While I've Been Out: Sushi On A Picnic Table And Other Unexpected Adventures This Summer

Sashimi lunch on a picnic table at Lake Elkhorn

Just when I think I have everything under control, life -- and a toddler -- teach me that they're in charge.

Above is a luxurious lunch that I had planned to eat at Sushi King.  Lil' Chow and I did errands one summer day, and I patted myself on the back as we walked into the Columbia restauran.

Lil' Chow loves soups, especially Asian soups like miso, soybean paste, and miyok guk.  We would eat lunch.  I'd draft a blog post.  I was a brilliant father who would enjoy a relaxed meal and restart his food writing.

Note that the photo above is a picnic table at Lake Elkhorn.  I gave Lil' Chow a spoon just a few minutes early.  The miso soup was too hot.  He screamed, reasonably.  And then he was inconsolable, loudly.  Really loudly.  It was the first time that I retreated from a restaurant because was embarrassed to be bothering the other customers.

That sashimi lunch special was delicious.  In recent years, Mrs. HowChow and I have become infatuated with Sushi Sono -- it's amazing rolls, its exciting specials, its lakefront location.  But Sushi King was our first Columbia spot for fish, and they still slice delicious pieces into a special lunch with rice and soup.  Sushi is one of those restaurant meals that I seek out because I don't have those skills at home.  Even simple sashimi shines when someone like the Sushi King chefs do the right things with slicing and pairing fish with lemon and crunchy radish pieces.

The Sushi King folks were also really nice when I abruptly shifted my order to go.  I ended up at a shaded picnic table at Lake Elkhorn, perfectly happy as Lil' Chow nosed around the pavillion and I thought about how even a parenting disaster work fine on a beautiful summer day.  Give me a picnic table in July over any freezing day in February.

So things haven't worked out the way that I planned.  I had thought that I'd keep blogging even with last fall's toddler adoption.  I even thought once or twice this year that I had my feet under me enough to start posting again.  I was wrong then.  We'll see if I'm right now.  Look for more HowChow next week -- and hopefully going into the future. 

This is part of my "While I've Been Out" series to restart the blog.  Late last year, the blog got some serious competition.  I'm still working out how to keep writing while I'm doing so many other new things as well.  Look for more posts next week.  Thanks to everyone who has kept reading, emailing and commenting.