If you follow me on instag.ram or twitter or were at Wasabi restaurant on Wednesday night before Blissdom — you know that I had my first somewhat skeptical and reluctant experience with sushi.

you will also know that I rented a 50 mm 1.2 lens and that this is one of the first pictures taken with said lens (soc)

I arrived at the ridiculously accommodating and wonderful Gaylord Opryland hotel at 5:00 on Wednesday – I was starving.

While standing on a bridge tweeting about being hungry and wanting dinner companions,  I met the adorable Melissa, due to our mutual love and ownership of a certain beautiful Epiphanie! Bag.  Right after agreeing to eat dinner together, I ran into the simply incomparable, Cecily who introduced me to Amber and from there – let’s just say – the party got started — and then some.

Cecily and Jennifer RAVED about their sushi – the meal that I had ordered was definitely beautiful

Just not rave-worthy, except for the spinach and quince, that was insanely tonguegasmic. 

( this is not a complaint – it’s just life and what happened)

The darling Jenner (our server) was definitely on top of things and noticed that my food was not being eaten (except the spinach.  Y’all that spinach was crazy good) He immediately took action by offering me another meal, anything I wanted, on the house.   I hemmed and hawed and proclaimed that I was fine and didn’t need anything.. Neither Jenner or the table was letting me do that.  I was finally convinced by the other ladies at the table (there were roughly 10 of us) to give sushi a try.   I was skeptical, but I knew that if I didn’t like it, Cecily and Jennifer would be more than happy to step in and take over 🙂

The crazy ari roll arrived and at Cecily’s instruction – I swished some wasabi (YUM) into my soy sauce, snapped apart my chopsticks and somewhat apprehensively grabbed a bite, dipped, swirled, dunked and took a mouthful.

Y’all.

Y’all.

Y’ALL!

Flavor explosion!

Slow burn.

YUMMMMMMMM

Why did nobody tell me about this????

There’s a rumor that I had that Crazy Ari roll at Wasabi a couple of days in a row — but we don’t believe in rumors, do we? *wink*

 What else are y’all hiding from me?

I’m dying for y’all to tell me your sushi secrets!  Do you make it at home?  Do you have a favorite sushi place?  What’s your favorite dish and why???

Be my sushi- yoda(s)!

I met so many amazing people this weekend and was beyond inspired by the photography workshops that I attended and by each and every person with whom I spent time.  My heart is overflowing, my brain is partially melted and my body is beyond exhausted — I can’t wait to do it all again next year!!!!

For now – let’s go with y’all sharing your recipes with me!  It’s Monday and y’all know what that means!

It’s time to link up, link back, comment, visit and share the Mouthwatering Monday Tonguegasmic love!

A few of last week’s favorites

 

 



I'm a deep-fried Southern belle, married to a cowboy boot wearin', Harley ridin’ Texan Prince Charming. I am the always proud and frequently exhausted mom to two 8th generation Texans My childhood was spent at my Granny's side learning to cook with cast iron, butter and that special southern ingredient -- love Today, I share my passion for food, family and photography with thousands of monthly readers on my blog, A Southern Fairytale. I love cute boots, my Canon camera, belly laughs with friends, the beach, my family and ellipses..."

50 Comments

  3. It took me a while to try sushi too, but OMG… I can’t believe I waited so long to jump on that bandwagon. My menfolk don’t like seafood, but when my daughter is visiting from college we always make a roll run to our favorite place – Sushi Motos in Destin. Amaaaazing. I like spicy tuna rolls, or crab. I may have to stop there for lunch today, that sushi roll is making me hungry.

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  5. I love sushi, and I have made it at home. But, I am looking for a better recipe…especially since my sweet, oldest boy has requested it for his birthday dinner. 🙂 Let me know if you receive any good recipes.

    Have a super week, Rachel!

    Reply

  11. Good for you! I LOVE SUSHI! I just made some sushi “cupcakes” for one of my sushi buddies. I think I could eat sushi every night if I had a sushi chef in my home. I would never eat sweets, salty snack food or fast food 🙂 lol Thanks for hosting. I linked up!

    Reply

  14. I looked at the sushi there, but I was SO hungry, I was worried about what would happen if I didn’t like it. I get way too crabby when I don’t eat!

    Instead, I got some sides, one of which was the creamy goat cheese polenta- and I could have eaten that every single night. It was amazing!

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  16. Rachel. YAY!! My friends and I say that sushi is the absolute, most perfect mood-lifter, and it is. Sushi makes us happy. When it’s done well, it’s freaking awesome. Some of my fave rolls: anything with eel, spicy tuna, bridal veil, Hawaiian sunset, dragon roll. Y.U.M.

    Hope to see you soon, my friend–and happy to ‘do’ sushi with you any time. . . xo

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  18. Girl. Welcome to the magnificent world of sushi. Let your mouth experience all that it has to offer. Start small, with stuff like a Philadelphia Roll, which is smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber. Then you can hit up a spicy tuna roll. Delicious. Then, when you’re ready to dive into the good stuff, try a rainbow roll. It’s all cooked stuff in the middle (like a california roll) and then has layers of tuna, salmon, and other delicious fishies and avocado on top.

    Once you really start getting crazy, there are a bajillion different combinations. But take it slow. Don’t scare yourself. And next time we’re together, we’re totally getting sushi and I’ll help you figure out what is delicious. 🙂 SO PROUD OF YOU AND HOLY GAWD I MISS YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE!

    Reply

  19. You’re braver than I am! That restaurant taunted me all weekend, and if my roomie had her way, I would have wound up trying it but I am a big chicken!

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      1. Yeah, guess I’ll just have to make another trip to Opryland! Next year, Wasabi before I hit my room. Lord knows I could use the energy for the hike!

        Reply

  21. Girl, I got the Crazy Ari, too! I am about 1 year in to eating sushi. That was a brave first choice!!!

    I love shrimp tempura rolls, spicy tuna, and really if you go to a good sushi place, they have menus with PICTURES 🙂 and you can really discover new things there. Often I’ll get 1 or 2 rolls unless I’m with a group and maybe we’ll get more to share.

    Steph

    Reply

  24. I can’t believe you’d never eaten sushi before. It is my absolute favorite food – and my wee ones, too, which is saying a lot. They take it over McDonalds! I haven’t had the Crazy Ari roll, but now I wish I had. I ate at the sushi place last year at Blissdom but never made it this year. Now I feel the need for sushi tonight 😉 Glad you liked it – and YES, I make it at home. Not hard, and I’ve found always telling the guy at the fish market I’m making sushi means I get really fresh fish every time.

    Reply

  25. Oh, I’ve never tried sushi…I’m just not a fan of seafood of any type (well, other than canned tuna). Oh well. Today I’m sharing garlic parmesan pasta which is quick and easy and healthy and frugal. I made it last week before starting the 17 day diet you’ve mentioned — it was delicious! Looking forward to phase 4…

    Blessings to you, Rachel!

    ~Lisa

    Reply

  26. Glad to hear you got to try some sushi at last!! The best way to learn about sushi is to eat wiht people that regularly eat sushi. That way you can try items that build in adventure; also, if you don’t like something then they can eat it! What is really funny though is most of the sushi we have in the US is not what you find in Japan and vice versa although there are a few that cross over. If you haven’t tried it yet, order an unagi roll. It has a smoky, sweet bbq-esque flavor over a rich piece of meat. Most people wont try unagi because of the animal, but it is delicious!! Come see me and I’ll take you out for one or ten! 🙂

    Reply

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