Sonoma Bento

In Flight Birthday Bento

2012-01-27T13:09:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is my birthday and I am headed to the Seattle area for a quick trip to see my family. I am really excited to see my little niece, I just love her so! We get to so an Auntie and Me swim class together. She just turned 1 year old, so I think it will be more splashing than swimming. :) And of course, a flight of any kind if a great excuse to make bento! Why pay a ton of money for uninspired airplane food?

In this bento: a hard boiled egg, steamed edamame, slices of aged white cheddar cheese, a few baby carrots, a few radishes, some raw broccoli, and a couple of soppressata salami roll-ups. This and the complimentary adult beverage that I get on my flight to Seattle will do nicely. (I love flying Alaska Airlines! Free beer!)

Enchilada Monster Bento

2012-01-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

This is a quick bento that I fashioned out of leftovers. I had made some chicken enchiladas (which my hubby and step daughter scarfed down), and I managed to save enough for a lunch serving the next day. With a few little additions, I turned this chicken enchilada into a monster! The bento that bites you back!

Also in this bento: steamed edamame and sliced radishes. The monster face was made with pepper jack cheese and slices of black olive.

Chicken Cutlet Bento

2011-12-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

Leftovers are AWESOME for bento. It saves time in the morning and you get something really tasty for lunch. Last night I made panko breaded chicken cutlets for me and hubs, so today the leftovers are in my bento box.

In the small container is lime cumin coleslaw. In the black bento box: frozen edamame (they look like the rooftops did this morning, all frosty!) baby carrots, a small container of dipping sauce for the cutlets (mayo + ketchup + sriracha), slices of chicken cutlet, and slices of fuji apple.

Tomorrow I am going to the farmers market. It seems like forever since I have been to the market and I really miss it.

Lime Cumin Coleslaw

1 baby carrot, grated

about 1/2 cup thinly sliced green cabbage

1 pinch ground cumin

juice of 1/4 lime

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients. Let flavors meld for at least 15 minutes before serving. Makes enough for 1 or two bento sized servings.

Snowman Bento

2011-12-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

We have not really had typical winter weather here in Sonoma County. Today we got a bit of rain, but we rarely have snow. And it has actually been quite warm here for December. So the only winter I can see is the one in my bento box!

In the yellow box: a snowman onigiri (rice balls) with nori dried seaweed features. I used a fun face punch for his facial features. Also in this box: baby carrots, and tamagoyaki omelette. He's resting on some cabbage leaves. In the smaller pink box: quick pickled cabbage with black sesame seeds (recipe from Maki of Just Bento), edamame, and chicken with broccoli stir fry.

Here are the two boxes with their lids. I got these are Borders (boo hoo, I am sad they closed) from their awesome collection of Paperchase items.

Happy Monday!

Blustery Day Bento

2011-12-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

Last night we had quite the wind storm, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour. It gave me a headache all day and kept me up at night. Grrr! So I decided if there is chaos out in the air, I would add some chaos to my lunch! The wind blew the cheese leaves from the inside of my sandwich to the top of it! ;-)

In this bento: a tuna fish sandwich topped with Havarti cheese leaves, broccoli spears, a radish, baby carrots, and dried apricots.

Sorry I have been MIA for a while bento buddies! I have really gotten into my nail art designs and they kind of took over for a bit. I hope to find more balance now between my bento and my nail art. :-) Good news, though: all of this practice I have been doing with my nail art landed me a prize from the Muppets and OPI brand nail polish! See my award winning Fozzie manicure by clicking here. :-) Happy December!!

Sloppy Jack Bento

2011-10-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today I made a sloppy joe with some leftover ground beef from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market. Yup, you can get local ground beef at our market! I had a little of it left after making sliders for my family this weekend, so I cooked it together with onions, peppers from Triple T Ranch, garlic from The Patch, seasonings, sugar, salt, pepper, and tomato paste, and voi la: Sloppy Joes! I cut out a jack o'lantern face from a piece of habernero cheese and used the rest of the slice under the bun. Delish!

I took this pic in the sun, and I am not sure if I like it so much, but the bento sure was colorful and very tasty. Also in this bento: a delicious pear from Orchard Farms, two shades of cauliflower from Ma and Pa's Garden, a slice of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farms, baby carrots, and champagne grapes from Schletewitz Family.

I added this to Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Take a look for more great bento ideas!

Halloween Colors Bento and Giveaway Winner!

2011-10-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hi bento friends! Sorry I did not post this sooner, I got distracted by something shiny. LOL. So here is a quick bento filled with lots of great Halloween colors. I was so thrilled to find the two shades of cauliflower at the Farmers Market this weekend. They rock! And they taste good.

In this bento: purple and green steamed cauliflower from Ma and Pa's Garden, tamagoyaki omelette slices, leftover emerald chicken curry from California Thai, a yakionigiri rice ball from Trader Joe's, a cherry tomato, steamed edamame, and champagne grapes from Schletewitz Family.

And now for the winner of the simple recipe contest... there were 18 different entries. And the randomly selected winner is...

mommypants! mommypants sent in a great recipe for a simple pasta salad. This would be a great addition to any bento and the fun thing is that you can make endless variations depending on your tastes and what you have in your cupboard/refrigerator. Thanks mommypants! Be sure to check out her blog for more fun parenting ideas.

Mommypants Simple Pasta Salad

2 cups pasta cooked al dente (I like bow-ties or ziti)

2 cups fresh diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

6-8 oz fresh mozzarella (can be diced, or those tiny balls from store)

1/8-1/4 cup low fat balsamic dressing

Just mix them all together in a bowl, and let it marinate. I like to bring some extra balsamic with me to add a bit of freshness to the salad.

Goes great with a piece of bread and last night's Chicken Parmesan (I always make lots of extra breaded chicken to go along with lunches).

Thanks to everyone who entered and for sending in great recipes for bento lunches. I will have the rest of the simple recipes up on its own page on Sonoma Bento soon. Thanks! Have a great week!

Leftovers Bento and Last Chance to Enter Giveaway!

2011-10-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

You still have a few hours to put your name in the hat for my bento giveaway! I would love it if you want to contribute a simple recipe to the contest, but you don't have to in order to enter the contest. All you have to do is be a follower of Sonoma Bento! So hurry and get your name in the drawing. :)

I made this bento with leftovers from a meal I made for my mom and dad who were here this past weekend for a visit. We had pork loin with apricot/apple chutney and an orzo pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and padron peppers. I used apples from Twin Peaks, padron peppers from Beet Generation, and cherry tomatoes from The Patch in these recipes. Also in this bento: baby carrots, and an apple rabbit (who has his own little piece of carrot to munch on. :)

I've included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Check it out for other great bento ideas. Come back tomorrow to see who the winner of the contest will be! It could be YOU!

Recipe Contest Bento

2011-09-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

Hi bento pals! Sorry I have not posted in a while. I got sick last week and am still trying to get over the sniffles and cough that are SO annoying. This is my 160th bento post, and that means another donation to Redwood Empire Food Bank! Every 20 posts I make a $20 donation to Redwood Empire Food Bank. They provide meals to literally thousands of hungry people in the North Bay every day. As a food blogger I have the luxury to buy the foods I like and take time to make them look pretty, as well as share my bento lunches with my friends. For some people in my community, lunch may not be an option every day. They might have to pay the rent instead of buy groceries. This is my way of helping my community feed itself. I encourage YOU to make a similar commitment. Find a charity you can get behind and let your blog help those who need help the most!

Ok, now for the fun part. It's GIVEAWAY time!

Here is my bento for today: slices of garlic rubbed steak, a kalamata olive, roasted baby potatoes, broccoli spears, orange cherry tomatoes from The Patch, a small gala apple from Twin Peaks Orchard, and a few baby carrots. I decided that for this bento giveaway, I would encourage you to share a recipe for a simple bento ingredient. Your recipe should have no more than five ingredients, like the roasted potatoes in my bento. I will share my recipe for the potatoes at the end of this post. Here is what you can win:

The bento prize pack has a green two tiered bento box, a handmade bento box strap (the little fishy made by me!), two punches for cute nori designs, a set of vegetable cutters, and a cookbook!

Here is the bento box you will win. It has two tiers and the upper tier has a fitted lid so you can add saucy items and they won't spill on everything else.

There are two fun craft punches: one is a frog shape, and the other is a smiling face shape. These are great for punching little details out of sheets of nori (dried seaweed) and adding interesting details to your bento box lunches.

I love these vegetable cutters for adding quick cuteness to bento box lunches. There are three flower shapes in this set of cutters.

Here is the cookbook you will win. It is filled with great, simple recipes that will work in bento lunches. The recipes focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients. I really like this cookbook and have a copy that I use at home quite often!

Now for the promised roasted potato recipe. I used a spice blend from Savory Spice Shop in Santa Rosa, but feel free to use whatever spice blend you would like to flavor your version.

Roasted Baby New Potatoes

1 to 2 pounds of small new potatoes, washed and scrubbed

olive oil to coat potatoes

1 to 2 teaspoons of Vietnamese Sweet Lemon Curry

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange potatoes in a baking dish in one layer. Drizzle potatoes with olive oil. Sprinkle potatoes with seasonings and then gently mix the potatoes around in the oil and spices to coat all potatoes. Place baking dish in the oven and roast for 40 mintues to 1 hour until potatoes are cooked through and their skins are a bit wrinkled. Cool before adding potatoes to bento. Can store in the refrigerator for 4 days.

NOW it's your turn! :-) I would love to find out your simple recipes for bento ingredients! To enter the contest, simply fill out the form below. Please try to keep your recipes to 5 ingredients or less (salt and pepper do not count as ingredients) so that the recipes will be easy for anyone to try. You can also enter the contest simply by being a follower of this blog. You don't have to send in a recipe, but I would love to see what you like to prepare in your bento lunches. You can get extra entries in the contest by following me on facebook, twitter, and by following my new nail art blog at sonomanailart.blogspot.com. That makes a total of five possible entries per person. And yes, this contest is open INTERNATIONALLY! I will select a random entry from all entries on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 at 6pm Pacific Time. And I will share all of the recipes sent in on a special page on this blog, so everyone can enjoy your ideas and try them out.

Thanks so much for following my bento adventures and GOOD LUCK!

Eat This Bento, You Will

2011-09-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Yoda in a bento! This Star Wars bento is in honor of the Blu Ray release of the movies today. While I do not have a Blu Ray player, or the cash to shell out for these movies, I do love the original trilogy. And I think it is hilarious how fierce Yoda is in the second trilogy (episodes I, II, and III). He got soft and weird with his old age. Still a kick ass Jedi though.

I made Yoda out of two different colors of fruit roll up. His eyes are provolone cheese. Yoda is resting on a PB&J sandwich made with crunchy peanut butter and Dry Creek Peach Jam. Also in this bento: broccoli spears, baby carrots, a cherry tomato from the Oakmont Farmers Market, and slices of nectarine.

May the Force be with you, young Padawan.

Sweet Potato Stars Bento

2011-09-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

I used some slices of okinawan sweet potato for this bento. Locally I buy this purple fleshed potato at Asia Mart on Guerneville Road. It tastes like a regular orange fleshed sweet potato, but look at that color!

Also in this bento: steamed edamame, a piece of steamed corn from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, shishito peppers fried in olive oil and tossed in salt from Beet Generation Farms, a slice of Gravenstein Apple from Walker Apples, an orange cherry tomato from the Oakmont Farmers Market, and a yakionigiri rice ball from Trader Joe's.

I am coming up on another milestone and another donation to Redwood Empire Food Bank, so get ready for a fun giveaway. I'll probably do it sometime next week!

