Carnitas Bento

This bento was made with leftovers from a slow cooker carnitas recipe. One tip that I found really great was to spread out some of the pulled pork onto a cookie sheet and then broil it for a few minutes to get the meat a little crispy on parts. Ooo, yum!

Also in this bento: romaine lettuce, a tiny red bell pepper from Triple T Ranch, a green chile tortilla from La Tortilla Factory, and slices of tomato from Triple T Ranch. Have a great day!

Valentine Magic Round Bento

Oh Magic Round Bento, how I love you! For some strange reason, it is so easy to place items in a round bento! Today's bento uses leftover roasted chicken that I picked up at local Oliver's Market for our dinner last night.

In this bento: roasted chicken in a silicone cup with a hand cut red pepper heart on top, more red pepper hearts in the corner there, heart shaped mini yaki onigiri, a strawberry, and slices of cucumber. This was my breakfast this morning. 

I am adding this bento to the Bento Blog Network for their Valentine theme. And I think I will add another Valentine bento I made two years ago. It was ALSO made in a magic round bento.... hmmm, I am sensing a pattern here. :D

Mother Daughter Bento-ing Part Three

We had a really stormy weekend in Sonoma County, and my step daughter and I were stuck inside all day on Saturday. My hubby had to work, so it was just us girls. We decided to make some fun bentos and work on decorating her new bedroom. We didn't have all of the supplies for her bedroom, so I had to finish it up on Sunday. The bentos turned out great though!

My bento has easter egg-shaped pink onigiri (one decorated with nori, the other plain), greens from Earthworks, baby carrots, a chicken drumstick, hard boiled quail egg and red carrot from Triple T Farms, small tangerine from Schletewitz Family Fruit Stand, pepper jack cheese butterfly, and a few slices of red pepper.

My daughter's bento includes: more pink onigiri, chicken drumstick, pepper jack duckie and butterfly, baby carrots, greens from Earthworks, tangerine from Schletewitz Family, and hard boiled quail egg from Triple T.

And this is her room! We are still looking for a different bedspread to go with the underwater theme. We did the 'waterfall' of tulle, ribbon, and fabric together. We also worked on the fabric wall stickers together (with an idea that I saw posted by ChantaleP ~thanks!), but the fusible web I got initially didn't work so well. I had to go back to the craft store and get a different kind.

The Bento4Japan eBay auction is still going on with new items added! Please bid or put up your own items for auction to help.

In Flight Bentos

My lovely family came to visit this past weekend and we had a blast wine tasting, eating out, and shopping. It went by way too fast. But I saw an opportunity to make some in flight bentos for my mom, sis, and brother and had to do it! Debra of Hapa Bento makes them for her house guests all of the time, and I am so jealous of her guests! :) So I made these little snack bentos for my family to enjoy on their short flight from Santa Rosa to Seattle.

There's a heart shaped onigiri rice ball topped with a little spiral I punched out of nori seaweed in each box, plus carrot slices from Quivira Vineyards and Winery, red bell pepper slices, frozen Aidell's teriyaki chicken meatballs, and slices of persimmon tossed with lime juice to keep them from turning brown. The persimmon is from De'Santis Farms. I also used romaine lettuce and parsley (from Quivira) for decoration and to separate the different portions of the snack bentos.

As you can see, my family loved their snack bentos! And the meatballs had thawed by the time I presented the bentos, since I made them in the morning and then stowed them in the fridge until they had to leave for their flight. It was really fun to do, and wasn't hard to make three little bento snacks since I put them together in an assembly line kind of way. If you want to make in flight bentos for visitors as a parting gift, I suggest collecting a few disposable containers to use, so you don't have to part with a beloved bento box. I found these plastic containers at Daiso, but berry containers are great for this use, too.

Quivira Bento

Living in Sonoma County sure has its benefits, like amazing producers committed to the land. I had the opportunity to interview the farm manager from Quivira Vineyards and Winery last night, Andrew Beedy. He was telling me about an event coming up at the winery on Sunday, November 7th celebrating the harvest and locally raised turkeys. I also interviewed a 4H youth grower, the leader of the 4H Sonoma County Heritage Turkey Project, and the leader of Slow Food Russian River. It was a packed studio! Andrew brought along some goodies from Quivira to showcase the amazing biodynamic farm there and the wonderful things they produce. I immediately started thinking about how to use them in a bento!

