Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Home made Pokky

I was at my local euro-style market and noticed some thin, lightly salted breadsticks. It occured to me that these sticks were about the same diameter as a pokky stick. So the light bulb came on and I purchased the package after realizing that I had a package of unopened chocolate chips at home.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

A call for an old time tradition revival

In talking about bentos to my mother, she was reminded of an event in her youth. You see when she was young, some rural towns would arrange a box lunch social. The young ladies would make a box lunch for the event. These lunches would be bid upon by the attending gentlemen and the winner of the lunch would also spend the time eating it with the lady who made it. I know in those older times it was a way for each lady to show off her cooking skills and perhaps gain a husband (or at least a boyfriend) out of the event.

Perhaps with all this interest in bentos, which are effectively box lunches, why not try to arrange to do something like this again. Surely there is some way that it can be done in this day and age.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Bento Lunch update

I can see why bento lunches are becoming so popular. For one...they can save you money as you try to use up your leftovers. Secondly, I found it fun trying to make something look pretty.

Here's some of the things I used to make my first few bentos.




Here I cut up a couple of apples. One was a macintosh and the other was a granny smith. I planned to switch the cutouts together and did so as I ate the finished products.

Then I sliced up some cucumbers and cheese




And here is some other ingredients I planned to use.




And finally....here's the finished products.



In the small box, I've made some shaped rice balls since I already had the molds and there is a left over hunk of steak under the pickles. As you might notice...I like pickles so I used a fair amount of them in these two boxes. (Actually...it's only 2 but I sliced them so it looks like more than that. Just call me a pickle puss ;D )

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Post-AWA cooking experiment

Well...Anime Weekend Atlanta had a very informative seminar on bento making with what you've got on hand in equipment. I missed the one on Friday that talked about the food selections due to lack of information. But that's neither here nor there. The one I did attend on Saturday got me fired up enough to do more than just think of crafting a bento. So today's the day and I will craft my lunch for Monday out of the leftovers tonight.

Well...I kinda have already gone overboard in purchasing fresh fruits/veggies to make this thing. At any rate, I started prepping my meal items as soon as I've gotten home. I took a few quick digital photos of the items and will post them soon. (just as soon as I can figure out how this blog handles photos and the like.)

OK...in the meantime, here's the link to all of the photos I shot at AWA. I proudly note that the most important part of my husband's costume (the guy in the red outfit with the shades...yes, the Visitor  ;>D) I sewed up myself and it turned out pretty well.
AWA-2009 Picture Album