Spring Rolls! Done Right!!

The Hawthornes are having a spring roll partay. The Hawthornes are having a soiree and Xmaskatie and Glowria are the esteemed guests.

One of my favorite times at our cooking classes

at the North Carolina Aquarium was last March when we made spring rolls, and Xmaskatie and I watched in awe as Glowria made a freakin' awesome spring roll and actually attempted to eat it. See here for the actual post. Here are the highlights from that post link:

This was the spring roll Glowria made.

And this is a homeless woman we found on the side of the road and felt sorry for. We benevolently brought her in and she's attempting to eat Glowria's spring roll. Xmaskatie and I were laughing so hard our guts hurt. So, just imagine Glow's absolute glee when she and Xmaskatie came to dinner last night and Glow learned this would be a "hands-on" dinner, meaning we would all be making our own spring rolls from my spread. I still had all my dips from last week when I mistakenly made my no-rice spring rolls, so you can check out here for the dip recipes. All three are quite good. Now, here's my spread waiting for my guests:

I actually remembered the rice!

On the cutting board,

I have cilantro, green pepper, mint, radishes, carrots, cucumbers, and scallions.

Mesclun lettuce mix from the garden and alfalfa sprouts.

Don't forget the shrimp.

Here are Xmaskatie and Glowria ready to roll.

Mr. Hawthorne started on the first roll. If you want a picture of the rice paper softening in the water on the plate, just let me know and I can email it to you. If I have enough requests, I'll post the picture.

The fun thing about spring rolls is that each one is different. You add whatever you want. There is no right or wrong. You just start building.

Spring rolls are fun.

Nice job, Mr. Hawthorne.

Xmaskatie was up next. You have to hold that pinkie juuuuust right.

Lovely tight roll, Xmaskatie. Next up is the intrepid Glowria ...

... who never misses an opportunity to show off her guns. Impressive, Glow!

Glowria has lovely, delicate hands.

Go, Glow!

Work it, Girlfriend!

Rolling is the tricky part.

Glowria seems to be doing just fine.

Ta daaaaa! I must say, Glowria, your already awesome rolling skilz have improved enormously, if that's at all possible.

Mr. Hawthorne's roll is on the right. Xmaskatie's in the middle. Glowria's on the left. Think about it. This is a fun partay. Rosie's having everyone do her work for her. Next up, Rosie.

The pressure is on.

That's Rosie's roll on the far right. Rosie likes big ones, just like Danielle. I love that clip. "Literally vertical" will never not be funny.

Sweet Dixie wakes up from her nap.

She starts to squirm.

And stretch.

A little more wiggling.

A yawn. Sweet puppy Dixie. Major faux pas here. Anybody catch it? Rosie made a grammatical error. She said, "She's just very happy because none of the other dogs are in the house" instead of "None of the other dogs is ... ." Mea culpa. Can you ever trust me again? With one successful roll under her belt ...

... there's no stopping Glowria.

Why, Glow, you've been practicing the Giada Reach. Glowria is never happier than she is when she's on the world wide web.

We used up all the ingredients. And had a pretty good time doing it.

Here's my plate with my Nuom Noc on the top left, my cucumber/peanut sauce on the top right, my soy/toasted sesame on the bottom. For the sauce recipes, go here. It's worth the trip.

Light. Flavorful. Loved the textures. Loved the complementary sauces. These were wonderful.

Now, you know Rosie had more than spring rolls for dinner. Please stay tuned for the rest of our meal. Cause it's some really good stuff. I'll tell you what's forthcoming: A cucumber, squash, zucchini, and barley salad. A black bean concoction which served as the base for my sauteed scallops with a Wasabi cream sauce.