Recently my family and I got together for a sushi party! Read about the creative sushi rolls we teamed up (1) to make AND learn phrasal verbs with “up.”
I wish I could take credit for planning this party but my youngest sister and uncle were the ones who dreamed up (2) this fun and yummy Japanese cuisine adventure!
Unfortunately, my mom, sister and I showed up (3) at my aunt and uncle’s house a little late because we were held up (4) on the freeway due to rush hour traffic. We really wanted to be on time because we were so excited for a fun evening together! Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who were eager for this event. When we got to the house my aunt and uncle had both dressed up (5) in formal attire and special sushi aprons that said, “Let the good times roll!” and “Rollin’ with my homies.” Punny! Needless to say, we were all super pumped up (6) to make, and most importantly eat, spectacular Japanese food.
Since my uncle is a retired chef, he has a ton of experience in the kitchen so he was fully prepared and had everything set up (7) to start the sushi making process. He already had bought the special sticky rice (Uruchimai), nori (dried edible seaweed), cucumber, avocado, red and yellow peppers, tuna, shrimp, tamari sauce, wasabi paste, pickled ginger, and the ingredients to make spicy mayo. We had to look up (8) some recipes in his sushi cookbook in order to figure out how to get started with the first and most important step: making the sticky rice.
As we were chopping up vegetables, making spicy mayo and getting the seafood ready for assembling the sushi rolls my uncle got distracted and accidently lost count of how many cups of water he mixed in with the rice in the pot on the stove. Uh-oh! He was so frustrated with himself for losing track that he was almost about to give up (9) and just throw out the rice and water. Although, after we all talked about it for a bit we decided to just “go with the flow” and see how the rice turned out with the amount of water he already had in the pot. Besides, we really didn’t want to waste any food.
Luckily, in the end, the rice turned out perfect and so did all of the sushi rolls! At first, we followed the steps in the sushi making book when we were putting together our rolls but by the end, we were making up (10) some really creative and unique rolls! We decided to spice up (11) the dinner by having delicious rhubarb mocktails using a simple syrup my aunt made from the rhubarb plant in her garden. They were divine! All in all, the sushi making party was a big hit so we decided to do another food making party. However, next time we’ll make Mexican carne asada and fish tacos. Yum!
Team up: actuar conjuntamente: to join two people or a group of people together to complete a project or goal together
Dream up: inventar o imaginar: to imagine or invent
Show up: llegar: arrive
Hold up: retrasar o detener: when there’s a delay
Dress up: ponerse ropa formal o un disfraz: dress in formal clothes or a costume
Pump up: sentir o ser extremamente emocionad@: to feel extremely excited or enthusiastic
Set up: instalar, preparar o organizar: arrange or organize
Look up: buscar o consultar: search for or try to find a piece of information by looking in a book or online
Give up: rendirse, renunciar o abandonar: abandon, surrender or stop trying
Make up: inventar: to invent a story, excuse or explanation in order to deceive someone
Spice up: estimular o dar mas sabor o vida: add excitement or interest
Your turn! What kind of fun activities do you like to “dream up”?! Write in the comments below or write me monicajones4276@gmail.com or @monicayourprofe and let me know!