I started a new blog for my nail art, so if you like seeing nail art (mostly hand painted, although I will do some stamping as well), then check out sonoma nail art, my new blog! This is a little crow picking at a shiny ribbon. I like how it turned out. :)

I also included this lunch on Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays. You'll find a great collection of bento lunch ideas on her blog every Wednesday. Happy bentoing!

Tamagoyaki Bento

2011-09-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

Tamagoyaki is a japanese style omelette that is often found in bento boxes. I love having this convenient bit of tasty protein in my lunches. Sometimes I add herbs or wilted greens to it, but often I keep it simple like this one. I do season it with salt and mirin, and sometimes a bit of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. I use a special pan for making tamagoyaki, but really you can make it in any pan you'd like. It is simply a rolled omelette.

Also in this bento: yakionigiri rice ball from Trader Joe's, steamed edamame, slices of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farms, a mini apple rabbit made with a Pink Pearl apple from Triple T, grapes, orange cherry tomatoes from the Oakmont Farmers Market, and a few baby carrots.

Voting has begun for Hapa Bento's Back to School contest. You can visit her facebook fan page to vote and also get more great ideas for packing your own bento. Have a great Monday!

Hapa Bento Back to School Bento

2011-09-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Debra of Hapa Bento is having a Back to School contest with an adorable Elph bento box up for grabs. And the cool thing is that you can enter with any bento you'd like! It doesn't have to be a cute bento, or themed for school. Any yummy bento can be entered into the contest. Click here to go to her page and find out the details.

Here is my entry: a drumstick that I baked and then coated in a spicy (perhaps a wee bit too spicy) sauce, orange cherry tomatoes from the Oakmont Tuesday Night Farmers Market, fresh mozzarella balls, a sprig of basil from the garden where I am house sitting, slices of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farms, and red grapes. The bento box I am using is from the house where I am bunny sitting/house sitting this week. It's not really even a bento box, just a glass container with a locking lid! Think outside the bento box. :)

Sorry I have been MIA, bunny sitting does not make for easy bentoing. I also included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesday. Check it out for great lunch ideas.

And.... I have a new blog! It's called Sonoma Nail Art. I figured that since I have got a bit of practice under my belt and better nail art tools, I would start a blog just for my nail art. Take a look, and let me know if you have any suggestions for designs. Have a great week bento pals!

Mochiko Chicken Bento

2011-08-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

A lovely visit to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market yesterday means I can now fill my bento lunches with local veggies and fruits. This bento has items from a few different local farmers.

In this bento: lime mochiko chicken, a hard boiled quail egg, slices of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farm, orange cherry tomatoes from Ridgeview Farms, padron peppers and a mini Pink Pearl apple from Triple T Ranch and Farms, and a yakionigiri rice ball from Trader Joe's.

I was super excited to try these gorgeous apples from Triple T Ranch and Farms. The interior has a bright blush of pink extending from the skin towards a white interior. Larry of Triple T helped me pick out a few small apples perfect for bento. Some of the apples in this photo have apple scab, which is just an outer flaw on the apple, it doesn't extend into the rest of the fruit. These are tart, juicy little apples. I just love them!

Pasta Bento with Lychee

2011-08-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

I made this pasta dish last night for dinner, and the leftovers are perfect for bento. You'll also see something I rarely include in bento: fresh lychee fruits! I found them at Trader Joe's. Yum.

In this bento: pasta salad with red onion, tomato from The Patch, basil and armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farm, carrots, and shredded chicken. Also a hard boiled quail egg, a mini Gravenstein Apple from Redwood Empire Farm, edamame, and lychee fruit.

European Food Store Bento

2011-08-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I stopped by the European Food Store in Santa Rosa yesterday. I've been curious about checking it out, as I heard it has various Russian, Polish, and Eastern European food stuffs. I bought some delicious sunflower seed bread, some tea and coffee, and this fun bottle of mayo-mustard spread from a company called Zakuson. Upon closer examination, it looks like the company is based in Toronto. But the label just cracked me up. The guy looks totally crazy! The spread is pretty mild, nothing special, but it works well on this sandwich.

In this bento: baby carrots, a mini Gravenstein Apple from Redwood Empire Farms, and a sandwich with sunflower seed bread from the European Food Store, slices of tomato from The Patch, sopressata, mayo-mustard spread, and butter. Насладитесь вашей едой!

Bruschetta Bento

2011-08-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

I realized that despite having a farmers market open almost every day of the week in Sonoma County (it's true!), I wouldn't be able to attend one until Sunday. So yesterday, I swung by a farm stand in Rincon Valley. Redwood Empire Farm has their own farm stand on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and so I scooted out there for some zucchini, armenian cucumber, basil, and mini gravenstein apples. It was fun to see Jeff and his sister Theresa selling their products right next to where they are grown. Here's my bento made with lots of local produce.

In this bento: bruschetta with tomatoes from The Patch, basil from Redwood Empire Farm, and fontina cheese, a fresh fig, a hard boiled quail egg with nori face details, slices of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farms, a mini Gravenstein Apple from Redwood Empire Farms, and two baby carrots.

Here is the face punch that I picked up at Daiso on my recent trip to Seattle. I do like it, but I still want to get the awesome face punches for sale on J-List. Sigh... we'll see.

Here's a pic of the cucumbers for sale at Redwood Empire Farm stand. There's a mix of both slicing cucumbers and armenian cucumbers (which are actually an asian melon). If you can find the aremenian ones, give them a try!

Waking Up At 8:30am Bento

2011-08-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

I've named this bento after what happened today, which after the last month, really seems like a miracle. :-) For almost a month, I have been covering for one or another vacationing co-worker on the morning news show. That means rolling out of bed at 4am, being coherent enough to write news stories at 4:30am, and then having enough brain power to talk without stumbling over my tongue at 5:30am. And I also had to do my own regular job in addition to covering the morning show. Ouchie. So this is really a celebration of the fact that I got up at a reasonable time today, and had the energy to actually make a bento. This is a small one, but I need to take baby steps while getting back into bento.

In this bento: yakionigiri from Trader Joe's, slices of peach jam-glazed pork (peach jam is from Dry Creek Peach and Produce), a fresh fig, baby carrots, and slices of Early Girl tomato from The Patch. I'm going to Party on the Plaza in Rohnert Park tomorrow, so I will have time to do more market shopping then... gotta restock for delicious summer time bentos. I missed you, bento buddies!

Fake Strawberry Bento

2011-07-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

I am playing with your mind in this bento! What looks like a strawberry is actually a slice of watermelon radish! Moohoohahaha! I guess it would have been even more subversive if I had cut it in the shape of a watermelon, huh?

In this bento: corn from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, bbq pork from G&G Supermarket in Santa Rosa, slices of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farms, the crazy strawberry shaped watermelon radish slice (from Orchard Farms), tamagoyaki omelette made with an egg from Hector's Honey, a bit of Violet Queen Broccoli (so pretty and tasty) from Orchard Farms, and lightly steamed green beans from The Patch. Super local bento!

And here's a look back at the bento I made a year ago today. Quite fun, it's got an ant made from olives and nori, plus teeny tiny deviled eggs made from hard boiled quail eggs. Tee hee!

Sorry I am not posting so much right now. I am covering the morning show again for coworkers, so my bento making is not happening as often (if I tried to make bento at 4am when I have to get up, they would be very ANGRY bentos), and when I do make them, it's mostly leftovers. Not so inspiring. Only 3 more weeks of covering the morning show! Zzzzzzzz....

Airplane Bentos

2011-07-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a nice long visit to see my family in Washington State. This was the longest vacation I have had in over 5 years, so it was really nice to not be rushed and have the time to relax. Of course, it was also a great reason to make airplane bento box lunches!

My first bento for the trip from Santa Rosa to Seattle contained falafel from Trader Joes, a few kalamata olives, cherries from the Neufeld Farms, caprese skewers, and spinich bolani made in the Bay Area.

Of course, while I was in Washington State, I had to go bento shopping. I found some fun bento boxes for my sister in law, my brother, and even baby sized bento boxes for my little niece. My bro decided to make bentos for us for a picnic to a local winery. I have to admit I got a little bossy and assembled my own bento, so he was kind of peeved. But I really do like his bento, it's the larger black one with the sandwich wrapped in wax paper. Our bentos had either eggs or egg salad sandwiches, radishes, cucumber, carrots, apples, bell pepper slices, and broccoli. Very healthy!

And here's the bento I made for my plane trip back from Seattle. My sister and I stopped at a great asian market in Kent, Washington called 99 Ranch Market. We got some delicious roasted duck, which I included in this bento. Also edamame, carrots, rainier cherries, and cucumber slices.

Here's a video of the shenanigans I got up to playing with my little niece. I made shirts for the Aunties to celebrate Auntie Palooza 2011. Hee hee!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Can't wait to get back to bento making now that I am all rested up. Have a great week bento pals!

Leftover Bento and Bentobird Visit

2011-07-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is a bento I made with more leftovers from Sizzling Tandoor. I used both the chicken tikka masala that I ordered, and the leftover lamb vindaloo that my hubby ordered. Both were great with the rice, and I just turned the whole thing out into a bowl and warmed it in the microwave at work for lunch. Yum!

In the smaller container: a slice of tangerine from The French Garden, a cherry plum from De'Santis Farms, and a few flower shaped pieces of watermelon.

My friend Jenn, also known as Bentobird, has posted about her trip to the Santa Rosa Farmers Market! She also has some great photos and descriptions of a visit to Point Reyes. It is really fun to see your home through someone else's eyes, especially someone who loves color and whimsy as much as Bentobird. I encourage you to follow her bento and food adventures on her blog.

Speaking of adventures, I am about to head off to Seattle to go to my 20 year high school reunion (eeek) and spend time with my adorable and brilliant niece (she's learning German and French at 6 months old!) and family. I see an inflight bento in my near future!!

Thank Goodness This Week Is Nearly Over Bento

2011-07-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Zombie Week is nearly over. I have been covering the morning show for one of my coworkers who is on vacation this week, and today was the last day I had to be up at 4am and in the studio writing news stories at 4:30am. Ouchie, my brain hurts. I am seriously considering a nap on my floor right now, because I still have to stick around for an interview at 11am, then come back to do an event from 3:30pm to 8pm. Then a broadcast tomorrow. I'll be a quivering pool of jelly on Sunday. :)

So I thought I would share two bentos with you today. One I made before our broadcast last weekend at the Sonoma Marin Fair, and the other was a bento I brought to work with me yesterday. See if you can tell the difference...

Yup, this is the one I made before the fair broadcast. There's leftover Aloo Chat from Sizzling Tandoor (aloo chat is a spicy potato salad served cold), carrots, edamame, a radish surrounded by arugula from Ridgeview Farms, steamed broccoli, and tamagoyaki omelettes with more arugula. I picked up the arugula and radishes while on a visit to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market with Jenn of Bentobird.

And this is the less artistic morning show bento! I took this pic with my cell phone. Apple slices, more radishes from Ridgeview Farms, edamame, and leftover homemade chicken enchiladas. This bento is quite representative of my bentos this week. I made them the night before, often with leftovers, threw the frozen edamame in to fill spaces and up the protein content, and called it good.

Here's the arugula from Reenie at Ridgeview Farms. She had really tasty arugula and wonderful sweet peas.

And this is the bunch of french breakfast radishes I picked up from Reenie during my trip to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market with Jenn of Bentobird.

See you next week after I get some sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

Crepes and Cherry Plums Bento

2011-06-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

As I type this, the smell of bacon is wafting through the office. Our afternoon talk show host just finished talking to Duskie Estes and John Stewart of Zazu and Bovolo Restaurants, and they brought their own Black Pig Meat Co. bacon which they cooked up in the studio. I was able to sneak a taste, otherwise I would be crying as well as hungry right now. Duskie and John won the recent Cochon 555 competition in Aspen, so they are the official Queen and King of Pork! Woohoo!

