Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Ladybug Bento

A week from today will be the one year anniversary of the passing of Carol Marie Geddes, a woman I never met, but feel like I know through the love and thoughts of her husband and friends. Carol died from cancer on September 15th, 2009 when she was only 40 years old. I met her husband Glen just a few weeks after Carol had passed away. My husband was high school buddies with Glen and had reconnected with Glen over facebook. Tragically, I missed meeting Carol by just weeks. Next week, Glen and his friends and family will gather to celebrate Carol's memory by releasing live ladybugs into the air. Ladybugs were one of Carol's favorite things, and Glen continues to be comforted each time he sees a ladybug, knowing that Carol's loving spirit is not something that will ever go away.

Today I made a ladybug bento in honor of Carol, and I am really looking forward to the ladybug ceremony next week.

In the upper compartment I have steamed edamame and corn from Duffy at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market, an orange cherry tomato and french radish slices from Ridgeview Farms, and slices of charentais melon (dressed with honey, lime zest, and lime juice) also from Ridgeview Farms. In the lower compartment a mix of chicken, zucchini, and red onion cooked with soy sauce and spices, and leftover cardamom scented rice with two cherry tomato ladybugs (decorated with nori), a nori heart, and some of the salad greens and flower from Offerings of the Land.

Hi Carol! I used mayonnaise and a toothpick to attach the nori to the cherry tomatoes (actually one cherry tomato from Triple T Ranch cut in half). It worked really well and was not too difficult.

This is a new bento box that I got at the Disney Store! They have a selection of about 5 different bento boxes with different Disney/Pixar characters. And they are very reasonably priced!

This Ariel box is two tiered with a removable plastic divider for the upper tier. It latches shut very securely with two latches on either side.

I also included this lunch in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Check it out for other great bento ideas.

18 comments:

  1. What a delightful and tasty tribute to a dear friend. She would be honored!

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  2. Thanks sheri! I think she would have liked it. From what Glen tells me, Carol was a crafty girl like us. :)

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  3. That is lovely, what a nice way to remember your friend today. :o)

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  4. Thanks Shannon, I showed the pics to Glen and he loved it. :)

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  5. Very touching story behind this glowing and delicate tribute bento, it is really lovely. Your ladybugs are so striking and so sweet, wonderfully done!

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  6. Thanks Jenn! Glen has started to share what happened to Carol in the hospital and it is heart wrenching. I hope that thinking about her and celebrating her life will help him heal.

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  7. so touching - so sorry for Glen's loss but love the idea of releasing the ladybugs -

    your lunches always look so good - I have got to try that chicken mixture soon!

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  8. The ladybugs look great. What a fantastic way to remember a special person!

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  9. how lovely. i think the ladybugs are so cute too. And thank you for showing me that there are little mermaid bento boxes out there. My daughter loves ariel!

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  10. Corey W, thanks so much! The ceremony should be wonderful.

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  11. Thanks Ohayobento, it was pretty easy to make the ladybugs, and I think they turned out cute.

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  12. Kelly, the Ariel boxes were pretty cheap too!

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  13. Those ladybugs are incredible! Do you have a punch to make those teensy-weensy little circles? How long did it take you to make those?

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  14. Hi dragonmamma! They were actually quite easy. I have a big circle punch that I used to make their heads - one circle cut in half for both heads. Then I used a reeeally small circle punch from Martha Stewart (got it a Michael's) to cut out lots of small circles. I dabbed a small amount of mayo where I wanted the dots with a toothpick, then used the other end of the toothpick to pick up the dots. I'd say it took about 5 minutes for both ladybugs.

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  15. Beautiful bento tribute! The lady bugs are perfect and the food looks absolutely delicious. :)

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  16. Thanks Susan! It was really tasty and a happy way to think about Carol.

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  17. That was so sweet of you Sonoma! I'm sure Carol will be happy to see your lady bug bento specially made in memory of her!
    Those lady bugs are so cute!!!

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  18. Thanks Angeleyes! Carol has a lot of people who are thinking of her and honoring her memory this week. :)

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