Steak Bento and Ramen Road Trip

One of my resolutions for 2013 is to blog more and keep up with both my bento interests and my nail polish interests. Balance is the key, right? And in that vein, here is a bento post to kick off my resolution. :)

My sweetie and I headed into San Francisco this past Saturday to check out a ramen restaurant that was recommended by my friend Sheri of Happy Little Bento. Normally I head to Japantown in SF, but this was a part of the city new to me. We went to a shop called Saiwaii Ramen on Irving in the Outer Sunset part of the city. Besides having a tough time finding parking, we had a great time! I will detail the ramen in a moment, but first take a look at the bento I made on Sunday with the new bento box I got at the Ichi Ban Kan store on Irving! So cute!

In this bento: marinated flank steak, cheddar cheese cubes, raw cauliflower, broccoli  and a radish, and two Greek olives. Also a satsuma orange, and some blue cheese dressing for dipping the veggies.

The bento box is so cute, with green and pink colors and a lid that snaps in place. I put it in my backpack to take to my art studio yesterday, and everything stayed safely inside. 

Now for RAMEN! I sure do wish we had a good ramen place in Sonoma County. Somebody get on that. Here is my hubby outside of Saiwaii Ramen. It is a pretty small place and we were seated next to another couple sharing the same table as us. My hubby was not too thrilled to be sitting so close to strangers, but that is his odd quirk to deal with. LOL

OMG OMG OMG. I got the Spicy Garlic Tonkatsu Ramen with added egg and Pork Belly cubes. Let me say that last part again: PORK BELLY CUBES. Holy Decadence, Batman! The portion was very generous and I ordered the broth regular spicy. It was tasty and not too spicy, although the spice did build a bit. The big Sapporo beers we got with the ramen helped cool our palates. And I wasn't sure if I would really finish the whole thing, but it was so delicious that I was even poking around for any spare noodles at the end of the meal. Yum. I will definitely go back here. 

Hubby moved all the way to the corner of the table to try to avoid sitting next to our table mates. Silly man. He also got a donburi with unagi, which was a tasty little bite to add to the meal. 

Happy New Year my friends, and I will see more of you in 2013!

Butteryaki Salmon Bento

I have been meaning to make this kind of bento for some time now. I saw the simple recipe for butteryaki salmon on Sheri's site, Happy Little Bento. It is a very simple recipe, and I added a bit of grated fresh ginger when adding the shoyu at the end of the process. I ate this bento at home on a weekend, because my coworkers have real issues with fish at work. I would have eaten this cold, so I wouldn't have made the microwave all fishy with my meal, but still, I thought it best to avoid the wrath of my coworkers. They sure can raise a stink (pun intended)!

In this bento: steamed edamame, rice with furikake seasoning (my first time trying furikake and it is so good!), a few carrots, a radish, and a piece of butteryaki salmon with a nori star. This was a smaller bento, but everything was so tasty that I really enjoyed it.

Pulled Pork Bear Bento

My hubby made some really delicious pulled pork yesterday. He made it in the crock pot, so our whole place smelled divine all day long. Really gets your mouth watering! Today I am having leftover pulled pork sandwiches (designed as a little bear) with some of the leftover coleslaw I made.

I designed this little sandwich bear using a trick I have seen Sheri of Happy Little Bento use often. With a paring knife, I cut two little half circles from the bun, and then pushed them up to make his ears. The face details are cut freehand out of nori. Also in this lunch: a clementine from Schletewitz Family Fruit Stand, broccoli, a few black grapes, and two baby carrots.

Coleslaw Recipe

1/2 head of cabbage, sliced thinly

1 carrot, shredded

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tblsp sour cream

2 tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp mustard

1 tblsp sugar

1 tsp dried dill weed

salt and pepper to taste

Combine cabbage and carrot in a bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, then toss this dressing with the cabbage and carrot mixture. Makes enough for about 8 to 10 bento servings. Goes great with pulled pork!

Good Husband Bento

Ok, so all that whining I did about my husband breaking a bento box, I take it back. Oh, he still broke a box, but he just spent an exhausting 4 days dealing with snot-nosed, coughy, achy, whiny, lethargic, sick me. I got WIPED OUT by this latest bug. Seriously, I spent all day on Sunday just sleeping, coughing, and sucking on cough drops. I think I mentholated my brain.

So to make up for it, now that I am finally back to a somewhat-healthy state again, I made a Good Husband Bento. No silly stuff, it's not cute, and I even put it in a plain bento box. But it's filled with yummy stuff and will hopefully be a good lunch for him at work today.