Sadly, there's no bacon in this bento. But it was still tasty. This bento features items I picked up at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market yesterday when I went there with fellow bento maker, Bentobird!

In this bento: crepes with turkey, colby jack cheese, and wilted arugula from Ridgeview Farms. Also baby carrots, french breakfast radishes from Ridgeview Farms, a few broccoli spears, and cherry plums from DeSantis Farms. The cherry plums were a bit tart, but so cute and perfect size for a bento. It was really fun to show off my favorite farmers market to a fellow bento buddy.

Here is the video I made of my recent adventures at the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic. Enjoy!

Food Themed Nail Art and Bento

2011-06-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

I entered a fun nail art contest on Leslie's blog called "Nail Polish Art Addiction" - an addiction I share, by the way. Her contest required entrants to make food themed nail designs, so it totally combines two of my favorite things: food and nail art! Here is my entry:

Trout Nails! These are actually fairly easy to do, so if you are a nail art novice, you could make these yourself without too much trouble. It's just a series of stripes for the base of the fishies, then some dots for the pattern and the eyes of the trout. If you have a second, I would love a vote in my favor this week. Here is the link to see all of the entries. There are some really creative ones, even some sushi nails!

And here is a bento I made recently with some farmers market supplies: cucumber slices, orange baby carrots, yellow carrot 'stars' from The French Garden in Sebastopol, a yakionigiri rice ball, tamagoyaki omelette slices, edamame, grapes, and a plum from Hamlow Ranch.

Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic Bento

2011-06-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Whew! I am wiped out, but really happy. This morning I was one of the announcers at the 21st Annual Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic. I love this event so much. It was on hiatus last year because of improvements being made to Keiser Park, but I was thrilled to see it back this year. As one of the perks of being a part of the media, I was able to go up in a balloon on Friday. I will post a video of that soon. Today I met another bento buddy in real life: Bentobird!

Ok, so Jenn is a little camera shy, but I really did get my picture with her! She and her sweetie Jamison are in Northern California for a visit and they showed up at the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic this morning. I am so glad that I made this quick bento (at 4:00am this morning, YIKES) so that I could have a bento when I met another bento pal.

This bento, by necessity, had to be assembled really quickly. I had to be at Keiser Park at 4:30am this morning, yowza! It includes: leftover chow mein from The China Room in Santa Rosa, carrots, broccoli, edamame, and a few grapes. I used cheddar and colby jack cheeses to cut out quick balloon shapes and placed them on the chow mein.

Here is my bento with a giant balloon in the background. I think it would take approximately 1.7 million bento boxes to fill an inflated hot air balloon. That number is not exact. ;-) The balloon in this pic is called Planet Earth and it is based in Albuquerque, NM.

I hope I can see Bentobird again before her visit is over, and if I do, I'll share whatever bento adventures we might have. Sorry if you missed out on the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic this year, but mark your calendar for Father's Day Weekend 2012 because it will definitely be back, and I will most assuredly be there, too! Ok, now it is time for a NAP!

Butteryaki Salmon Bento

2011-06-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Shepherd's Pie Bento

2011-06-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

Holy guacamole! It's been a long time since I posted. Can we call it senioritis? Lots of stuff has been happening behind the scenes: 20 year High School Reunion this summer, vacation to the Pacific Northwest soon, lots of web projects at work, getting ready for the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic, covering for coworkers who are having babies, covering for coworkers who got new jobs, covering for coworkers who are trying to get into the police academy... and so on.

But I have been making the occasional bento, I just haven't had time to post them. Here is a leftover remake: shepherd's pie!

In this bento: cherries, radish cut with a star shape, carrots, cucumber, steamed edamame, and a mini shepherd's pie. I made this pie with leftover garlic mashed potatoes, leftover burger from a restaurant called Bruno's on 4th, leftover sauteed rainbow chard from Triple T Ranch, and leftover grated parmesan from the La Vera Pizza we ordered. I made 6 of these and froze the other ones. Bento stash!

Have a great day bento buddies! I promise it will not take me another 2 and a half weeks to post the next bento.

Miso Soup Bento

2011-05-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hi bento pals! Today I tried out a trick that I first discovered through notabrownbag's website. It's portable miso soup! You can buy powdered miso soup packets, and I think I may even have one hiding in one of my desk drawers, but there is nothing like fresh miso paste and delicious cubes of tofu. Today even turned out kind of chilly with a few drizzles, so it's a perfect day for miso soup.

In this bento: steamed white corn, cucumber slices, cherries, my portable miso soup, and breaded pork cutlets leftover from last night's dinner. Portable miso soup is super easy: in the silicone cupcake liner I have a ball of miso paste mixed with a pinch of dashi granules, topped with cubes of tofu and sliced scallions. Dump the all of those ingredients into a bowl and top with hot water. Et voila: Miso Soup!

Note: I have tried making miso soup without dashi, and it just is kind of flat tasting. I found dashi granules at Asia Mart on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa. It's totally worth it if you are making miso soup at home.

Kung Fu Panda Bento

2011-05-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

In honor of Kung Fu Panda 2, which is in theaters today, here is a bento with Po! Bwahahahahahaha! Ok, I have to let you in on a little something that makes Kung Fu Panda even funnier for me, and for all German speakers. The name of the panda in Kung Fu Panda is Po. Po is the word for 'butt' in German. So I really just start giggling like a 7-year old every time I hear his name. Po really knows kung fu! (Butt really knows kung fu!) See?!?! It's HILARIOUS! Ah Hahahahaahahah!

In this bento: edamame, cherries, baby carrots, slices of cucumber, and a bao bun filled with bbq pork. I decorated the bao to look like Po (snort) with nori and provolone cheese. I used a bit of mayonnaise to stick the nori onto the bao. Unfortunately none of the items in this bento are from Sonoma County producers, I just haven't had a lot of time to make it to the Farmers Market. Things are super busy at work. I hope to stop by the market this Saturday.

Here's Po in all his glory (giggle) with all of his kung fu pals! I can't wait to see the new Kung Fu Panda, he's such a great character.

This is also a fun bento because it is my 140th bento, and that means another donation to the Redwood Empire Food Bank! Every 20 bento posts, I make a $20 donation to my local food bank, Redwood Empire Food Bank. That's one dollar per post. They deliver 4 dollars worth of food for every dollar donated and have received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for their high level of efficiency. Redwood Empire Food Bank is a really inspiring organization, and I like to help them out in my small way. Bento bloggers are lucky to have the luxury of fun, cute, nutritious food everyday. Some people are not so lucky. I encourage you to make a donation as well, or to donate to your local food bank.

Have a great week bento buddies!

Spring Fruits Bento

2011-05-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Bleh, Blogger weirded out on me, so check the next post to see who won my One Year Anniversary giveaway!
I picked up some spring fruits at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market yesterday. Yay! Neufeld Farms, who sell lots of dried fruit and are based in Tulare County, are one of the first vendors to have cherries and fresh apricots. I was a little wary to see if they were flavorful, but after trying a sample I was convinced! So nice to have this fresh spring fruit in my bento box!

In this bento box: pork patties from my freezer stash, clove scented jasmine rice with slices of garlic scapes from Middleton Farms on top, half of an apricot from Neufeld Farms, 4 cherries from Neufeld Farms, and edamame.

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: Pyramid Brewery makes a really yummy Apricot Ale, which is a hefeweizen flavored with apricots. The fruit flavors would mirror the spring fruit in this bento and also be a great contrast to the spicier pork patties and clove scented jasmine rice.

Sonoma Bento Blogiversary Winner!

2011-05-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a little late in posting, the weekend was jam packed and I am still recovering. Garden tours, food and wine tasting, and a hootenanny - and that was just Saturday!

There ended up being 46 different entries in the contest, so cool!

Without further ado: congrats to WYOWOMAN! Kristin has a fun blog called From My Little Corner filled with scrapbooking, cooking, thoughts, and other fun stuff.

Kristin, you have won this fun prize pack! You can continue your bento adventures with fun picks, chopsticks, a pink bento box, a nori punch, an onigiri mold, and an onigiri felt strap.

Thank you so much for all of the great responses, especially those who shared which bento tools they enjoy the most. Cutters seem really popular, and I can see why. They make cute really easy!

Today's bento uses leftover clove scented jasmine rice with homemade chicken and potato curry which is topped with scallions and garlic scapes from Middleton Farms, a wedge of lime to squeeze on the curry, an apricot from Neufeld Farms, baby carrots, and a few slices of cucumber. I love this round bento I got at Daiso. It's got two containers inside, which work really well to separate saucy stuff like the curry.

Have a great day bento pals!

Friday the 13th Bento

2011-05-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Not sure what is up with Blogger. It seems that it ate yesterday's post, and also deleted a few entries in my contest. So if you entered in the past few days, be sure to check to see if your comments are still there.

There's still time to enter my 1 year blogiversary giveaway! Click here and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. And the contest is open to everyone on the planet, so if you live outside of the U.S. you can enter too! (If you live on Alpha Centauri, you cannot enter, sorry.) I will stop taking entries at midnight tonight (that's 12:00am Pacific Time May 14th, 2011).

So here's my fun bento for today: Jason from the Friday the 13th movies!

In this bento: fried rice, Jason's mask (made from provolone and nori), tamagoyaki omelette slices, baby carrots, cherries from Neufeld Farms, edamame, and an apricot also from Neufeld Farms.

Here's the spring fruits bento that Blogger ate (hope you enjoyed it, Blogger!!): pork patties from my frozen stash, clove scented jasmine rice topped with slices of garlic scapes from Middleton Farms, half of an apricot from Neufeld Farms, cherries from Neufeld Farms, and edamame.

Here's the goodies you could win in honor of my 1 year blogiversary! A cute bento box with a handmade bento box felt strap (made by me!), animal shaped food picks, chopsticks, an apple shaped nori punch, and an onigiri mold.

Click here to leave a comment and be entered in the drawing. Thanks for following my bento adventures!

Fava Bean Bento

2011-05-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

Fava beans are now in season at the farmers markets in Sonoma County. They do take some effort to prepare, but they taste so good that I will usually give it a go a few times each spring.

In the top tier: fava bean and ricotta cheese puree with a fava bean butterfly on top, garlic crostinis, an apple rabbit, and walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market. In the lower tier: pulled pork wrapped in a red lettuce leaf from Triple T Farms, cucumber slices, baby carrots, radishes, and a yakionigiri from Trader Joe's.

Preparing fava beans requires shelling them from their pods, blanching them and quickly cooling them, then removing the outer skin from the bean. Then you still have to cook them. So it's a bit of an effort. But super delish, and the essence of spring! I bought these favas from Triple T, but lots of vendors at the Sonoma farmers markets have favas right now. I also used a garlic scape (another amazing spring veggie) from Middleton Farms in this recipe.

Fava beans in their pods from Triple T.

Garlic scapes from Middleton Farms.

Fava Bean and Ricotta Puree with Garlic Crostini

a little over 1 pound of unshucked fava bean pods

olive oil for sauteeing

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1/2 tsp italian seasoning

2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic scape, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 baguette, sliced thin

1 garlic clove, sliced in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

fresh goat cheese (optional)

Prepare the favas as described above. Reserve a few fava beans for garnish. In a sautee pan, heat about 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Sautee the shallots for about 1 minute, then add the fava beans and the italian seasoning. Cook the favas for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the favas cook, arrange the sliced baguette on a cookie sheet. Rub each slice with the side of the garlic clove. Discard the clove. Brush each piece of baguette with olive oil, then broil until the edges of the baguette slices just start to turn golden. Remove bread from oven and set aside. Remove the fava beans from the heat and allow to cool for about 2 minutes. In a food processor, combine the favas, ricotta, olive oil, and garlic scape. Pulse to combine. Use a spatula to push the mixture back down (without the blade running!) to make sure the favas and cheese are well mixed. Turn the mixture out into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Top garlic crostinis with fava mixture and an individual fava bean. You can also put a small bit of goat cheese on each crostini. Makes about 30 crostinis.