I decided to do something simple while I listened to the Giants game (!!) and cooked last night: frittata. So many possibilities! I used eggs, beet greens, and rainbow chard from Quivira to make this simple frittata. I also added a bit of Black Pig Meat Co bacon, because it's delicious, and topped it with cheese. I ate part of the frittata for dinner and saved the rest for today's bento. On top of the slices of frittata are a few nori flowers. There are slices of carrot and a sprig of parsley from Quivira as well. That parsley tastes AMAZING! I think I'll have to make some tabbouleh or salsa verde to really highlight its amazing flavor. There's a rice ball, a radish from Ridgeview Farms, grapes from De'Santis, pepper slices from The Patch, and an oak leaf shaped slice of pepperjack cheese.

It was nice to have this protein packed little bento so I can be fueled up for election night coverage. If there's still time where you live, GO VOTE!

Fear The Sushi Beard!

Ha ha! Today is National Sushi Day in Japan and a few bento buddies are celebrating with a twitterfoodparty showcasing sushi. I have never made sushi rolls before, so this was a perfect opportunity to try it out. I have to say, for my first time, I think I did pretty well. And of course, today the San Francisco Giants could clinch the World Series in Game 5, so I had to make a Fear The Beard Bento! Two birds, one bento.

Fear The Beard refers to closing pitcher Brian Wilson and his playoff/World Series beard. It's quite the sight to behold and I am pretty sure he is dying it black with Just For Men dye.

The sushi portion of the bento has mango, coconut shrimp, and cilantro rolls, baby carrots, bbq pork from G&G Supermarket in Santa Rosa, a fish container with soy sauce, and a piece of broccoli.

The Giants portion of the bento has a Brian Wilson onigiri decorated with nori beard and ballcap, cheddar cheese bill, nori eyes, and bell pepper mouth. Also in this section: grapes from De'Santis Farms, purple bell pepper from The Patch in Sonoma, french breakfast radishes from Ridgeview Farms, baby carrots, and steamed edamame. I put a panda pick in the edamame to represent Pablo Sandoval, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda for his wicked hitting skills.

GO GIANTS!

10,000 Hits Bento

It looks like sometime last week the Sonoma Bento blog reached a milestone. 10,000 hits since I started the blog in April. Woohoo! Thanks to everyone for following my blog, or even just stopping by occasionally to see what fun things I am putting into my bento boxes. I really appreciate your comments and your interest in bento.

To celebrate, I am doing a fun GIVEAWAY! Are you interested in bento, but don't know where to start? Are you a bento blogger who needs more bento supplies? Do you just like to win stuff? Anyone and everyone (even outside of the U.S.) who would like to enter this giveaway is welcome to enter. Here's what one of you will win:

A blue double tiered bento box. It has a lower tier, and an upper tier with a fitted lid, and finally a top that goes over the two tiers. It will hold about 500ml. The word "pastel" is on the wrapper, not actually printed on the box.

A pumpkin ice cube tray! This is fun for making polenta pumpkins (see below) or ice cubes, or jello molds, or whatever you want to turn into a pumpkin shape!

Cute apple containers for sauce and a furikake seasoning container, plus a starburst shaped craft punch, perfect for cutting nori (toasted seaweed) into fun shapes.

And finally, this cute handmade bento box strap. I call him Jack O'Bento! This felt bento box strap will fit most two tiered bento boxes. Look for more fun felt bento box straps (made by yours truly) in my Sonoma Bento Etsy Store. I just added a kawaii Skull felt bento box strap!

To enter the contest, follow these steps:

1. You MUST be a follower of my blog. To follow my blog, click on the Follow with Google Friend Connect button on the right side of the page. Let me know in a comment that you are a follower and what your Google ID is.

Additional Ways to Enter:

2. Leave a comment telling me about your best Halloween costume. I LOVE Halloween! Update: I realized that not everyone celebrates Halloween, so you can also post about any Carnival or other costumes you wear for your own holidays.

3. Blog or tweet about this giveaway and post the link here in the comments section.

That's it, please leave a seperate comment for each entry. Good luck! The winner will be selected randomly from all entries on Friday, October 8th, 2010 at noon, Pacific Time.

Here's the bento I made today, the first of many Halloween themed bentos I am sure. I used my own pumpkin ice cube tray (not the one you might win) to make polenta pumpkins!

