Sushi Anyone?

Recently, I tried sushi for the second time in my life and learned I loved it. Big surprise—my husband also loved it. Okay, so we've only eaten the cooked rolls, no big hunks of raw fish. But I'm still guessing it's sushi—I bought it at a sushi restaurant, so I'm thinking it is. But then again, you can sometimes buy hamburgers at Mexican restaurants.

Anyway, my husband, who hates beans, comes home from a business trip to tell me that he ate Edamame from a sushi restaurant. Go figure, they’re soybeans. He actually ate a pile of steamed and salted beans. I could not believe it. I jumped on the chance to ask him, "So, you're saying there's a chance that I could fix chili with actual beans?" I received a big-fat no. I mean, who eats chili without the beans? Well, other than my husband, the ex-bean hater.

Now that we are trying new things, we like to share our adventures with other people. I got the brainy idea to introduce my mom to sushi. All excited to share this experience with her, I ordered for us, sticking with some pretty safe menu items: Edamame, salads with their house dressing, a Philadelphia Roll, and a Shrimp Tempura Roll. (The shrimp is battered and fried, can't get much safer than that!) We ate the salad, drank some water, and sucked some soybeans out of their shell. So far, so good. But maybe, when she tasted her first bite of the Shrimp Tempura Roll and her shoulders shimmied, I would have had a clue. Or maybe, when she, fumbling with her chopsticks, tried her second bite and then inhaled a handful of soybeans down her throat, I would have had a clue. Instead, I was like, "Here, Mom, try the Philadelphia Roll." She did. Her face turned white, her shoulders shook, she stretched her neck to swallow. "Too fishy," she said and then chugged her glass of water.

So, I guess not everyone likes sushi. The good news is, while there may not be hope for my mom to become a sushi fan, there is hope for my ex-bean-hating husband to like beans in his chili. Well, I can dream, can't I?