In this no nonsense, Good Husband Bento: baby carrots, frozen edamame, Aidell's Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs, steamed broccoli from Triple T Ranch tossed with a soy sauce vinaigrette, a few walnut halves from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, half of a mandarin orange from De'Santis Farms, and a plain salted onigiri rice ball. The poor man even slept on the couch (mostly so he wouldn't get the plague, but also so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping him up all night with my hacking and sniffling)!

My bento is similar, although with better lighting. I have a 'side car' bento filled with the other part of the mandarin orange, a few blackberries, walnuts, and dried apricots. Also broccoli and baby carrots. You may have noticed my BRAND NEW Hello Kitty Thermal Jar. Heh heh! Got it while I was in Seattle at Uwajimaya. Today is her first trial run, and I am pretty impressed. I packed it with pretty hot jook at 8:30am (using a recipe from Sheri at Happy Little Bento), and it's still nicely warm at 1pm. I will try to eat earlier when I pack the thermal jar, just to be on the safe side.

Oh you wanted to see inside the jar? Here you go!

Lots of love to my hubs for being a good guy, who only accidentally ends up in the dog house for breaking something, but mostly deserves yummy bentos. I couldn't wish for a better Valentine.

I shared this on Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays. Check it out to see what other bento buddies are whipping up!

Big Ol 100th Bento Blog Post

Cue the marching band! Bring out the dancing girls! Today marks my 100th Bento Blog Post! I am so happy to share this milestone with you. I started on this fun bento journey in April this year after spying some amazing bentos created by Sheri of Happy Little Bento online. I wanted to try bento lunches for myself, and incorporate the wonderful produce and artisan foods of Sonoma County. So far, I have made some great friends, learned new recipes, found a great outlet for my creative nature, and donated to the Redwood Empire Food Bank to help the hungry in my community. For every bento blog post on Sonoma Bento, I donate $1 to my local food bank. I was inspired by Susan Yuen of Hawai'i's Bento Box after I saw how she donates to her local food bank. We are so lucky to be able to create nutritious and cute lunches with a variety of delicious and seasonal foods. It is important to me to remember that not everyone has this same luxury. I encourage you to find a way to give back as well. You can donate to Redwood Empire Food Bank online, or choose to help the hungry and less fortunate in your own community.

Woohoo! In this bento: purple rice (naturally colored-it's a mix of Purple Forbidden Rice blend and white sushi rice cooked together) with a provolone and cheddar cheese 'cake' and nori and cheese candle, plus cheese 'confetti'. In the upper compartment: steamed broccoli, a radish, glazed mochiko chicken pieces, and roasted acorn squash from Ma and Pa's Garden.

To celebrate my 100th bento blog post (and coincidentally I also made it to 20,000 hits on my blog today!) I am giving away some cool stuff. You can win this cutie bento box plus the Angry Onigiri Bento Box Strap (made by me)! (The box in this photo is my bento box, but you will win an identical, brand new one.) See more cute bento box straps in my online etsy shop here.

One of my favorite bento making tools is my microwave steamer. I use it all the time for broccoli, edamame, dim sum, and other items that need to be steamed quickly. You will win this brand new one!

You will also win this craft punch to make cute faces from nori, and a set of three veggie cutters.

Here are some darling animal shaped picks that you will win, to make your bento box lunch very kawaii!

And last but not least, your very own copy of my Sonoma Bento 2011 Calendar! It's filled with adorable bento box photos along with monthly tips for making cute and nutritious bento lunches. You can order your own copy at zazzle.com to send to friends!

So how do you win this amazing pile of goodies?!? Glad you asked. There are a few ways to enter, so please read the directions carefully. This contest is open to EVERYONE. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. GOOD LUCK and thanks so much for following my bento adventures.

1. This part is Mandatory. You MUST be a follower of my blog. To follow my blog, simply click the Follow with Google Friend Connect button on the right side of this page, or click the Follow link located at the upper left corner of the blog. Leave a comment telling me that you follow the blog and what your Google ID or Blogger ID is.

2. Mention this giveaway on your own blog or twitter account for a second chance to win. Just post a comment here with a link to where you mentioned my contest.

3. Follow Sonoma Bento on twitter. Leave a comment to let me know that you follow me on twitter.

4. Follow Sonoma Bento on facebook. Leave a comment to let me know that you follow me on facebook.

5. For a final chance to win, leave a comment here telling what winter foods you like to pack into your lunches.

Please leave separate comments for each of your entries. Entry deadline is Sunday, December 19th, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Winner will be selected randomly from entries. Good luck!