The polenta pumpkins are resting in a pool of tomato sauce. I made this quick sauce this morning with two early girl tomatoes from The Patch. I used nori to make a Jack O Lantern face on one pumpkin and added a few basil leaves from Middleton Farms. In the upper compartment: baby carrots, red bell pepper slices, cucumber slices, tiny cherry tomatoes from Middleton Farms, raspberries, and green grapes.

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: I added a tiny splash of Syrah to the tomato sauce as I was cooking it this morning. The Syrah I used would be a great fit with this bento box. Acorn 2007 Axiom Syrah picked up a Gold Medal at the 2010 Harvest Fair this year. It's spicy and fruity, and big enough to work well with the garlic tomato sauce and creamy polenta.

Starry Spice Bento

My hubby and I finally went to visit a new spice shop in Santa Rosa called Savory Spice Shop. It is part of a franchise based in Denver and the new shop here is just a few months old. They sell online if you aren't near one of their shops.

Oh. My. God. It's like Disneyland for Foodies! We went a little crazy because my husband likes to make spice rubs and I was trying hard to show some restraint when browsing the curry aisle. I gave in and bought this wonderful mix called Vietnamese Sweet Lemon Curry.

I also ended up with Honey Powder, Italian Black Truffle Salt (!), Vanilla Bean Sugar, and Medium Yellow Curry. So much for restraint! Ha! I used the curry to make more turkey patties for bento stash.

In this bento: an orange bell pepper, grapes from De'Santis Farms, cherry tomatoes from Ridgeview Farms, a turkey patty topped with cheese stars, a mini purple rice onigiri decorated with nori stars, a radish from Triple T, cucumber slices, and a few more cherry tomatoes 'cause they taste so good.

I used a punch to make the nori stars and wrapped a strip of nori with a star hole in it around the mini onigiri. I think it turned out really cute!

Recipe for Vietnamese Sweet Lemon Curry Turkey Patties

4 oz ground turkey

1/2 tablespoon Vietnamese Sweet Lemon Curry blend

a few grinds of pepper

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 grated clove of garlic

1 egg yolk

a few drops of toasted sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon corn starch

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium/medium high heat. Shape mixture into small patties. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes in oil until browned, then gently flip patties and continue cooking until patties are browned on both sides and cooked through. Watch the heat and turn it down if the patties are browning too quickly. Makes 4 or 5 small patties.

A Big Thank You to everyone who has been following my bento adventures on this blog. Tomorrow look for a cool giveaway to celebrate my 50th Sonoma Bento post!

Gravenstein Apple Bento

Gravenstein Apples are an heirloom variety of apple that have been grown in Sonoma County since the late 1800s. This past weekend we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Gravenstein Apple Fair. This fair is my very favorite fair of the entire year. It is set under sprawling oak trees in a big park and does not have the typical fair things you expect like carnival rides or trying to throw darts at balloons for cheap stuffed animals. They have a hay bale maze that is free for the kids to wander through, and there was a place set up with apples tacked to a plywood board. Hit one with a dart and win a bag of apples! But mostly, this fair is about the Gravenstein Apple.

The Walker family has been growing apples since the mid 1800s in Sonoma County. Generations of Walkers have made their living by growing Gravensteins.

A new company in Sonoma County called Hot Cheese made special grilled cheese and Gravenstein sandwiches. They were sooo good, paired with zucchini pickles and seasoned sweet potato fries.

The treat I look forward to most of all is the piping hot Gravenstein Apple Fritter. Church ladies have a booth set up and all they do for two days straight is make these cinnamon powdered sugar topped fritters and vats of coffee. The line for Fritters can get pretty long, but it is so worth it!

Of course, I had to make a nail design to go along with the Gravenstein Apple Fair! Gravensteins have a red and green streaked skin, sweet/tart flesh, and are perfect for making pies. Of course there is a apple pie baking contest, apple pie eating contest, applesauce eating contest, and more! They should have an apple nail design contest, ha ha!

I look forward to this fair so much, that I kind of go into withdrawl when it is over. So I decided that today's bento would celebrate the Gravenstein Apple! I used the Hot Cheese recipe as my inspiration for an apple shaped grilled cheese sandwich with Gravenstein Apple and ham, and a little cucumber skin 'leaf'. Also in this bento: Gravenstein Apple 'rabbits', edamame, cherry tomatoes, corn on the cob, cucumber slices, grapes (including a cutie grape 'tree'), and red bell pepper slices. The Hot Cheese version of this sandwich does not have meat in it, and they added a delicious curry seasoning. If you can find them (Windsor Farmers Market or they do catering!) you have to try it... sooooo good!

