Get the ultimate in order picking productivity

Friends

furina_1975

Navigation

December 11th, 2009

Seriously self-indulgent post about bread

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
xposted to IJ and LJ

I love bread. I have always loved bread. Bread for breakfast, for dinner, for dessert, any and all kinds of bread. For several years, we went without because Webster had been diagnosed as having celiac's disease. Celiac's is "a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms" (from here).

It was a pain, especially living here in the Wine Country where our artisan breads are known and loved. Within three miles of where I live is a world-renown bakery, and fewer than thirty miles away are a number of others equally well known. For my birthday, we go to a restaurant in San Francisco with its own bakery that puts the most delicious bread imaginable on the table, with fresh local olive oil.

We had to give all that up for years. I know that others suffer much more, and that we are lucky. And we were luckier than we knew because eventually Webster got a new gastroenterologist who ran the tests and discovered that, whatever is wrong with him, celiac's isn't it. We could eat bread again.

Almost at the same time, I discovered the New York Times's recipe for no-knead bread. When I was a kid I'd made bread a lot; I loved the kneading, and watching the dough rise, and oh, the flavor. But when I grew up I somehow lost the knack. The bread wouldn't rise. The crust was too hard. The bread lacked flavor. I decided that the yeast no longer loved me, and gave it up.

But now, armed with the NYT recipe and medical permission to eat gluten again, I tried my hand. We loved the results. Unlike me, Webster hadn't grown up in a house with fresh bread, so this was new to him. At first, he would eat about half a loaf at one sitting! Oops. Not good for his tummy, even if he could eat gluten. But it was soooo good.

Not long ago, I started hearing about another no-knead recipe, Artisan Bread, one that lets you make one big batch of dough and then bake whenever you want (recipe here). I think MRKinch mentioned it? Whoever did, I bless her. Now we have fresh bread literally every day, and if Webster wants something dessert-ish and quick, I turn some of the dough into little cinnamon buns or plain rolls that he slathers in strawberry jam.

I'm so enthusiastic about my breadmaking that I've documented it! So if you dare, here is ME making BREAD!

Seriously, links to BIG pictures of me making bread )

Ho ho ho!

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
I have a Santa bento and a poinsettia bento to show today! Read about it on my blog!

bento #9

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
As everybody seems to be making quiche I tried as well.
My first quiche ever and I also took the recipe from [info]jokergirl who made a guest post at JustBento.



First the quiche: I filled it with everything I could find (i.e. bell pepper, carrot, onion, some cheese and a rest of wieners in small cubes). But it still tasted great!
Thank you, [info]jokergirl for the cute idea and the recipe! (But I have a question: Is it normal that the bottom of the quiche stays not completely baked and a bit... see through? Or did I just do something wrong?)



I decorated with bell pepper and carrots and then I realized I had nothing green at home! *gasp* As it looked stupid without something green, I put on the green deco leafs... hehe



In the other tier there's physalis, pear and banana and some mousse au chocolat.

My first bento

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
Hello, I just discovered bento and thought I'd give it a try after I discovered a bento cooking book. So I started with learning how to do sticky rice and onigiri.

A friend of mine found out and told me she needed people to take part in a bento contest, apparently she had a hard time finding participants. So instead of trying to make bento little by little I had to dive in and swim :)
The theme was "kawaii" (cuteness).

My entry is pretty straightforward and doesn't need much explanation I thing. I am quite proud of my creation though, even if I did steal some ideas from various bento websites but hey, isn't this what the bento community is about?

Anyway, here's my entry:





Ingredients:

Upper layer:
Quail eggs on a spaghetti nest
Cauliflower / sausage sheep on a bed of lentils

Lower layer: salmon-filled onigiri
- ham-decorated pig onigiri
- cheddar-decorated blondie onigiri
- nori decorated bunny onigiri
- quinoa decorated totoro onigiri











And now?! Nothing's left ^^
Results'll be in tonight.

Burp!

Chicken and Egg Bento Box

Add to Memories Tell a Friend


How did I make that egg? I show you how on hapa bento.

December 10th, 2009

Review: Face Food Recipes

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
I posted a review of Face Food Recipes for those of you wondering if it will make a good Christmas present for someone into bento. (like maybe, for yourself, lol!) Find out if it's the book you've been looking for!

Question: Keeping Sauce in Bottles

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
I looked through the FAQ and the questions, but I didn't find an answer to this. Of course, I might have missed something.

After having my lunch, I realized how convenient it would be to stock up on sauce bottles, fill them with different sauces, and store them in the fridge until needed. I'd wager this would make my bento-packing go more smoothly, particularly on those rushed mornings, because I could simply grab a prepared bottle and go. It's not fun to use my funnel to get dry seasonings into the larger bottles or to use the "squeeze" method (as described in this community) to fill them when I'm in a hurry.

However, I'm concerned about the safety. While I would assume that keeping them in the fridge would keep them safe, I'm not an expert on little plastic sauce bottles. I could be overlooking dangerous circumstances that would ruin my bottles and render me ill.

