First Ride of the Season

This past weekend brought us more mild weather to enjoy.  Drew and I took our first leisurely bike ride of the new season down by the river.  It gave us a great view of the snow covered mountains off in the distance and the hope of warmer weather to come.  I actually saw that it should get into the high 60's this week.  Joy!

Drew's boss invited us to join his family in chowing down on some agemochi that they were planning to make that afternoon.  Agemochi is a Japanese snack food made by deep frying mochi (the sticky, pounded rice ball that I've mentioned before).  After frying, soy sauce is drizzled over top of the rice puffs.

Drew's boss had described them as being like cheese puffs, minus the cheese, but the texture of them reminded me more of bubble gum.  Like the Bubblicious gum that, as you chew, seems to grow inside your mouth.  That's exactly what this stuff did.  It got bigger and bigger, and was sort of a sticky, doughy, chewy thing that never seemed to go away.  I'll admit, it was hard work eating the stuff, but it was pretty good once you got used to it.  In my New Year's post, I believe I mentioned that eating mochi usually causes a few choking deaths each year among the elderly.  Now I totally understand.