Wednesday night after work I went to the mall to pick up the purse I had pined for and finally ordered from The Container Store. I know it sounds kind of weird to be so excited about a purse from The Container Store, but it has a pocket, pouch and place for everything. As I packed all my purse junk into it Wednesday night it sort of felt like I was making a bento - ensuring that everything fit snugly and well together and keeping it all in order and in such a fashion that it was pleasing to the eye. Seriously, I love this purse.
Since I was already at the mall, I went to the sushi bar at Sarku for dinner. I bought a BBQ unagi roll and a cucumber and avocado roll. I only planned on eating half of them for dinner so I'd have the other half for Thursday's bento. As I was waiting for my rolls to be made, I noticed one of the workers was taking her break and eating dinner - from a bento box! She seemed really self-conscious about it so I tried not to stare in awe and fascination. I'm shy myself so I didn't strike up a conversation with her, though I wanted to. (Which is an improvement as far as my shyness is concerned because a few years ago I would not have even contemplated talking to her about it.)
I actually only ate 1/3 of the rolls and brought in another third for Thursday's bento. I hadn't had unagi before. It didn't have a strong taste or texture, which I had expected.
On to the bento!
There's a tofu miso soup packet and below that is shredded carrots, celery, green onions and quail eggs to go in the soup. The sushi is accompanied by soy sauce in a cute little elephant bottle. The soup spoon I plan to use is something I picked up at my local Asian grocery for a dollar or two. When I have my own kitchen again, I plan on buying lots of different Asian dishes. I love the idea of having an eclectic mix instead of just one set of dinner dishes.
The snack bento has celery and hummus sprinkled with shredded carrots and sliced strawberries and kumquats. Even though I won't snack on a handful of them in the future, I really do like the citrusy smell the kumquats have. And I'll probably use Toro's suggestion from my last post and make kumquat marmalade at some point because that sounds very tasty and perfect for a breakfast bento!
Kyle and I went out last night to catch the midnight showing of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. As a very slight nod to that, I made a little "X" out of shredded carrots in the hummus. It's not a Lost-themed or Homer Simpson bento, but it's a start!
As a result of staying out so late last night, I didn't make a bento for today's lunch, but I'm quite pleased that I made one each day the rest of the week.
I really like your color contrast between the two boxes--the red/orange of the fruit vs. the green/brown from the sushi.
ReplyDeleteBentos don't have to have pictures or characters to be beautiful!
Very true, Toro! I don't think I'll make themed bento or kyaraben my main choice for bento, but I would like to do a few here and there and just have to work my courage up to the point of actually making them. =)
ReplyDeleteNice selection of food in your bento! I like that sweet teriyaki type sauce they put on the unagi. I agree with Toro, very nice color contrasts. The food looks really fresh and bright.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that purse! Being organized, not just with the purse I choose, is what attracted me to Bento Boxes. I take a bento to work everyday, I rarely post pictures (I've been contemplating a bento blog), I have recently started carrying a bento box to the grocery store for the Sushi counter people to fill while I'm getting the other groceries. You can check it out on my blog.
ReplyDeletethose oranges are so tiny!!
ReplyDeleteI've just stared blogging with bento, but I've been making them for several months and don't worry.... your bentos are way better than mine are.