Big Update: Mostly about food!

I know I havent updated in a while...but I have been so busy with life and my OTHER blog that I havent had time. Sorry.

First off, here is some food from my favorite restaurant back in East Lansing, Michigan. It is called Sushi Ya. I eat there every time I return to the area (I have family there). The first image is of my husbands' dinner... just some normal sushi rolls, but they make them HUGE there. I dont mind. One of our unlikely favorites on that plate is the one in the foil. If I remember correctly it is called the Yellow Stone. It has bacon in it, and even while it isn't very traditional, it is really good. The others I think are just a Spider roll and a California role probably.

The second picture is of my absolute favorite dish. I cant remember what it is called (EDIT: according to my husbands' notes this is verbatim from the menu = Nigasa Udon: Japanese noodles seafood, and vegetables tossed in special mayo dressing), but it is under the soups and salads I think. Something with 'udon' in it. Anyway, it has sashimi on top along with veggies and roe. They used to put some mushrooms on top too, but this time I didnt see any. Under that is a layer of lettuce. Hidden from view is what makes this special, which is a mound of chilled udon noodles tossed in some kind of heavenly mayonnaise mixture. This is a huge dish, and I try to always finish the whole thing, but I rarely succeed. It is just so good, I cannot articulate it well enough. I have yet to find this dish at any other sushi place...and I look! If anyone has any ideas on how I could make this at home... please let me know! I have tried to make it, but I have yet to find the magic combination.

Back to my current state: Ohio. There is a wonderful amusement park/grocery store/everything by us.  It is called Jungle Jims. If you ever get a chance to go to this world wonder, please take the time and do it! This place is huge and full of every kind of food from all around the world you can think of.... and many you didnt. There is a normal grocery store, a organic/healthy store, huge alcohol store, smoke store and then an international food store all rolled into one building. To give you an idea of how large the international food section is, it is broken up into COUNTRY! Like... you want some New Zealand quinine? Find the New Zealand isle. North Korean? Find the isle. They also have a huge meat section, huge cheese section, and they have a fish section with tanks of fish were you can go... pick out the fish you want to eat and they will kill it for you. Now that is fresh! We went not to long ago to find some fun stuff to try. We decided on duck for Thanksgiving, but we as we passed these heads for sale, I picked up some beef heart. Want proof? I got pictures! We are going to goback to get some rattlesnake for New Years diner.

The heart was so much fun to prepare and cook! I loved cleaning it (remove the heart sack, it is tough) because it was like a dissection! I loved seeing all the connective tissues and valves (or what was left of them). I think we only got a quarter of a heart, but it was still a good size. We made it into a stew of sorts, with onions, mushrooms and thick gravy which we then poured over mashed potatoes. OMG it was so good, I cant wait to use heart in something else! I wish I could have taken a pic of the final presentation, but the camera batteries died!