Picnic Bento

Hapa Bento has a great themed bento challenge each month, and this month the theme is Picnic! I thought a lot about what to make, and I always associate bugs with picnics. Bleh, hate those bugs! But a cute little olive ant is a welcome addition to this Picnic bento.

I made an ant out of olives, nori (toasted seaweed), and a few pieces of dried spaghetti for his antennae. The ant is surveying the picnic spread from his perch on a biscuit filled with ham and spices. The spices are a blend called Duqqah that I picked up from The Handmade Pantry.

In the rest of the bento: blueberries, cherry tomatoes, deviled quail eggs (!), a slice of cucumber, two homemade pickled cornichon, and arugula. I love this arugula from Ridgeview Farms in Healdsburg. It is so spicy and delicious!

I purchased a four pack of small olives at the grocery store the other day, and honestly, I was really sold as soon as I saw them use this scooter image on the packaging. Beep! Beep!

I also included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Check it out to see what other bento bloggers are creating!

Recipe for Deviled Quail Eggs
6 quail eggs
2 or 3 tablespoons vinegar
3 teaspoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon prepared wasabi paste
salt
paprika

Rinse quail eggs in warm water to remove any dirt or feathers from the shells. Fill a small pot with water and add 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.

Carefully cut eggs in half and remove yolks. Place yolks in a bowl. Add mayo, wasabi, and salt to taste. Blend well. Transfer yolk mixture to a plastic bag and snip a small piece of the corner of the bag off. Carefully pipe the yolk mixture back into the egg white halves. Top each with a little pinch of paprika. Makes 12 teeeny tiny deviled eggs.

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.

Muffin Man

This mini bento was inspired by some recent bentos created by Susan Yuen of Hawai'i's Bento Box. She uses biscuit dough to create little bento creatures and cute little faces. Inside, she hides bits of yummy filling. I decided it would be a fun and quick way to make a bit of bento stash: ingredients that you can keep in the freezer and just pop into a bento for quick assembly. Plus, I thought it might be a good way to use this new spice blend I got at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

In this bento: a "muffin man" biscuit filled with Fra'mani Rosemary ham and Duqqah spice blend from The Handmade Pantry (face details are provolone cheese, nori, and beni shoga pickled red ginger), some arugula and green amaranth leaves, a few slices of cucumber, a baby carrot, blueberries, and some leftover fresh corn salad.

Duqqah (also spelled Dukkah, or Duqqa) is an Egyptian condiment served with bread. You dip a slice of bread in olive oil, then in the Duqqah. Ingredients vary, but the main parts of Duqqah are sesame seeds, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper. Other nuts are often used, and some versions include hotter spices. Jane from The Handmade Pantry says you can use it with fresh veggies and olive oil, try it as a rub for grilled meats, in soups, and salads. Combined with the buttery biscuit dough and fragrant ham, I think this turned out really good as a bento ingredient! You can find The Handmade Pantry at the Wednesday Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

On a side note: using the right tool is essential for quick and safe bento making. I tried to avoid using one of my smaller, sharper paring knives for the detail on the carrot, because I didn't want to get another knife dirty. Well, the bigger, more awkward knife slipped in my hand, and whoops, I got a little boo boo. Luckily it was not a deep cut and I had these devil duckie bandages on hand to make it all better.

I have included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesday Blog, a great way to see what other bento bloggers are up to, and to share ideas.