Delish with a nice chianti. Ffftftffftftfftftf....

DON'T FORGET: You still have time to enter to win my fun bento kit in celebration of one year of Sonoma Bento. Enter now by clicking here and leaving a comment! Drawing is on lucky Friday the 13th of May. :-)

Cinco de Mayo Bento

2011-05-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hola! Happy Cinco de Mayo! I got a bunch of chicken drumsticks from our local hispanic grocery store yesterday (Lola's--I love this place for really great deals!), and simmered them in spices and chili powder, then baked them in a salsa with lots of green onion. They turned out great, and made this bento very flavorful.

In this bento: quesadilla with refried beans, white cheddar cheese, and chicken meat. Also radishes, green onion, navel orange segments, a baby carrot, a dried mission fig, lime flavored cabbage slaw, and walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market. Just for fun, here is the bento I made on Cinco de Mayo last year:

This one had tortillas from La Tortilla Factory, a great company in Sonoma County. I think this one was pretty cute, and I remember that it tasted good. :) Are you doing anything fun to celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Any special meal planned for today?

And remember, you still have time to enter my 1 Year Blogiversary contest, good luck!

Steak and Potato Bento

2011-05-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

This is a bento made with leftovers from dinner. Flank steak and baked potato fit well in this round bento box!

In this bento: baby carrots, half of a baked potato with black sesame details and a tiny cilantro leaf, slices of cucumber, green grapes, orange cauliflower, flank steak, and a container of sour cream with green onions. The flank steak was marinated in a combination of soy sauce, rosemary, worchestershire, green garlic from Middleton Farms, red pepper flakes, mirin, and rice vinegar. I broiled it and it made lots of steak for dinner and subsequent bento lunches.

Don't foret to enter my One Year Blogiversary Giveaway! You have until May 13th to enter. Good luck!

Also, this weekend I went on a scooter ride through Sonoma County. Farm Trails organized a great event called Blossoms, Bees and Barnyard Babies, and I went to two different stops along the route. Here's a quick video of my adventures yesterday:

Sonoma Bento One Year Anniversary!

2011-04-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today marks one year since I started this blog. I am so thankful for all of the support and interest from my bento friends. Some of you make bento, some of you do not, but all of you have been so kind and encouraged me to keep learning and keep improving my bento skills. This has been a great year, and I can't wait to see how my bento lunches will evolve in the next year. So, I thought I would do a before and after kind of a post today. Here is the very first bento I made, back on April 21st, 2010.

The upper tier has a heart shaped onigiri rice ball, steamed broccoli, slices of baked sweet potato, grapes, and a sliced strawberry.

The lower tier is filled with salad greens from Offerings of the Land, carrots, mushrooms, watermelon radish, and half of a hard boiled egg. And now, for my remake of my first ever bento, drumroll please......

The first bento I made was in a GINORMOUS bento box. The only thing you really can fit into that box and not have way too much food, would be a salad. Instead, I used this new black bento box (it's still kind of big at 600ml) and packed everything much tighter. Packing your bento box tightly will not only make sure that things don't roll around and shift, but it will also put enough food into your bento box to fill your tummy at lunch time. In this bento box: I have an onigiri wrapped with a strip of nori that I punched with a flower shaped craft punch. There are a few green grapes, a strawberry from Williamson Farms, a flower shaped slice of purple sweet potato, steamed broccoli rapini from Triple T, a mix of wild arugula from Triple T along with torn romaine lettuce, slices of carrot, a french breakfast radish from Ortiz Farms, a small container of salad dressing, and a tamagoyaki omelette made with slivers of green garlic from Middleton Farms. The only thing I forgot was mushrooms, and I actually did have enoki mushrooms from Bohemian Mushroom Farm, but I spaced and forgot to put them in. You can also see that the lighting is MUCH better in the remake than in the original bento. I take pictures of my bento next to a bright window. I also use scrapbook paper or fabric for a background. The original bento was shot in my office kitchen. Not really conducive to glamorous photo shoots. :)

This is the first bento I posted on Sonoma Bento on April 29th, 2010. As you can see, I was already making some big steps and improvements from my first bento attempt. I actually really like this bento, and I was wondering how I would remake it. In this bento: a pita sandwich with wasabi tunafish salad, baby carrots, radish slices, broccoli, two onigiri with slices of cucumber in them, and half of a boiled egg with black sesame seed details.

In my re-do: a magic round bento to the rescue! I have basically the same wasabi tunafish sandwich in a pita, but I put black sesame seeds on the outsides. Also in this bento: steamed broccoli rapini from Triple T, green grapes, a bear onigiri with nori eyes and a pickled ginger red mouth, radishes from Bernier Farms, cucumber slices, baby carrots, and a little hard boiled quail egg from Triple T with nori eyes and a carrot beak. The original bento was pretty cute as it was, so this is just a different spin on the ingredients in a different shaped bento box. I was a little puzzled about why I put both bread and rice in the same bento, which I don't do now. Ah well, this did come out pretty tasty.

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: J Vineyards & Winery Cuvee 20 Brut. A great and affordable sparkling wine to toast one year as a bento blogger! YAY!

Something you may have noticed in my newer bento photos: a watermark. As my photos have improved, I decided I should brand them so that they are credited to me. I place the words "Sonoma Bento" in my photos, using background or foreground colors and placing them in fun spots. Many bento bloggers do this, and it is probably a good practice to use if you are uploading your own bento photos. Credit should always be given where it is due, and you don't want someone to steal your photos and claim it as his/her own.

A few words about how my style and approach to bento has changed: I used to think that I needed tons of picks and cupcake liners to make my bento kawaii (or cute). I find that I rarely use food picks. A sharp knife is the tool I use the most in making my bento. I do like to use small food cutters for a quick cute element. Tweezers are important for placing details. Probably the most important part of my bento making style, however, is the farmers market! Seasonal, fresh food is what I like to build my bento around. Not everything comes from the farmers market, but I try to feature at least one local item in every lunch.

Now for the celebration! In honor of my one year blogiversary, I am giving away a fun set of bento items. It's a starter kit of sorts! Here's what I am giving away:

A set of colorful chopsticks.

An onigiri mold, so you can make hearts, stars, and bears.

A nori punch shaped like an apple.

A set of 12 food picks.

And finally, this cute three tiered pink bento box, and my handmade onigiri bento box strap. The band is pink felt with an elastic section, and a felt onigiri face on top. The bento box itself is brand new, and has a shallow upper tier to hold chopsticks or utensils (maybe a slim sauce pack), and then two tiers for food.

There are 4 ways you can win this awesome bento prize pack. Please leave each entry as a separate comment:

1. MANDATORY: You must be a follower of this blog, Sonoma Bento.

2. Tweet about the contest. Please let me know if you tweeted about the contest, and if possible include the link to your tweet.

3. Mention this contest on your blog. Please let me know about your blog post and include the link to your blog post.

4. Tell me what your favorite bento tool is and why, or if you don't make bento box lunches yet, which bento tool you would really like to have.

I will randomly select one entry as the winner on lucky Friday the 13th of May. :-)

GOOD LUCK! And thank you, thank you, thank you for being a part of my bento adventures. :)

Cauliflower Hugs a Bao Bento

2011-04-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Tee hee!! After I made this bento it totally looked like the cauliflower was giving a hug to the bao in the bento. I should have put eyes on the tangerine. :) Oh well.

In this bento: leftover marinated flank steak, a few kalamata olives, a tangerine from Schletewitz Family, steamed orange cauliflower, and a char sui bao from Trader Joe's.

I also finally did a new nail polish design. This was suggested by a friend of mine a while ago. I love to paint my nails with fun designs, and I love bento, so he thought I should combine the two. Here's what I painted on each nail: thumb: an edamame pod on a blue background; index: a tamagoyaki omelette; middle: a smiling onigiri rice ball; ring: a strawberry; and pinkie: an apple rabbit. Nom, nom, nom! :)

My one year blog-iversary is coming up this Friday! Check in to see a re-do bento, tips on what I consider my bento essentials after one year of bentoing, and a fun prize package. I'm so excited!!!!

Easter Egg Bento

2011-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Bento Peeps! (Ha ha, I said peeps!) I thought I would sneak in one last Easter themed bento. I tried my hand at dying these quail eggs, and the ratio of food color was a bit strong, so the egg turned out more mauve than the pinkish purple I was going for. Oops!

In this bento: udon noodles tossed with a soy vinaigrette, two little quail eggs from Triple T, orange cauliflower, slices of cucumber, baby carrots, two teriyaki chicken meatballs from Aidell's, snow peas from Triple T, two french radishes from Ortiz Farms, and a few green grapes.

I don't normally use picks, but these little chick picks were perfect for an Easter themed bento. They are soooo cute! The soy vinaigrette has: soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, freshly grated ginger, lime juice, toasted sesame oil, sugar, pepper, and Persian Lime Olive Oil from Stonehouse Olive Oil. Really yummy!

Happy Easter weekend, friends!

Quesadilla Bento

2011-04-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Leftover pulled pork made its way into this bento (I made it last week, but am just now posting it), full of fun colors and flavors.

In this bento: a pulled pork quesadilla made with pepper jack cheese, pulled pork, and a handmade style tortilla from Sonoma County's La Tortilla Factory, a purple sweet potato flower, a few black grapes, half of a radish, a clementine from Schletewitz Family Fruit Stand, cilantro, sour cream, and salsa.

I am coming up on my 1 year blog anniversary (blogiversary?) and I am really excited. I will be recreating one of my first bentos, and I will also have a fun prize for you to win. Keep an eye out towards the end of the month. Have a great day, bento pals!

Pulled Pork Bear Bento

2011-04-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

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!

German Bento

2011-04-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Heute habe ich ein Deutsches Bento gemacht. Es ist voller Deutsche Sachen, z.B. Sauerkraut, Weisswurst, Kartoffeln, und Curry-Ketchup. Ich habe es in meinem "Tiffin-Stil" bento eingepackt. Auch in diesem Bento: ein stueck Brokkoli, eine Tangerine, und ein Rettich. Die Tangerine kommt aus Schletewitz Family Fruit Stand. Die Serviette ist mit den Bayerische Farben bemalt -so toll! Ich habe diese Servietten in Deutschland in 1998 gekauft! Ach du meine... ist das schon so lange her??!

Und fuer meine Bento Freunde die nicht Deutsch lesen koennen: The rest of my bento posts will be in German. APRIL FOOLS! ;-)

New (Kind of) Bento Box Bento

2011-03-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am debuting my new pink "Floral Time" bento box today! It's not technically new, since I purchased it from someone on eBay who was selling her gently used bento box. I have been trying to win some of the awesome bento boxes that are part of the Bento4Japan eBay auction, but I keep getting outbid. WHICH IS AWESOME! :) I'll keep trying though, lots of great things are up for auction. Make sure that the Bento4Japan auction you are bidding on is donating 100% of the final sale price to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund - a GlobalGiving Project. There are (sadly) some people trying to profit from the Bento4Japan auction. You can easily tell if a bento auction is legit, because it will say that 100% of the final sale price is going to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund - a GlobalGiving Project. Find Bento4Japan items by clicking here.