 

Crepes Bento

Today a bunch of twitter friends having a little Twitter Food Party. It's fun: we agree on a dish, and then everyone makes their own version of it. Today it's PANCAKES! You can be loose with your interpretation, like savory or sweet, and also different cultures come into play. I thought about Pfannekuchen (a German pancake with fruit - sooooo good), but I settled on crepes.

In this bento: crepes (filled with thinly sliced white mushrooms, provolone cheese, and roasted turkey breast), baby carrots, roasted brussel sprouts with walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market and Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese, flower shaped watermelon radish slices from Wild Rose Ranch, 'rabbit' apples from Lambert's Apples, and some steamed edamame.

I got this bento box at Borders Books this past week. I saw Sheri of Happy Little Bento post some pictures of their new bento boxes (made by Paperchase) and I just had to go out and get it. This is actually the largest of 4 boxes, each nesting inside of the next. Each one has a different little xmas image on top. So darling! And I got four bento boxes (yes, the small one is pretty small) for 10 bucks! Woot!

If you are on twitter, check out #twitterfoodparty for all of the fun pancake dishes today. And join us next time for foodie fun!

Food Ninja Vote

I am so excited that the voting for the Food Ninja contest has begun. Three fantastic food bloggers put out a call to all Food Ninjas (basically anyone who does anything rad in the kitchen or with food), and the voting has begun! I entered a Food Ninja video, showcasing my bento making skills. Here is the video, I hope you like it!

I had so much fun making this video and the resulting bento. My 10-year old stepdaughter did the photography/filming at the farmers market, and I made my hubby do the "unsolicited" testimonial at the end. The Japanese subtitles say silly things like "Don't Try This At Home" and "My Wife Is Crazy!" I filmed each of the video segments while speaking German, just to make sure my overdub wouldn't match my mouth. It took about 3 days to put this together. And serious thanks to Sheri of Happy Little Bento for her inspirational Ninja Egg. Sheri rocks!

You can head to lafujimama.com right now and vote for the best Food Ninjas in each category. I would really appreciate a vote for Sonoma Bento in the video category. And you can vote for other bentoists as well! Debra of hapabento entered in the blog category, and Sheri of Happy Little Bento entered her awesome Ninja Egg bento in the picture category. Voting ends on Saturday, October 30th so please head over now to vote.

And just for fun, here is a Froggie Bento I made for my stepdaughter this past summer. I got the inspiration to make it from the Yum Yum Bento Box book by the wonderfully talented Pikko and Luckysundae. It's similar to another Froggy bento I made at the same time, but just slightly different. Have a great weekend, GO GIANTS!

Food Ninja Bento

Today's bento is my entry into the Food Ninja contest. Three bloggers (La Fuji Mama, Salty Seattle, and bell'alimento) have put together a fun contest in which we get to show off our mad ninja skills. I chose to make a video with a trip to the Farmers Market (naturally), a stop off at Asia Mart, and then a big reveal of my Food Ninja Bento. It's quite silly with Japanese subtitles, ninja poses, and a (forced) cameo by my husband. I'll reveal the video soon. Heather of La Fuji Mama asked me to do a guest post about my Food Ninja Bento, and I was delighted to comply. Check it out here.

In this bento: a star onigiri, a quail egg ninja with radish weapons, slices of boiled lotus root, steamed yellow beans from Orchard Farms, edamame, cherry tomatoes from Middleton Farms, boiled purple potatoes from Orchard Farms, steamed broccoli, teriyaki chicken meatballs from Aidell's, and a few fried padron peppers from Crescent Moon Farms.

A special shout out to the AMAZING Sheri of Happy Little Bento for her ninja egg inspiration. I am sure many bentoists like me admire Sheri's crazy Food Ninja skills. You too can enter the Food Ninja contest! Entry deadline is October 24th at 10pm PST. There's awesome prizes, too!

Caprese Skewers Bento

Today's bento celebrates the fact that summer has FINALLY arrived in the bay area. We have had seriously chilly weather for most of August, so much so that one of my pals nicknamed it the month of Fogust. Ha! Today we are hitting the upper 90s and 100s. Woot! I will not complain, at least not for a few days, because I have sorely missed this hot hot heat.

Summer (and I mean the real summer, not wishy washy milquetoast summer) means no or little cooking and lots of fresh tomatoes. Caprese salad is my go-to dish when it gets this hot.

I took the caprese salad idea and applied it to bento by making these caprese skewers. In this bento: steamed corn on the cob from Duffy at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market, edamame, an Italian Sugarplum from Triple T, two baby carrots, two turkey patties, grapes from Neufeld Farms, and caprese skewers made with cherry tomatoes from The French Garden in Sebastopol, basil from the Wednesday Night Market, and fresh mozzarella cheese.

