Sushi night

^^ our masterpieces!! 

my new favorite way to have edamame... sesame oil + lemon

cuteness provided by Bodhi 

^^ my rolls!  not going to wine a beauty contest... but hey, they tasted delicious.

Zack's family is an all-around fantastic bunch: they're friendly and outgoing and so welcoming, I was quickly accepted as a part of their extended family.  But my favorite thing about them is their love of food and cooking... dinner parties are a weekly occurrence and I look forward to every single one.  Each sibling & both parents are foodies and acclaimed chefs in their own right; Bob is the master of the BBQ, Gail fastidiously tends to her garden for the freshest veggies, Rob brings the best of his personal experiments to dinner (his buffalo chili recipe is apparently to die for), Michelle somehow makes the healthiest food taste ridiculously delicious (she makes the type of stuff served at vegan restaurants, but it always tastes better than any veggie restaurant I've been to), Tyler whips up the most amazing & stiff drinks (and acts as expert sommelier), and Zack supplies top notch prepping skills and adds the perfect (read: way too much for a normal person) amount of garlic into every dish.  Am I the luckiest to get to call these folks a second family or what?!  My stomach is the happiest, that's for sure.

Their infamous dinner parties range from widely attended Thanksgiving, complete with turkeys raised on their property to simple yet equally delicious BBQ nights with plenty of tasty produce from Gail's garden.  But my favorite has to be sushi night: a few birthdays ago the siblings gifted Tyler a high quality sushi knife and family dinner has never looked the same again!  Sushi night involves picking up caught-that-day fish from the Santa Barbara Fish Market, making plenty of rice to go around, preparing some veggies for the rolls, and tempura-ing up a storm.  Then it's a free for all!  Ever wanted to design your own custom roll?  Yep, it's bomb.  While they don't look quite as pretty as what you'd find at a restaurant, they taste just as good.  This time my favorite was a tuna roll with asparagus, mango, avocado, cilantro, and a chipotle sauce, but I'm also a fan of making vegetarian rolls or just going simple with nigiri.  We have a blast putting together unique combos then sharing it all; Zack likes to spice it up with seriously random ingredients (he tried goat cheese once... not for me!).  Best part?  It only costs $5 a person... much better than $15 a roll!