In this two tiered bento: leftover udon noodles with veggies and leftover chicken, a few turkey and provolone cheese rolls, and slices of radish. In the lower tier: a char sui bao from Trader Joe's, steamed edamame, a few slices of red bell pepper, steamed Okinawan sweet potato (cut in a flower shape), and a little carrot from Triple T. The leftover noodles have some asparagus from Triple T (first of the season!!) and green garlic from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

And here's my cutie patootie new(ish) bento box. I just love it. PINK! And the flowers on the lid are so adorable. Have a great Monday, bento friends!

Pasta Bento

2011-03-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today's bento is made with lots of leftovers and little bits of this and that. The Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and I usually start running low on ingredients right before the next market day.

In the larger container: penne pasta mixed with green garlic from the farmers market, tasso ham from Franco Dunn, red bell pepper, onion, broccoli, and some leftover chicken drumstick. I tossed the pasta with a mixture of shoyu, lime infused olive oil, mirin, sugar, and freshly ground black pepper. YUM! In the smaller container: slices of pepper jack cheese, a tangerine, and little crackers.

One of the items I put up for the Bento4Japan auction on eBay sold today! Woohoo! This lovely bento starter kit is still up for bids. Please click here to make your bid, the auction for this set will be over in 1 day. We've raised over $1500 in one week! Find out more about Bento4Japan and how you can help by clicking here.

I've featured today's bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Check out more fun lunch ideas on her blog!

Mother Daughter Bento-ing Part Three

2011-03-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Irish O'Bento

2011-03-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Get it, O'Bento?? Ha ha! Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day! This is an international bento, filled with corned beef and cabbage.

In this bento: boiled red potatoes, boiled carrots, boiled corned beef (from Trader Joes), and steamed cabbage. Also a cute little green monkey pick, and a monkey container filled with some mustard.

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: Guinness, natch!

Our Bento4Japan ebay auction is going strong, with more items added and some great bids. Today I added a fun bento starter kit with a handmade onigiri bento box strap. You can add your own auction items, just be sure to put Bento4Japan in the title of the auction. Get more details on how you can help at the Bento4Japan website. We hope to raise lots of money for the people of Japan who are working to put their lives back together.

Bento4Japan

2011-03-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

The bento community is working together to raise money for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund on ebay. So far there are signed bento books, bento starting kits, bento boxes, and a cute bento box felt strap with bento box that I posted. 100% of the sale price for these items will go to the relief fund. You can also post items on ebay, just be sure to use the words "Bento4Japan" in the title of your item, and select the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund as the beneficiary. And be sure to shop for items in this auction to help raise money for our friends in Japan! Raise money and make bento! It's a win-win.

Mils and Debra have put together a great website with all of the information about this international fundraiser at Bento4Japan. Thanks to Chantale for her efforts with graphics and to everyone who sells or bids in this auction!

In this bento: yakisoba made with broccoli, carrots, green garlic from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, cabbage, and chicken. Also in this bento: steamed edamame, a tangerine from Schletewitz Family Fruit Stand, and a few slices of pepper jack cheese.

We bought a ginormous block of pepper jack cheese, so I am guessing it will be featured in many bentos for the next month or so. :) This bento is also featured in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. See what other bento makers are up to on Shannon's site!

Carrot Salad Bento

2011-03-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I made matching bentos for my daughter and myself. She was at a church function during the morning, then we headed to a coworkers house to pick up some furniture for our new place, so I figured a colorful bento would be a nice treat during her busy day.

In this bento: a tangerine from Schletewitz Family Fruit Factory, a sweet pea blossom on a tatsoi leaf from Earthworks (a new vendor at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market), two Girl Scouts thin mints (!), carrot salad made with carrots, cabbage, green garlic from a vendor at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market (I didn't get their name, sorry), and walnuts from the Sass Family, plus tamagoyaki made with a Sonoma Valley egg, tasso ham from Franco Dunn, and more green garlic. The lower compartment is just rice. YUM.

Here are our two bentos side by side. There's a little dish of my first attempt at tamagoyaki, which turned into scrambled eggs. :) Not enough oil in the tamagoyaki pan.

Green garlic from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

I have been keeping my eye on tweets by the amazing Maki of Just Bento, watching the events unfold in Japan. The world is a smaller place and my heart feels bigger today, making room for my bento friends and their families. Donations can still be made to help Japan in the aftermath of this tragedy. Visit your local Red Cross or try ifrc.org to help.

Japan Earthquake

2011-03-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

An earthquake measuring 8.9 magnitude hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japan yesterday afternoon. Resulting tsunamis crashed into the coast lines. Many are dead, and the total damage is not yet known. Aftershocks, some of them quite large, continue to hit the country. I am praying for my friends in Japan and urge all of you to donate to the Red Cross relief effort. If you are in the United States, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10. If you are not in the U.S. you can go to ifrc.org to find a way to donate.

Google has launched a Person Finder to help those trying to locate people in Japan, or those in Japan trying to get a message to loved ones. For those without emegencies, it is best to use twitter or skype to keep phone lines open.

I have 128 followers on this blog. If we can all donate just $10 we can make a good contribution to those who need it so badly right now, and in the coming weeks as Japan recovers.

Char Sui Bao Bento

2011-03-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

This is my 120th bento post, and that means it is time to donate to my favorite local charity: Redwood Empire Food Bank! For every 20 posts, I donate 20 bucks to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. That's a dollar per post. I like to think that my lunches are helping other people in my community enjoy a healthy meal as well. I was inspired to donate a dollar per post after seeing the wonderful example set by Susan Yuen of Hawai'i's Bento Box. She donates to her local food bank. Debra of Hapa Bento also makes donations for each bento post. We are a supportive community of bloggers, and it is great to see us making an effort to help others. I encourage you to find a charity you like and make a donation per post, or you can make a donation to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. For every dollar Redwood Empire Food Bank gets, they distribute $4 worth of food! They are very efficient.

Today's bento includes a char sui bao from Trader Joes topped with three nori hearts, a few baby carrots, steamed edamame, and fried rice with onion and carrots. I can't wait to go to the farmers market this weekend. I totally need to get more bento ingredients.

This morning I ran into dragonmamma at the grocery store! It was so fun to meet someone from the bento world in person. I know dragonmamma doesn't do bento so much, but she does have a fun blog and is in the midst of a fun 365 challenge: breaking a routine everyday. She's breaking habits left and right, and building new synapses along the way. It's really fun and inspiring, be sure to check it out.

Have a great day, bento pals!

Home Is Where The Heart Is Bento

2011-03-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

Whew, that was a lot of work! We finally are in our new place, but still have boxes everywhere. I have pretty much located all of my bento gear, but I am sure I will continue to discover things here and there as we go through the boxes and put stuff away. Today's bento is my first one in 12 days! I missed it, and the yummy food for lunch. My hubby and I have been eating a lot of take out (which he is thrilled about) but I really long for homemade stuff.

In this bento: rice, a pepperoni heart with a cheddar cheese house, steamed broccoli from Triple T tossed with soy and black sesame seeds, sauteed shrimp marinated in lemon, soy, and honey, baby carrots, and radishes. I haven't been to the farmers market in two weeks, so I hope to be able to go this weekend and stock up the fridge with seasonal goodies.

I've included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Check it out for great bento ideas! I missed you guys!!!

Moving Is Hell Bento

2011-02-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

So I am days away from the first official day of my move. Me and Mr. Sonoma Bento are moving to a larger apartment in our complex, so I am really looking forward to more space, but NOT really looking forward to all of the boxes and cleaning that await me in the next week. Yuck. Yesterday I spent two hours scrubbing the oven. :-( So this will be the last bento for a little while, until I get everything unpacked and am not worried about cleaning an appliance again so my landlord can inspect it.

In this bento: Yakionigiri from Trader Joes (love these!), baby carrots, a mandarin orange, a few cherry tomatoes from Trader Joes (not very flavorful this time of year), leftover salmon from Sam's For Play Cafe (dinner last night), and steamed broccoli shoots from Triple T tossed with a mustard and chili flakes vinaigrette.

This is a brand new bento box (well, kind of brand new) that I picked up at Border's bookstore. They carry products from Paperchase, and this is one of a set of four bento boxes. I really love these boxes because they are so cute, and with four different sizes for one low price, they are really versatile. Plus the lids seem to fit really well.

Wish me luck with the move! See you around mid March. :-)

Sonoma County Restaurant Week

2011-02-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's the tail end of this sickness I am getting over. Maybe it's the bizarre weather (wind storms, sunshine, hail, sideways rain, sunshine). I am just not super inspired for bento right now. I mean, look at this:

This is my bento today. I am so bored by it, I didn't even eat it. I need a bento intervention! I need some spark, something to get me excited about the great food in Sonoma County again!

Cue Sonoma County Restaurant Week! Last year at this time, the lovely people at the Sonoma County Economic Development Board put together the first ever Sonoma County Restaurant Week to celebrate the amazing restaurants, food purveyors, farmers, wine and beer makers, and general awesome eating environment that is Sonoma County. Over 80 restaurants participated with three-course fixed menus at $19, $29, and $39, depending on the venue. It was a HUGE hit! I went to the girl and the fig, Viola Pastry Boutique, Barn Diva, La Vera Pizza, and at least one other place during Restaurant Week. I had a BLAST and ate so much great food.

The pocket book is a bit tighter this time around, and Mr. Sonoma Bento and I are in the middle of a move, but it wouldn't hurt to go to at least two places would it? I mean, my bento inspiration is at stake here. If you are in Sonoma County, the week of February 21st through February 27th is your time to head out and eat at over 100 different restaurants. Check out the menus ahead of time, make your plan of attack now! I can't wait, I can't wait! (So far I am thinking of heading to Jackson's Bar and Oven, SEA Thai Bistro, and going back to Viola's...)

If you aren't in Sonoma County, road trip!

Good Husband Bento

2011-02-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

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!

Bad Husband Bento

2011-02-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Sigh, I am sure he didn't do it on purpose, but Mr. Sonoma Bento broke one of my favorite bento boxes. I bid you a fond adieu, Ariel Two-Tiered Bento Box. *sobbing

I am kidding, although I did make mean faces at my hubby for about 15 minutes while I was bummed about the loss of this fun bento box. Of course, it cost only about 5 bucks, so it's not a financial blow. But they don't sell them any longer at the Disney Store, and the one I found on eBay is going for 25 dollars. Yeah, I don't think so. (Yes, that's a Tecate beer in his hand. I was determined to get a pic of him shamefully displaying what he did, and he wouldn't put his beer down for the photo.)

The bento I made in this single tier bento box is pretty straight forward. Udon noodles tossed with a homemade shoyu and peanut sauce with sliced carrots and green onions, frozen Aidell's teriyaki meatballs, and frozen edamame. I decided not to heat up the frozen items this time, since I pack my lunches in the morning and they'll thaw by lunch time.

Beverage Pairing Suggestion: The beer my hubby is holding, to drown my sorrows. :)

Conversation Hearts Bento

2011-02-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

CasaBento is having another contest on their facebook page, and this was my second entry for the contest. Sadly, they had so many great entries that mine didn't make it into the top eight. But it sure is fun to check out the other great bentos. You can vote now for your favorite Valentine's Day themed bento on Casa Bento's facebook page. Good luck to all of the finalists!

This bento was made with some help from my friend CocoCarina who suggested the "Bento Love" verbage for one of the conversation hearts. I thought "Bite Me" would be fun and playful for the second heart, since you do actually eat this and biting is encouraged. :) The "candy hearts" are actually made from egg sheet (I used Lia's great tutorial on Bentolicious to make the egg sheet) and alphabet pasta colored with food coloring pen for the words. Also in this bento: rice, edamame, char sui bbq pork, a blackberry, steamed broccoli from Triple T, french breakfast radishes from Ortiz Farms, and baby carrots. The doily in the photo was actually made by my husband's mom, Phyllis.

