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!

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!

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.

Eggs In A Basket

The dish called Eggs In A Basket, also known as Toad In The Hole (at least to some of us in the U.S.) is a piece of bread with a shape cut out of the center of the bread, and an egg fried inside of that hole. Toad In The Hole in the UK is sausage cooked in a Yorkshire pudding type batter. This bento features a mini version of Eggs In A Basket.

Also in this bento: fried shishito peppers (similar to padron peppers) and orange cherry tomatoes from Crescent Moon Farms, Toad In The Hole decorated with a few black sesame seeds, a sprig of purslane, radishes from Triple T Ranch, baby carrots, half of a Gravenstein Apple from Walker Apples, and two turkey patties (they are still frozen in this pic).

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: Since I usually call this dish Toad In The Hole, a glass of Toad Hollow Vineyard wine is a perfect match! Toad Hollow makes a stainless steel Chardonnay that is crisp and great with fried foods, like the fried peppers and Toad In The Hole. It will also work well with the turkey patties (after they thaw out!), and its crisp flavor and nice acidity should balance well with the fruits and veggies.

Rush Hour Bento

This morning I was in a mad dash! My friend Carina asked if I wanted to go to the farmers market with her (of COURSE I do!) and I realized I had to get moving if we were going to make it in time. So this bento was made with the utmost haste. But really, I think it turned out beautifully.

There's steamed corn from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, steamed edamame, an orange tomato and a red cherry tomato, inarizushi stuffed with plain rice, two turkey patties, and a few pretzels.

Bento Stash made this bento possible! I literally was able to throw this together and take a picture in 10 minutes. Yay! I also posted this on the What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog hosted by Shannon. Check it out for great bento ideas!

Here's the recipe for the turkey patties, which I modified from a post by Debra at hapa bento:

Recipe for Turkey Patties

4 oz ground turkey meat

1 pinch salt

1 quail egg yolk (or part of a chicken egg yolk)

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 green onion, minced

1 tsp sesame seeds

a few drops of toasted sesame oil

1 pinch powdered ginger

1/2 tblsp corn starch

vegetable oil for frying

Mix together all ingredients except vegetable oil in a bowl. Form golf ball sized balls and slightly flatten them from the mixture. Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add turkey patties and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes on one side. Check to make sure patties have browned a bit, then flip patties over and cover with a lid. Finish cooking for another two minutes or so, until patties are cooked through. Makes about 5 patties.