Recipe for Gravenstein Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 grated garlic clove

2 slices white bread

1 slice gouda or provolone cheese

thin slices of Gravenstein Apple

1 or two slices ham

mayo (optional)

Soften the butter and add the grated garlic. I use a Microplane Zester to grate the garlic really fine, into a paste really. Set the butter aside. Assemble the sandwich by spreading mayo on the bread then top with cheese, slices of apple, and ham. Top with the second piece of bread. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Spread butter mixture on the outside of one of the sides of the sandwich. Place that buttered side down in the skillet. Grill until the bread is golden brown. Spread butter on the top of the sandwich, then carefully flip the sandwich over to grill the opposite side. If needed, cover the skillet to help melt the cheese. Serves one.

P.S. You can now vote for my nail design at The Daily Nail! I entered in a design representing Sonoma County for a 'home' themed contest. I would really appreciate it if you took a moment to vote for me on The Daily Nail blog. Thanks and wish me luck!

Snack Bento

I went to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market with my hubby yesterday and picked up some cherry tomatoes and apples from Ridgeview Farms, and delicious grapes from De'Santis. I probably should have waited on the apples, since I will be in apple heaven this weekend at the Gravenstein Apple Fair. This bento was simple and quick to prepare.

I used my little bunny container, and so of course I had to use a bunny pick. In this snack bento: a turkey patty from my bento freezer stash, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes from Triple T, red pepper slices, and two kinds of grapes.

A shot of grapes at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market! Yum.

I also made a grape themed manicure, which I entered in a contest of nail designs at The Daily Nail. If you've never seen The Daily Nail, you really should check it out. The woman who does this blog makes a new manicure every day. EVERY DAY! And they are amazing designs. I hope I win the contest! The theme was "Home" and I made vineyards and grapes which remind me of Sonoma County.

Gender Bento

I am finally using up the last of the bread, bologna, and cheese from our camping trip last weekend. These two happy sandwiches are hanging out with red pepper slices, cherry tomatoes from the Sebastopol Farmers Market, steamed romano beans from The Patch in Sonoma, two cherries, and a few blueberries, also from the Sebastopol Farmers Market.

I had a great Fourth of July celebration with friends, complete with BBQ and pool time. I brought along these steamed green beans topped with a lime infused olive oil and basil dressing. They turned out great!

Recipe for Green Beans with Basil-Lime Olive Oil Dressing

3 pounds of green beans, rinsed and trimmed

1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves

2 garlic cloves, grated

1/3 cup lime infused olive oil (I used Stonehouse Olive Oil, based in Berkeley)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Steam green beans for 7 to 10 minutes. Run beans under cold water to stop them from over cooking. In a food processor, combine basil, grated garlic cloves, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend dressing. Spoon dressing over beans. Serves 10 as a side dish. *If you don't have lime infused olive oil, use regular oil and add a bit of grated lime zest and a tablespoon of lime juice.

Patriotic Bento

Today I worked on a live broadcast from a demo kitchen and they made yummy burgers to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. It certainly does not suck to work with professional chefs! But because I was working, I didn't have time to do a really elaborate bento for the holiday. I made half of a bento box lunch for my step daughter, but I did manage to put some patriotic touches on it.

In this lunch: vanilla yogurt with blueberries and a raspberry, red pepper "fireworks," carrot "flames," mini star bologna sandwiches, a bit of broccoli, and some enoki mushrooms for "sparkle." I didn't have time to fill a second compartment for her. But I did stay up late last night to do these patriotic fingernails:

Have a Safe and Happy Fourth of July weekend!!

Hot Chicks

Hot chicks (made of steamed sweet potato slices) about to kiss! Hotsie Totsie! This bento box lunch also sports garam masala spiced sausage slices, grapes, and garlic scapes cut into claw-type shapes. In the lower compartment are portabella mushroom raviolis with nori flowers, baby carrots, steamed broccoli, and a few slices of red bell pepper.

Hapa Bento is using flowers as this month's B.O.M.B., so this bento box lunch qualifies with its cute nori flowers, although I may go for a more obvious flower themed lunch and enter again.