Happy Almost Valentine's Day!

A 'Hearty' Bento

2011-02-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

Ha ha, puns are the best! This 'hearty' bento is one of my entries for CasaBento's Valentine's Day Bento contest. If I have time this weekend, I will make a second entry. My buddy CocoCarina helped me think up a fun idea for another heart themed bento. Entry deadline is February 6th at midnight (GTM+1).

In this bento: jasmine rice scented with clove and cardamom and topped with a chipotle cheddar heart, steamed broccoli from Triple T with little soy paper hearts, baby carrots, french breakfast radishes from Ortiz Farms, and broiled flank steak that I marinated in lots of yummy stuff (leftover from dinner last night).

The marinade I made is similar to one my mom makes for flank steak. It's so delicious. I used soy sauce, vegetable oil, toasted sesame oil, sliced scallions, powdered ginger, crushed dried rosemary, sriracha, worchestershire sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin. I was in a rush last night, so it only marinated for about an hour before I cooked it, but the marinade works even better if you let it sit for about 8 hours in the fridge.

Simple Bento

2011-02-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

Leftover rice and frozen bento staples made this a very easy bento to prepare. Most bento box lunches I make are simple like this one. I didn't even turn the rice into an onigiri rice ball, just wasn't feeling it today.

Of course, simple does not mean that it doesn't taste good. :) In this bento: leftover rice with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds, two teriyaki chicken meatballs from Aidell's, steamed broccoli spears from Triple T in Rincon Valley, french breakfast radishes from Ortiz Farms, baby carrots, and steamed edamame.

Just Bento Bento

2011-02-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled that my recent trip to Seattle coincided with Makiko Itoh's appearance and book signing at Uwajimaya there. Maki wrote the wildly popular The Just Bento Cookbook: Everyday Lunches To Go which is available on Amazon already in its third printing! I got my copy at Uwajimaya and I looked inside the front cover to see which printing I got, and I think it's the first edition! Wow.

It's me and Maki at Uwajimaya! Maki's husband was nice enough to take this picture of us. Uwajimaya was PACKED that day. I've never seen it so busy. I think it was because they were celebrating some kind of anniversary, and had a free sake tasting later that day. I skipped the sake tasting. :)

This is my husband's favorite aisle at Uwajimaya: The Ramen Aisle. I have a pic somewhere of him with his arms spread out in the middle of this aisle. It's less like a kid in a candy store, and more like a devotional pose. Very funny.

The other side of the ramen aisle, aka Mecca.

I've only been able to read a few of the bento chapters in Maki's book so far, but one I wanted to try out right away was the Tamagoyaki bento. I added green onion to my Tamagoyaki omelette, which is one of Maki's suggestions. I have a pan made for tamagoyaki which makes it really easy to cook this omelette, but this time I tried rolling it on a sushi mat after it was cooked. It made a nice round tamagoyaki. I can't wait to try more recipes!

Also in this bento: steamed edamame, roasted red, purple, and yellow baby potatoes with pepper and bacon, apple rabbits made with apples from Lambert's Apples, walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, and slices of blood orange from Twin Peaks.

Mother Daughter Bento-ing Part Deux

2011-02-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have made bento box lunches with my daughter, and she loved it. During my recent trip to Seattle, I decided to try making bentos with my sister and my mom. It's Mother Daughter Bentos!

My sister Sarah and I headed to Southcenter Mall to find a cool bento box for her, and to get ingredients at Seafood City. We tried a place called Tokyo Lifestyle, but their selection of bento boxes was not great. The one she got was at Borders, made by Paperchase. It's four separate boxes for 10 bucks, such a deal, and they are really cute, with images of little smiling fruits, veggies, and other food on them.

My sister works on her two tiered bento here. We had soba noodles tossed with a homemade sauce, ground turkey soboro, hard boiled quail eggs, carrots, sugar snap peas, oranges, scallions, lettuce, and red pepper.

Sarah is choppin red peppers! We also bought some edamame, but used the sugar snap peas instead. They worked really well.

Me and my sister with our bentos! We made enough food for dinner for the three of us, and stowed the filled bento boxes away for lunch the next day.

Me and my mom (who finished her treatment for breast cancer and looks great!) with our completed bentos. I had given mom this bento box a while ago, but this was the first time she used it.

Here's a closer look at mom's bento. Very nice arrangement! We had to smoosh the ingredients down a bit, but she had a bento box strap to hold the tiers together.

My bento box, which is actually just a food storage container I got at Daiso. But it's so easy to use and has a great tight fitting lid, so it doesn't spill. I used this as my in flight bento on my flight back to Sonoma County.

All of our bento box lunches tucked safely away in the fridge. I know it is not 'oishii' to make bentos the day before, but I was leaving too early in the morning for us all to do this together.

Of course, the main reason I was in Seattle was to visit my brand new niece, Molly Ruby. She's the first baby born to any of the siblings in our family, so it's a pretty big deal. Here's a video montage of some pics from my visit with Molly. I can't wait to make her some baby bentos!

Bunny Bento

2011-01-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

Whew, I sure missed making bento this past week! I was bunny sitting/house sitting for a coworker and I just did not feel comfortable making bentos. I didn't have my bento gear, and I didn't have the ingredients I am comfortable with on hand. Strange how we get stuck in patterns and when we aren't in that groove, it's just harder to do what we normally do.

In this bento: leftover spaghetti carbonara with a jack cheese bunny on top, slices of blood orange from Twin Peaks with a pink bunny pick, a bit of broccoli, and baby carrots. I made the spaghetti carbonara using a James Beard recipe from his book, James Beard's Beard On Pasta (James Beard Library of Great American Cooking). The eggs I used were from my friend and coworker Gwen who has her own chickens. It really turned out delicious, but it was somewhat difficult to make. Picture me tossing the hot pasta while my hubby slowly pours the egg mixture into the pan, blocking my view and dribbling some egg onto the stovetop, the pan is moving all over the place, and I am telling him to add a bit of the pasta water, and then some cheese, and now my arms are tired... whew!

Here's the little bun bun I was watching the past week. His name is Luigi, and he is just super darling. He loves broccoli, carrots and grapes. Maybe I should have added some grapes to this bento and it would have been perfect for Luigi. ('.,.')

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the official beginning of the Year of the Rabbit tomorrow!

Mini Pork Buns Bento

2011-01-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

This bento uses frozen mini pork buns that I picked up from Asia Mart in Santa Rosa. I love freezer stash items, because they make it really easy to put together an interesting bento without much fuss.

In this bento: fried rice made with char siu bbq pork from G&G Supermarket and baby chard from Triple T Ranch and mini pork buns. In the second compartment: more slices of char siu pork, cucumber slices, a Sonoma Jack wedge of cheese (strangely it's actually from Wisconsin!), walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, and sections of ruby red grapefruit from De'Santis Farms.

I included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. I love seeing what other bento makers are up to each week!

Pupseria Salvadorena Bento

2011-01-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

My buddy CocoCarina and I have a restaurant review blog, and we recently went to a great place in Santa Rosa called Pupuseria Salvadorena. Check out our review by clicking here. The food is great and the prices can't be beat. Plus the leftovers are perfect for bento!

In this bento: two Pasteles de Pollo con Papa (little potpies with chicken and potatoes), mandarin orange sections, and Curtido, a spicy, slightly fermented cabbage slaw. I made this bento a while ago, after our trip to the restaurant, but seeing it now makes me hungry for delicious Salvadoran food!

Chicken Stirfry Bento

2011-01-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

I do not have a wok, but I wanted to see if I could make a successful stirfry using my awesome ManPans pan. I am happy to say, it worked pretty well. I used chicken, ginger, garlic (from Armstrong Valley Farms), onions, carrots, purple cabbage, green onions, and zucchini in my stirfry, and made a sauce of shoyu, water, toasted sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, sriracha, sugar, and cornstarch. I even made my first batch of miso soup! That did not work as well, since I didn't have any dashi broth. I will try again when I do. My hubby LOVES miso soup, mostly because he is wild about tofu. He will kill me if word about his love for tofu gets out, so let's keep this amongst ourselves. ;-)

In this bento: leftover chicken stirfry, rice, Arkansas Black apple slices from Walker Apples, baby carrots, slices of cucumber, and two mini pork buns. I tried steaming the pork buns in my microwave steamer and I think I overdid it. I will have to resort back to the stovetop method. They are tasty though! I picked them up at Asia Mart in Santa Rosa.

Big News! My little brother and his beautiful wife had their first baby yesterday. She's tiny, just 6 pounds 2 ounces, and her name is Molly Ruby. I can't wait to head to Seattle at the end of this month to meet her. You can call me "Auntie M" from now on. :-) I'll have to come up with a fun bento to celebrate her birth!

Inarizushi and Sausage Bento

2011-01-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

Made this bento before I headed to the F-F-FREEEEZING farmers market today. My poor little fingers were in pain from the scooter ride there, even with gloves on. This bento is a little light on veggies, so I really needed to make that trip to the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

In this bento: steamed edamame, inarizushi (fried tofu pouches filled with rice), Arkansas Black apples from Walker's Apples, and italian chicken sausages from Aidells. This was the first time I tried doing a checkerboard cut on an apple, and it worked pretty well. :) I only spent about 2 minutes on the pattern.

Here's my haul from the farmers market today: baby chard and a kabocha squash from Triple T Ranch, garlic from Armstrong Valley Farm, a ruby red grapefruit from De'Santis Farms, and some dried sweet melon slices from Neufeld Farms. There are lots of great things at the market during the winter season. Don't miss out! The Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 8:30am to noon right next to the vets building.

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

Year of the Rabbit Bento

2011-01-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! To celebrate the beginning of 2011, The Year of the Rabbit, I made a very bunny bento. Technically, The Year of the Rabbit will not start until February 3rd. We are actually still in The Year of the Tiger. I am looking forward to this less aggressive year, myself.

In this bento: creamy polenta (I used Martha Stewart's easy baked polenta recipe), a rabbit quail egg, nori flower, steamed edamame, stir fried carrots and purple cabbage topped with lotus rootlets, cucumber slices, and an apple rabbit made with an Arkansas Black Apple from Walker Apples.

I made the quail egg rabbit by hard boiling a quail egg, then slicing a small section off of one side. I cut that section in two pieces, then inserted those slices into an angled slit on the top of the egg. The nori eyes were punched out with a tiny hole punch.

I found these lotus rootlets in brine at Asia Mart on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa. They have pretty much no flavor, but such a cool shape. A few little slices of rootlet make small snowflake like patterns.

Happy New Year!

Last Bento of the Year

2010-12-30T16:57:00.000-08:00

It feels like ages since I made a bento! I had to make one this morning, even though it cut into some of my prep time for the two hour talk show I've been doing this week. I was having bento withdrawal, hee hee.

I actually woke up dreaming about bento ingredients, so I knew I had to take the time to make one today. Magic Round Bentos are always good to help boost your bento assembling confidence. Everything just fits better in a round bento.

In this bento: steamed edamame, tamagoyaki with chopped wild arugula from Triple T Ranch, two pork and veggie gyoza (I think they are Annie Chun's brand), a hand formed onigiri rice ball, and two rabbit apples carved from Walker's Apples Arkansas Black apples.

I bought these apples from Lee Walker himself, the patriarch of the Walker family, who have been apple growers in Sonoma County for many generations. Lee is awesome and loves all kinds of apples, but he will tell you straight out which varieties he can do without. Pretty awesome. The Walkers are often at the Saturday Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

Have a safe and happy new year! See you in 2011!

