango, cucumber, radish and bell pepper into thin julienne pieces about 2 inches long. Blanch carrot pieces in boiling water for about 30 seconds, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking.
2. Bundle 2 pieces of each vegetable and one piece of mango and wrap in a 1-inch-wide by 4-inch-long piece of sushi nori, moistening the end with water to secure the bouquet.
3. Sauce: Stir ingredients together in small bowl. Adjust seasonings to taste.
4. Arrange on a platter and serve as an appetizer with dipping sauce.

Children’s Books About Sushi

Believe it or not there are few books for kids on sushi. Check these out:

• First Book of Sushi for ages four to eight
• Sushi for Kids: A Children’s Introduction to Japan’s Favorite Food for ages seven to 10
• Squeamish About Sushi: And Other Food Adventures in Japan for kids and adults

I’m attending a special mommy blogger event next week in Southern California put on by the kind folks at Sony. We’ll be trying out Sony Digital imaging products and services including trying out the Sony Cybershot DSCW170, Sony Alpha DSLRA350 Digital SLR Camera, and the Sony HDR-SR11 10MP 60GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. Fancy! We’ll also be meeting with photography expert Me Ra Koh, and from shooting pictures on the beaches of La Jolla.

I’m excited but nervous. It’s been years since I took a photography course. Let’s just say it was before digital cameras were invented and I spent more time in the darkroom printing pictures than I did taking them. My experience with digital cameras is limited. Like most folks, I just point, shoot, download, crop and post/email. So I’m glad that I have a copy of Photographing Your Family: And All the Kids and Friends and Animals Who Wander Through Too to read on the plane thanks to the folks at National Geographic.

What I liked about Photographing Your Family is that Joel Sartore, a National Geographic magazine photographer and father of three, reviews the basics like composition, key elements and light. Then he shares his secrets for photographing your family by going through his own family albums and explaining what he did to get the shot. You will also learn the best ways to print, display, and store your work, and tips on choosing equipment. I was especially interested in the chapter on the digital darkroom where he explains how to use software programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 to alter and improve your photographs.

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I realized this April Fools Day that my kids are especially bad at telling jokes. For one thing, Nathan’s timing is completely off. And Lucie doesn’t understand how to do a simple “knock- knock” joke to save her life. When she makes one up, they make no sense.

As a mother, this is disconcerting since the only reason I put up with my kids and their father is that they make me laugh. Aside from sending them to a comedy camp for the humor challenged, I thought a little humor therapy was in order. Maybe viewing Caddyshack would help, as would getting a few jokes books. Heck, Lucie could listen to Nathan reading the jokes out of the book and maybe they’d learn through osmosis.

Here are some of the joke books I found at the library:

• Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
• School Jokes
• Stinky Riddles
• The World’s Greatest Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids
• Knock, Knock

And here are a couple we already had at home:

• The Everything Kids’ Joke Book: Side-Splitting, Rib-Tickling Fun
• The Usborne Book Of Really Awful Jokes

The easiest jokes for young children are knock knock jokes and puns. Here’s a sample from Yummy Riddles:

What do you call a dinner that talks back to you?
Rude food

What did one pork chop say to the other?
Nice to meat you.

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Bacon.
Bacon who?
Bacon my mother a birthday cake!

This is not Chris Rock by any means, but it’s a start.

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The DVD of Enchanted was released this week. And thanks to the folks at Click Communications, I have a preview copy that I hope we can watch this weekend, since we were too busy last week.

You see, it was my daughter Lucie’s fifth birthday, which included a fancy Disney princess party. Unfortunately, her little majesty decided it was her party and she could cry if she wanted to. Yes, she spent most of the time pouting or up in her room crying and screaming. Luckily, the other kids had a good time and everyone enjoyed a gorgeous and delicious Disney princess birthday cake made by Cutting Edge Cake Design.

The Queen Mother (that’s me) wasn’t happy with the bratty princess who was FINE once she started opening presents. So after I cleaned up, I went to my royal chambers for several hours to work on my plans to have this blog “prettied up” by Girly Blog Designz. (I’m so excited! More details coming soon.) The Queen was still peeved at the princess the next day, but finally issued a royal pardon.

Since Lucie is too adorable to be mad at for very long, like most fairly tales this tale of the pouty princess had a happily-ever-after ending. And so does Enchanted, a romantic spoof of Disney fairy tale films.

Enchanted features an animated heroine (Amy Adams as Giselle) from a kingdom far, far away who finds herself transformed into a real live woman in bustling New York City. Susan Sarandon plays the evil sorceress Narissa (who may just outdo another Disney baddie, Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil). Narissa exiles Giselle from her fairytale kingdom and James Marsden is the handsome prince who travels to the Big Apple to rescue her. Of course, all the moms will swoon over Patrick Dempsey (from “Grey’s Anatomy”) as a contemporary knight in shining armor. Idina Menzel plays his girlfriend Nancy who suspects Giselle might just be a little too good to be true.

The film is rated PG and Amazon.com reviewer, Tami Horiuchi, recommends it for ages 6 and older with parental guidance due to some scary images and mild innuendo. Besides watching a fun movie with my family, I’m looking forward to spotting the 13 scenes in Enchanted that reference Classic Disney movie scenes.

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Recently I posted a product review of Horizon Organic’s new DHA Omega-3 milk. Docosahexaenoic Acid, or DHA, is a type of Omega-3 fatty acid that has been studied for its role in heart, brain and eye health. In kids, DHA helps support development of the brain, nervous system and the retina of the eye.

As part of Brain Awareness Week/Month I’m giving away 3 Horizon Organic coupons good for any ONE FREE Horizon’s product up to $4.99 (excluding gallon milk and 16 oz. butter) in value.

To Enter:

1. Leave your name, email address, and blog address (if you have one) in the comments below.
2. You must be willing to send me your full name and address so I can mail you the coupon. I will not share your personal info with the public. However, if you do have a blog, I will link back to it when I announce the winners.
3. You have until midnight MT on March 27, 2008 to enter.
4. This contest is limited to the continental U.S.
5. I’m also offering having this contest at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet. Feel free to enter there as well. One entry on each of my blogs is allowed.
6. The coupon cannot be used in CO, MA, MO or ND, so don’t enter if you live in those states.
7. I will announce the winners on March 28, 2008 and mail out the coupons via USPS by the following week.

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