I put this lunch into my favorite Hello Kitty japanese lacquer bento box. It's so elegant! By the way, the garlic scapes are from Middleton Farms in Healdsburg, and the scape season is pretty much over now, although I am seeing green garlic still available at the farmers markets.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Hola! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Today's bento box has a Mexican theme, with the colors of the Mexican flag, and tasty Mexican food. I made steak tacos for me and my hubby last night using steak, cheddar cheese, salsa, a green avocado/cilantro sauce, and super tasty tortillas from La Tortilla Factory. La Tortilla Factory is based in Sonoma County, and 3 generations of the Tamayo family have been making tortillas here since 1977. This is a new product called Hand Made Style Corn Tortilla. They are flexible like flour tortilla, but have that wonderful chewy masa flavor. Also in this bento box: green and red bell peppers, and radishes. I peeled the skin from the radish to make the radish flower, and then placed the white radish flesh between the peppers to echo the Mexican flag. Pairing suggestion: Mexican food and beer really seem to be perfect partners. A frosty glass of Anchor Steam beer would go great with this lunch.

The sauce inside the steak tacos is something I picked up at a broadcast with Chef Mark Stark of Stark's Steakhouse. Mark explained that tacos take so many little ingredients like onions, avocados, cilantro, sour cream, etc. that it takes a while to put them together. But, you can blend the green items together saving time and also keeping the ingredients from falling out of the taco as you eat it! Great idea! So I made this green sauce based on the sauce Mark made during out broadcast.

Recipe for Avocado/Cilantro Sauce

1 ripe avocado

1/2 cup cilantro

green parts of two green onions, roughly chopped

juice of 1/2 lime

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup Clover Stornetta Sour Cream

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Mother Daughter Bento-ing

I introduced my 9 year old step daughter to Bento Boxes this weekend, and she was a little skeptical at first, until we started talking about different colored foods. Once she saw some of the pictures of the bento box lunches I have made, she was ready to make one herself. My step daughter's bento includes: heart shaped quiche (recipe here), edamame (she loves saying this word!), yellow and orange bell pepper slices, and a heart shaped onigiri rice ball inside of which we hid an edamame bean. We also added a heart cut out of orange soy paper on the top of the onigiri. In the lower compartment, she arranged mandarin oranges, cucumbers, and a steamed purple potato in the shape of a heart.

My bento lunch uses many of the same ingredients: steamed purple potato hearts, red bell pepper slices, cucubmer slices, heart shaped onigiri, and grapes in the upper compartment. In the lower compartment, I have edamame, a heart shaped quiche, steamed broccoli, and carrots. I tried to eat my bento lunch right before our broadcast today, but got totally sidetracked, so I guess it is now a late afternoon snack.

My daughter mapped out what she wanted in her bento box. I helped her respell the words she had trouble with. It's a great plan!

Hello Kitty Stylin' Bento

I went on a pilgrimage to San Francisco Japantown last Sunday to get bento supplies. While most of the things I purchased were very reasonably priced (even ridiculously cheap), this bento box was not. I saw it at the Sanrio store and fell in love with it. Japanese lacquer with gorgeous cherry blossom details, and the stylish gold Hello Kitty in partial profile. I had to have it! Do yourself a favor if you head to Japantown: print out this coupon for the Sanrio store.

For this bento box lunch, I wanted to make something special. Cold udon noodles with steamed asparagus and zucchini, crispy pancetta, and black sesame seeds. I dressed the noodles with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and vinegar. In the lower compartment: a mandarin orange, cucumber slices, red bell pepper slices, a few salad greens, carrots, and half of a hard boiled egg with black sesame seed decoration. The asparagus, zucchini, and mandarin are from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, and the egg is from chickens raised by my coworker's daughter.

Recipe for Cold Udon Noodles
1/2 cup asparagus spears
1/2 cup zucchini rounds
1 thin slice pancetta (italian bacon)
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 small clove of garlic, minced
3 oz uncooked udon noodles
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar
pinch black sesame seeds

Steam the asparagus and zucchini briefly in the microwave (no more than 1.5 minutes). Cook udon noodles according to directions on package. In a small skillet, cook pancetta over medium heat until crispy. Remove pancetta to a paper towel to drain, but leave rendered fat in the skillet. Cook onion and garlic in the skillet for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add noodles to the skillet, and then steamed veggies. Toss to combine, and remove from heat. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar. Gently toss to coat noodles. Place noodles in bento box (or in a bowl) and top with veggies. Top each serving with crumbles of pancetta and black sesame seeds. Makes enough for two bento box lunch servings.