Sonoma Bento 100th Bento Winner!

2010-12-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry I did not post this yesterday! Work has suddenly become very busy with a transition that will take much of my time between now and the new year. Most of my bentos between now and then will look like this:

Certainly not yucky, but not too fancy either. Leftovers bento with sauteed zucchini in the purple cup, slices of persimmon from Redwood Empire Farms, slices of cucumber, leftover pieces of ham, baby carrots, and a slice of watermelon radish from Wild Rose Ranch. I love this set of bento boxes from Paperchase! If you have a Borders Books near by, be sure to see if they have snack boxes and bento boxes from Paperchase.

And now the big announcement! I had to put together a spreadsheet of all the entries, since some people did not separate their entries into different posts. Wanted to make sure everyone got the right amount of chances to win! The winner of my 100th Bento contest is: ALICE WANG! Congrats! I hope you enjoy all of the bento goodies and I can't wait to see what fun stuff you come up with!

To everyone who entered: THANK YOU for following this blog and for being so excited about seasonal eating and nutritious lunches. Bento boxes are great for so many reasons, including this added benefit of meeting new people. :) Happy Holidays!

Pearls Before Swine Bento

2010-12-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

There are lots of fun guests who come through the studios at the radio station where I work. And yesterday, one of my favorite artists stopped by to spread some holiday cheer. Stephan Pastis is the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. He is just as funny in person as his characters are in the strip. I had him sign a few things for Christmas presents (thanks Stephan!) and I also made this bento box with my favorite character from Pearls: Pig!

In this bento: pink rice in the shape of Pig with nori eyes and nostrils. Also radishes from Crescent Moon Farms, baby carrots, steamed broccoli, and pork patties. In the upper compartment: a mandarin orange from Twin Peaks, walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, and toffee made by my friends Kerry and Danielle.

Here's me and Stephan with the Pig bento. I think I like Pig the best because he is so gullible and innocent. I am pretty gullible, but not so innocent. Also, Pig tends to see the silver lining and I try to do that too.

Mmmmm, tastes like Pig ear. :)

Thanks to everyone for entering my 100th Bento contest! You still have a day to enter, and I love reading all of your suggestions for winter bentos. Now I have lots of ideas for when I get stuck. :)

Also, if you are on Facebook, CasaBento is hosting a best holiday bento contest. A few of us are finalists and would love your vote. Sheri of Happy Little Bento, Crystal of Adventures In Bentomaking, and me, Michelle of Sonoma Bento. Head to CasaBento's Facebook page to vote for your favorites.

Big Ol 100th Bento Blog Post

2010-12-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

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!

Polar Bear Bento

2010-12-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

This is my 99th bento blog post. Who knew I would make it this far after only finding out about bento box lunches this year?! I am so excited to hit the big #100 (for many reasons) and so here is a fun polar bear bento as number 99.

The polar bear is a little onigiri rice ball with nori face details, and a cucumber skin and radish skin holly detail on her ear. Also in this bento box: steamed broccoli, apple 'rabbits' made from Lambert's Apples, half of a radish, baby carrots, and a homemade pork patty.

I also did some festive nail art last night. This is a plum colored polish for the base, then an awesome holiday sparkle polish from OPI on top. On my thumb I drew a holly leaf with a few little berries (you can barely see them). I did it while watching the movie Inception, which I am still trying to puzzle out. What a trippy movie!

And finally, I made this little video of the first ever Bento Christmas Carol! Special thanks to dragonmamma for her edamame lyric suggestion. I hope this gives you a little chuckle. I am sure it will be the big hit of the holiday season. :)

Stay tuned for my 100th bento post! There will be a big celebration and a fun giveaway. Maybe even cake! :)

Meat and Potatoes Bento

2010-12-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

My hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. He still refuses to eat any bentos, except for the Non Food Bento I made a while back, which featured Slim Jims and Ho-Hos. Sigh. But I think he might go for this bento, which includes potatoes and his favorite: meatloaf.

In this bento: a slice of meatloaf (I use a recipe from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook), baby carrots, boiled potatoes, raw broccoli, slices of watermelon radish from Wild Rose Ranch, walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, and a mandarin orange.

This was a leftovers bento, and it came together really quickly. I didn't do any cute elements, but I think that the colors look good together and the balance of nutrients is quite good. And my husband might even eat this one... that is, if I made one like it for him. This one was all mine! :)

Edamame Xmas Tree

2010-12-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

O Edamame Tree, O Edamame Tree, How Lovely Are Thy... Beans? Hmm, gotta work on that one. This is a quick snack sized bento I made this morning with edamame beans.

In this bento: snowy white rice, edamame beans in the shape of a Christmas Tree with a bit of apple for a star (apple is from Lambert's Apples), a pork patty, cucumber slices, and radish "ornaments". I packed another patty and the rest of the apple to go with this bento, since it is pretty tiny.

I made the pork patties with leftover meat from the meatloaf I made this weekend. I don't have an exact recipe, but I used ground pork, two saltine crackers, an egg, soy sauce, pepper, toasted sesame oil, grated garlic and grated ginger, chopped parsley, and Sweet Lemongrass Curry spice mix from The Savory Spice Shop. Meat patties make great bento stash, just freeze them and then pop them into bentos for an easy protein source.

Ham Hock n' Beans Bento

2010-12-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Note to self: if coworker ever offers some of her pig products again, be sure to take her up on the offer! I am a lucky duck! One of my coworkers has chickens, pigs, and lamb on her property, and she had some left over cuts of meat that she was trying to get rid of. She asked if I would like to take some smoked ham hocks off her hands. Hello?! Um, YES!

I used the ham hocks together with some heirloom dried beans from Crescent Moon Farms to make amazing ham and beans. I am not sure if I have ever made anything tastier! My hubby and I ate this for dinner, and there was enough to have some for left overs for a few days. And bonus, I still have two pieces of ham hock in the freezer, so I can make this again!

In this bento: ham and cheese sandwiches on baguette slices, a mandarin orange, watermelon radish 'flowers' from Wild Rose Ranch, boiled new potatoes, carrots, and steamed green beans. In the background is the small container with the ham hocks n' beans.

Closeup of the delicious ham hocks n' beans. The beans kept their beautiful speckled markings.

Happy me with my frozen smoked ham hocks!

If you see jars of these beans (or other dried varieties) at Crescent Moon Farms at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market, be SURE to snap some up!

Recipe for Ham Hocks and Beans

1 cup dried beans (best to use this year's batch!)

water

1 smoked ham hock

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped carrots

2 minced cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

Pick over beans to make sure there are no pebbles or other debris in them. Place beans in a pot and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Put pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil beans for two minutes, then cover pot and remove from heat. Allow beans to soak for 1 hour. Pour off soaking liquid. Add thawed ham hock, onion, carrots, garlic, and bay leaves. Add water to pan to nearly cover ham hock. Bring water to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 1 hour. Check beans to see if they are done. Carefully pick meat from ham hock and add to beans, discard leftover ham hock bone and grisle. Serves 4 to 6.

Salad Nicoise Bento

2010-12-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

I just received my prize from the Food Ninja contest ("It's a Major Award!") and I am thrilled with it. It's a ManPans frying pan with a lid. This puppy is really well made and heats up super fast. I decided to break it in with a Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe and it came out really well. I made steaks with baslamic dijon sauce, boiled new potatoes with herbs, and steamed green beans with lemon and butter. Today's bento uses leftovers from that meal (not the steaks, we scarfed those down).

In the large container: a hard boiled egg, tuna in oil, boiled new potatoes with herbs, and steamed green beans. In the smaller container: a mandarin orange, walnuts from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, and a Ghirardelli chocolate. The bento boxes are from a set of four that I picked up at Border's Books.

Here's the ManPans frying pan in action. It heated up really fast and kept the heat well. Normally my burners have cool spots in the middle, but this pan heated up evenly across the surface. And the sauce came together in a flash.

Here's our dinner. This sauce was really tasty and super easy. I recommend checking out Martha's Everyday Food section for easy dinner ideas. And big thanks to La Fuji Mama, Bella Limento, and Salty Seattle for hosting the Food Ninja contest.

Itty Bitty Taters Bento

2010-12-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Today's bento features cute little potatoes I got from Armstrong Valley Farm. Tom grows really great tubers and other veggies. I love his beets, garlic, and greens. These little taters are super tiny and were fun to prepare.

This bento contains: steamed edamame, tamagoyaki omelette, steamed broccoli, apple pieces and an apple "rabbit" made with apple from Lambert's Apples, and boiled potatoes tossed in a taragon vinaigrette topped with sauteed orange pepper from Quivira Winery and Farms.

My buddy and I have reviewed another Santa Rosa restaurant on our blog: Two Girls, One Restaurant. This time we went to a sushi restaurant in Railroad Square. Be sure to check it out and follow us, especially if you are in the Bay Area or plan a visit to Sonoma County.

I added this bento to Shannon's What's for Lunch Wednesdays Blog. Check it out for great bento ideas.

Santa Onigiri

2010-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

It is super COLD today, and I am wearing a scarf while I write this. Today I am featuring a bento I made about two weeks ago. I needed a Christmas-y image for my super awesome bento calendar.

In this bento: an adorable handshaped onigiri rice ball with a pink egg sheet hat with a cheese tassle, and nori facial details, slices of chicken sausage, steamed broccoli, and various cheese and egg sheet stars and snowflakes. I made the egg sheet by following tips from Lia at Bentolicious. Her tips section is really great, I highly recommend checking it out.

As I mentioned, this image is featured in my brand new bento calendar. It's filled with fun bento images and bento tips for each month. My copies arrived yesterday and I could not be happier! The quality of the paper and construction of the calendar is excellent. I really love zazzle.com and have used them multiple times for custom t-shirts, post cards, and more. Today is the last day to get 40% off of calendars, so if you want to pick up the Sonoma Bento 2011 Calendar, today is the day to do it! Use this code at checkout for the 40% discount: 40CLNDRS2011

Crepes Bento

2010-11-29T12:21:00.000-08:00

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!

Expelliarmus Bentokus!

2010-11-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 yesterday. It was pretty exciting, and I wore a temporary scar tattoo on my forehead, along with my plastic Harry Potter glasses. Yes, yes I am a huge nerd. But it's so much FUN! The movie was good, although that Harry and Hermione kiss came out of left field and made me feel bad for the 9-year-old kid who decided to celebrate his birthday at the theater. His poor little friends will be scarred for life. To commemorate the beginning of the end, I had to make a Harry Potter bento. ~8-)

This is the younger (kinder, gentler) version of Harry when he was just a little wizard at Hogwarts. Harry is made of onigiri (rice balls) with nori covering the lower onigiri, and nori for the hair, glasses, and eyes. His scar is drawn on with food coloring pens, and his mouth is part of a pink egg sheet. (It was my first try at egg sheet and it worked ok, gotta try again soon.) Harry's Gryffindor scarf is cheddar cheese and bits of red bell pepper. His wand is a pretzel stick with magical white pomegranate seeds (from De'Santis Farms) shooting out the end. There's steamed broccoli, a chunk of roasted delicata squash (from Ridgeview Farms), baby carrots, and a few Aidell's chicken teriyaki meatballs as well.

This bento also works for hapabento's November B.O.M.B. - this month the theme is Squash! I am sure I will have another bento that will fit the theme before November 30th. Check out the B.O.M.B. entries here, and be sure to submit your own.

