Christmas, Parks & California Sushi in a bowl

We get our Christmas out a little early. It drives some people crazy, but it makes us happy.

Seeing Christmas through a child's eyes is magical,  whimsical,  enchanting.

Every year, we choose a theme. This year, we chose nature. All our decor is of wild animals, birds nests and eggs, owls, acorns, swings, and trees.

Before Sunny was born, I prepared her nursary with the same theme. The twigs, birds, and branches are a decor I love.

She loves the tree lit up. Christmas is our favorite.

Here are a few pictures and updates from this past week.  We went to a park in town and Sunny was so adventerous, doing things I would never want to do. She also came out of her "stormy period' and is back to her old self.  Since our family pet Tigger died, she has been behaving like a cat and meowing a lot. That is for another post.

I was at storytime at the library a couple months ago, and there were these people from this place in town. I can't remember the name, but they do all sorts of music and crafts and fine motor things. They recommended that at 2 years old, a child should start stringing beads onto twine or whatever. It is supposed to be great for their fine motor skills. I picked her up these beads and some twine and she has been making necklaces and sorting beads by color. She loves it and it is good for her.

This was my birthday treat. 

After I devored my sushi, I thought of something I never had before. Why not have all those wicked good flavors (I spent a summer in Maine once) in a bowl, without having to worry about rolling it up and all the extra effort.

I looked up a recipe and found many. To get your sushi bowl to taste like a real authentic California Roll, you probably need to visit a store like Harmon' s if you have one in your town. They have everything and pickled ginger and Japanese sticky rice is essential for making sushi in any shape or form.

Ingredients:

1 c. of sticky rice, cooked, divided into equal portions.
8 oz of imitation crab meat
1 avocado,  chopped
1 English cucumber, match sticked
1 carrot, match sticked
Pickled ginger
1-2 toasted seaweed, broken up into pieces

Dressing
1 T. Soy sauce
3 T. Rice vinager
Wasabi powder to taste
Whisk until combined.

Add Sesame seeds

Pour dressing over rice in equal amounts.

Assemble everything in groups on top of rice.  Add French's fried onions on top if you prefer. Enjoy. Don't forget to see yesterdays post.

recipe adapted from pickledplum.com