If you missed the interview I did with Sheri of Happy Little Bento yesterday, I have uploaded it in two segments here. It was really fun and I think we were able to demystify bentos for those who are curious about how to make them.

Happy Little Bento Interview Part 1

Happy Little Bento Interview Part 2

Bento Smurf

Oh yes I did. My buddy Carina asked me to do this bento a while ago, and I had some leftover blue rice from my 50th bento post, so today's the day, Carina! It's Bento Smurf, who I think is related somehow to Handy Smurf. :)

In this bento: grapes from De'Santis, steamed broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes from French Garden, a turkey patty (hidden under Bento Smurf), Chocorooms, blue rice onigiri in the shape of a smurf and decorated with cheese and nori seaweed details. I stuck on his nose and ear with a skewer of spaghetti.

These are Chocorooms which I found at Daiso, but I have since seen them at many asian markets. They are pretty tasty!

I had a lot of fun making this bento, and also had time to head to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market to get more bento ingredients. Here's a video of the market in action, and a few shots of the food I bought.

I absolutely loved this father/daughter band at the market. They were doing a bunch of killer tunes on accordion and drums. Who would have thought that combo would make a great band??

I am very excited to let you know about an interview I did with Sheri of Happy Little Bento! The interview is all about bentos and will air this Monday, August 23rd at about 5:30pm PST. You can listen to the interview locally on KSRO 1350 AM, or if you are out of the area, tune in online at ksro.com. Just click on the Listen Live link (upper right corner) on Monday afternoon. Thanks bento friends, and a HUGE thank you to Sheri for talking with me and helping to spread the bento love.

Don't forget to enter my 50th Bento Post Giveaway!

San Francisco Japantown

I had SUCH a good time yesterday in San Francisco's Japantown. The last time I went was in April, when I started out on this bento obsession of mine. I used a wonderful guide prepared by Biggie of the Lunch In A Box blog. If you get a chance to go to SF Japantown, I really recommend taking Biggie's review along with you.

This time I was more prepared and focused. I knew what I was looking for, and I also knew what I didn't need. But I still bought a few things that were ridiculous, just because I could. :-)

Today's bento uses a few of the new things I picked up while in SF Japantown. I have this new blue bento box (magic round bento!) from Ichiban Kan that was on sale for 50 cents! The chopsticks are from Daiso, the tomato pick is from Ichiban Kan, and the cherry stem pick is from Sanko Cooking Supply (Sanko is WILDLY expensive, but it was the only place I found these picks and I was dying to get some after seeing them on Sheri's Happy Little Bento blog). Oh, and the quail egg is from Nijiya Market (my first time trying quail eggs!).

The top of the bento box has three little monkeys on it and it says, "Do you like living here? Yes, it's great!" In this bento lunch: a biscuit filled with ham and spices, caprese salad in a silicone cup, cucumber slices (from Ridgeview Farms), two cherry tomatoes on a cherry stem pick, steamed romano beans from Cresent Moon Farms, a hard boiled quail egg, and a bit of arugula from Ridgeview Farms.

I got the idea for the quail egg little guy from a book that I picked up at Kinokuniya Stationery. A little wedge cut makes his mouth, and his eyes are black sesame seeds. I'll post pictures of the bento book soon. It's all in Japanese, so I can't read it, but the photos and ideas are great!

Here are some of the picks I got at Ichiban Kan. I was so excited to see the tree picks after seeing them used in a bento made by Shannon of What's For Lunch At Our House. I think I will have to borrow that idea because those grapes looked so cute!

I didn't take as many pictures as I should have while in SF Japantown, but here are a few of the places I visited. Above is a selection of the bento supplies available at Daiso.

This is at the Sanrio store where I actually showed some restraint. I know! I was amazed at myself, too. :-)

I did pick up a bento box with Kuromi on the front. The sales clerk at Sanrio said that Kuromi is more popular with U.S. customers than Japanese customers, and that is why their selection is so large in the San Francisco store.

I have so much more to share from my trip to SF Japantown. I am sure you will see lots of new stuff in the weeks to come on Sonoma Bento. And... I got some fun stuff for a giveaway. Stay tuned!

How to Boil Quail Eggs

Rinse quail eggs in warm water to remove any dirt or feathers from the shells. Fill a small pot with water and about 2 or 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Add quail eggs and bring water to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove pan from heat and take it to the sink. Run cold water into the pan and gradually pour out the hot water. Allow eggs to cool then gently peel. The vinegar should make it easier to remove the shells.