BIG NEWS: I made a bento calendar for 2011! It's filled with lots of fun pictures of bento, and each month has a special tip to help make bento-ing easier. Check it out here! And if you buy the calendar before November 30th, it's 40% off! Use this code at checkout to get 40% off: 40CLNDRS2011

Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Bento

2010-11-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

Oh this one was so yummy! I have been using recipes from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast - a wonderful cookbook from Martha Stewart's minions. I say that because Martha does not write these books, her people do. I still love her, but I have to be realistic about these things.

This recipe is from the fall section (love cookbooks arranged by season!) and it was really easy to make. RecipeGirl also raves about this recipe and she posted it on her site. I had some leftover slices of pineapple that I did not roast along with the pork, and those slices ended up in this bento.

Besides the slices of pork and pineapple, there's a small onigiri rice ball that used up the rice we had with the dish, some cilantro sprigs (which are super tasty with pineapple), baby carrots, and fried padron peppers from Crescent Moon Farms.

And I wanted to take a second to introduce my brand new blog! My buddy CocoCarina and I started this hilariously named blog to review restaurants. We have one review under our belts, and will be scoping out a sushi place in the near future. If you plan on dining in the North Bay, be sure to give us suggestions for places to try, and check out our reviews before you dine. Check out Two Girls, One Restaurant here!

Godzilla Polenta Bento

2010-11-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

Rrrawr!!! Godzilla Attacks Bento! Citizens flee in terror! Actually, this bento was really cute and fun to eat as well. I wasn't scared one bit... ok, maybe a little scared.

In this bento: teriyaki chicken meatballs from Aidell's, roasted brussel sprouts with Black Pig Meat Co Bacon, baby carrots, yellow bell peppers, white pomegranate arils from De'Santis Farms, and polenta in the shape of Godzilla.

I darkened the top of the polenta here in Photoshop so you can see the Godzilla shape a little better. I picked up the cutest little jello/custard mold at Daiso and I tried it out with a polenta recipe from Martha Stewart. It worked great! Click here to see Martha's very easy recipe for creamy baked polenta. It will firm up if you chill it in the fridge.

In Flight Bentos

2010-11-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

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.

Rock The Vote Bento

2010-11-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Whew, I am tired. We did special election night coverage last night and I was at the station until midnight, then I was so amped I couldn't go to sleep so I stayed up til about 2am. Totally dragging today. But we had a great show with lots of local politicos calling in. To celebrate, a bento made quickly with leftovers and a few stars in honor of a fun election day.

In this bento: bbq pork from G&G Supermarket, a fish container of soy sauce, rice balls with nori stars, steamed edamame, a slice of mango, a piece of parsley from Quivira Winery, grapes from De'Santis, and baby carrots. I love magic round bentos!

This bento also celebrates my win in the Food Ninja contest at lafujimama.com. It was SO MUCH FUN to put together a Food Ninja video, and I am thrilled to say that my video won in the video category. My prize: 10 Inch ManPan Saute Pan (4.5 pound) by igourmet.com! Woohoo! Also congrats to Sheri of Happy Little Bento for winning in the photo category. Thank you to everyone who voted for us. You ROCK!

This bento is also included in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesday blog. Check it out for great lunch ideas.

Quivira Bento

2010-11-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-11-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Jack O'Persimmon Bento

2010-10-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

It's the mad rush to fit in a few more spooky bentos before Halloween is over. I am following the trend of bentoists everywhere and turning more fruits and veggies into Jack O'Something-Or-Others. Today it's a fuyu persimmon.

In this bento: purple rice, a few Aidell's teriyaki chicken meatballs, steamed edamame, champagne grapes from De'Santis Farms, a few french radishes from Ridgeview Farms (it was their last farmers market this past Wednesday, goodbye until spring!), baby carrots, a Jack carved fuyu persimmon from De'Santis Farms, and two little Halloween candybars. Not that I need more chocolate or sugar today. My breakfast so far has been 1 Hersey's Nugget, 1 fun size Babyruth, and a handful of Bottlecaps and Sweetarts, and some coffee. Can you say JItTeRs?!

If you find persimmons at your farmers market, I suggest trying both the fuyu kind (which you eat hard), and the hachiya kind, which must ripen to mushiness before you eat it. Both are yummy, but the hachiya is more often used in baking.

And finally, please take a moment to vote for my entry in the Food Ninja contest! There are a few bentoists who have entered the Food Ninja contest and we would love your vote so we can win some cool kitchen swag. Debra of hapabento and Sheri of Happy Little Bento have also entered. Voting ends on Saturday, October 30th, so please take a moment to vote now, thanks!

Food Ninja Vote

2010-10-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

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!

Wish You Were Here!

2010-10-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

I crack myself up! Today a bunch of bento buddies on Twitter are having a #twitterfoodparty in which we share our creations on Flickr, twitter, Facebook, and on our blogs. Our theme this month is PASTA! And since we are just days away from Halloween, I had to do a scary pasta bento. It's THE SHINING!

I used spaghetti and tossed it with Pasta Etc.'s delicious marinara sauce. On top of this I placed a few alphabet pasta letters to spell out "REDRUM", which little Danny Torrance says in the film. Or rather, his finger says it in the film.

I fashioned Danny out of provolone and fresh mozzarella cheese, with nori eyes, mouth, and hair. I used food color markers to make his baseball t-shirt.

On the other side of the bento is steamed broccoli with slices of white radish on top. This is supposed to represent the snow covered maze at the end of the film. My hubby says it doesn't look like that, but I don't think he was into the spirit of the bento.

I had planned on watching the movie again for reference, but honestly, the movie scared the heebie jeebies out of me when I first saw it, and I really don't want to watch it again. Yikes! And the name of the bento (Wish You Were Here!) is a reference to the last scene of the movie, (SPOILER) where Jack ends up in the photo of the party guests.

You can check out the other Twitter Pasta Party entries by heading to twitter.com and searching for #twitterpastaparty and #twitterfoodparty. Enjoy!

Ghost Quesadilla Bento

2010-10-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

This bento goes bump in the night. :) A ghost quesadilla filled with cheese and chicken. I used a cookie cutter to make the ghost shape, then put cheese and chicken inside to make the quesadilla.

Also in this bento: baby carrots, cucumbers (hiding under the ghost), cherry tomatoes, baked tortilla chips (made with leftover scraps from the ghost tortilla), and more chicken.

Oh and great news: yesterday when I was making my donation to Redwood Empire Food Bank for my 80th bento post, I found out that the Wine Road organization here in Sonoma County is holding some spectacular raffles with all proceeds going to the Redwood Empire Food Bank! So instead of making my $20 donation to the food bank, I purchased 3 raffle tickets for $25. That way Redwood Empire Food Bank gets the money, and I might win a cool Wine Road package. :)

RIP Sandwich Bento

2010-10-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Another Halloween Themed Bento for lunch today. I made a "tombstone" sandwich with PB&J. On the top of the sandwich is a stencil of a skull and crossbones! I got the stencil from Wilton and also used their brand of edible food spray paint. Wilton Halloween Mini Stencil Set, 8 Piece is the set I picked up with fun witch hats, spiders, skulls, and more. Wilton Black Color Mist is the food spray paint I used.

Also in this bento: baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and daikon radish sprouts. I have included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Be sure to check out the fun lunch ideas posted there!

This bento post also happens to be number 80 for me, which means another donation to the Redwood Empire Food Bank! Yay! Every 20 posts, I make a donation to my local food bank, because I think everyone deserves a healthy lunch. Food banks and other charities are suffering because of our tough economy, but if we can all commit to donating just a little, we can help feed the hungry in our neighborhoods. I am donating one dollar per post, so today marks another $20 donation. Special thanks to Susan Yuen of Hawai'i's Bento Box for her great inspiriation, and shining example.

Food Ninja Bento

2010-10-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

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!

Creepy Quail Eggs Bento

2010-10-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

I used Martha Stewart's special Halloween magazine as inspiration for this creepy quail egg bento. In her magazine Martha (or rather, Martha's minions) illustrates how to make marbled hard boiled eggs. They are fresh, but look like they have been moldering around the bottom of the basement for a while. The effect is quite easy to produce, and is stunning!

In this bento: Pillsbury garlic stick "fingers" with almond slice "fingernails" hold on to creepy hard boiled quail eggs. They rest on a bed of penne pasta with fresh mozzarella pieces and delicious marinara sauce from Sonoma County's Pasta Etc. In the upper compartment: steamed edamame, baby carrots, slices of white/purple radish from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, cucumber slices, and cherry tomatoes.

Here's a closeup of the creepy quail egg. It actually had more pronounced crackles on it, but I kept in in the fridge for a day before I used it, so the cracks started to fade.

Recipe for Creepy Quail Eggs

quail eggs

vinegar

blueberry juice or red and blue food coloring

Fill a small pot with cold water, then add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of vinegar. The vinegar will make it easier to peel the shells from the eggs. Add the quail eggs to the pot, then place on the stove. Turn the stove on to high heat and wait for the water to boil. Once the water boils, cover the pan and turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the covered pot for 7 minutes. Gently pour out the cooking water and pour cold water into the pan. Remove quail eggs and tap their shells to create cracks all around the surface of the eggs. Put the eggs back in the pan with the cool water. Add blue berry juice or food coloring to create a purplish brew. Let the eggs sit in the colored water for at least 2 hours to get colored effect. Remove eggs from water and gently peel. Use eggs within 24 hours for best effect.

Think Pink Bento

2010-10-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, my mom is finishing up her battle with breast cancer, and doing really well! When we first found out about her cancer, I made a boobie bento to lighten the mood a bit. It has been tough to deal with, but my mom has done so well, and shown such strong spirit through it all. I love her so much!

Bento bloggers are being organized by a French bento blogger to send in pink bentos to raise awareness of breast cancer, and ultimately to raise funds. The posts are shared on Twitter and tagged with #ThinkPink and #ProjectPink. Here is my entry:

Pink rice with marinated lotus root and daikon shoots, baby carrots, a teriyaki chicken meatball, steamed broccoli, two tiny cherry tomatoes from Middleton Farms, and a hard boiled quail egg.

Save The Boobies! :)

Recipe for Simply Marinated Lotus Root

a few slices of raw lotus root

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Combine the vinegar, sugar, and ginger in a small bowl. Stir, then add the lotus root. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes or up to 3 hours.

10,000 Hits Winner and Black Eyed Peas

2010-10-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Congrats to.... PATRIZZIA! Out of the 50 entries (I went through the comments to make sure everyone got their correct number of entries), Patrizzia of iCreate was selected as the winner of my 10,000 Hits Giveaway. I hope you enjoy your bento goodies, and that you get them in time to make some fun Halloween themed bento creations. Thanks to everyone who entered and to all of my followers for your great comments and your interest in Sonoma Bento. It really means a lot to me! And I loved your Halloween stories. :)

Patrizzia is getting a blue bento box, a handmade Jack O'Bento bento box strap (made by yours truly, Sonoma Bento!), a pumpkin ice cube tray, sauce and furikake seasoning containers, and a starburst shaped craft punch.

And the hits keep on coming! I am so happy that bento blogs are popping up everywhere and people are really getting into this healthy, fun way to have lunch. There are so many reasons to love bento: they're economical, environmentally friendly, good for watching calories, nutritionally dense, and KAWAII!

Today's bento features some delicious local items from my favorite farmers. I cooked fresh black eyed peas from Jill at Crescent Moon Farms, and included some chopped Black Pig Meat Co Bacon from Duskie Estes and John Stewart of Zazu and Bovolo Restaurants. They only took about 20 minutes to cook and no soaking! Jill has a variety of fresh shelling beans each year. Be sure to search her out at the markets. I also have a Crescent Moon Farms hard boiled egg. There are tiny cherry tomatoes from Nancy at Middleton Farms, and a few baby carrots and cucumber slices.