Question: Do any of you foresee a problem with filling plastic sauce bottles with different ingredients (such as soy sauce, oil, and vinegar) to keep in the refrigerator for a week or two at a time? Sometimes I have leftover sauce, too, and I'd like to be able to reuse it later that week instead of dumping the contents to clean the bottle.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Bento Lunch #20 & #21

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
"Superman" requested his favorite bento. Tonkatsu, steamed rice, carrots, crab shumai, edamame, chocolate mini-cupcake. Mayo & tonkatsu sauce containers underneath.






Bo Peep bento nori wrapped steamed rice with tonkatsu, edamame, crab shumai, tamagoyaki, carrots, apples and chocolate cupcake.





Bento #8

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
Today's bento is probably a haunting memory for every professional food photographer...
It's a southern German specialty ('Linsen und Spätzle' means spaetzle and something like lentil-soup). It tastes so wonderful and I know nothing so tasty that looks SO ugly!
This was the best looking picture I could find, really!
So, what did I do? Hid it ;)



So, to the left there's the hidden specialty. (Hidden under zucchini, red bell pepper dots and sesame).
To the right some sausage-animals, veggies and physalis (in the cup in the back).

I tried cutting sausages in cute shapes. (Without a shaper, don't have one). The octopuses look cute but the crabs are pretty asymmetrical... still cute ;)


I like them and I will try again. But now I think of frying them 'cause that makes them taste better (at least I suspect so...)


So, nothing fancy today in the looks department, but very very delicious in the taste department ;)

December 9th, 2009

Chinese 5 Spice Chicken

Add to Memories Tell a Friend



Recipe on hapa bento.

A bad decade

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
xposted to IJ and LJ

Why am I not getting my IJ and LJ notices? Do both services have it out for me? Dang. Still not going to DW, though. There has to be a third way.

Casa McShep is open! Yay!

Some big photos back here )

Bento # 673

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
Back with the countdown. My kid has a "work on your own" week at school meaning she can work from home if she wants to so she stayed home for a couple of days and then there was no need for bento.

But she said she wanted to go tomorrow, so I had to hurry a bento from whatever we had in the freezer and fridge...


Bento # 673
Bento # 673
Sandwiches with chicken/curry salad, adorned with cucumber and bell pepper. Fish/tofu "gift" Onigiri-snowman with tuna, carrot, bell pepper and nori. Sausage flowers.

Bento #8

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
Just a quick one today.
Similar to yesterday's bento but I tried a holly impression (I think I should have added more little red bell pepper dots to make it more clear *sigh*).




Just plain rice, green beans and red bell pepper as decoration (together with paprika and sesame).
Behind rissoles, some veggie-salad with dressing and fruits (physalis and kiwi).

Btw I now know that I don't like the sticky rice I bought a few days ago. It tastes like tasteless chewing gum and has about the same feeling to it... I think I prefer jasmine rice (couldn't find any indication as to how to translate.. is it called jasmine rice in English *puzzled*).
But perhaps I just selected the cheapest less tasty sticky rice. The one I ate in restaurants was always tasty.. *sigh*

Snack bento

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
I have been making sandwiches, but the "little man" asked where are the bentos? So I threw together a quick snack/fruit box. Apple slices (should have made rabbits **slaps forehead**) with star carrots and ranch dressing.

Bento #273

Add to Memories Tell a Friend


Three bentos in a row! What a good girl I am. (Yeah, there won't be one tomorrow. Thursdays I train during the lunchbreak so I usually eat out.)
The only thing that irks me is that there's not enough working days left in 2009 to reach #300...

This box contains quiche ([info]nakedmarmar suggested goat cheese and broccoli, and it was good - but I should have used more goat cheese than what I had left over), steamed sweet potato flowers, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and a fishy with balsamic vinegar for the veggies.

;)

My bentoblog: http://wererabbits.wordpress.com

December 8th, 2009

Teyla is beautiful

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
xposted to IJ and LJ

Oh my fucking god, but it's cold:



Just look at that. Already almost freezing and it isn't even 9:30.

My holiday shopping is nearly done except for my sister. What to get her? I renewed her wine club subscription -- she says she likes the wine, so I keep extending the subscription, but what if she's just saying that? How does one know? I'd like to give her something else, but what? ACK.

Please see my new icon made by Monanotlisa. I call it "Teyla is beautiful." It has inspired me to get back to work on my Teyla story.

I bet I'm not the only person who comes to associate a specific song with a story I'm writing. Am I? REM's "Nightswimming" is a perennial favorite of mine; it informs both Endings Unexpectedly Happy (I forgot my shirt at the water's edge / The moon is low tonight) and I Am Your Image Dressed as the World (The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago / Turned around backwards so the windshield shows / Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse). And now with Teyla's story, too:

You, I thought I knew you.
You I cannot judge.
You, I thought you knew me,
this one laughing quietly underneath my breath.
Nightswimming.


Here's an mp3 of Nightswimming. Isn't it lovely?

Oh my god, did I mention it's cold?

Basket Omelet Bento Box

Add to Memories Tell a Friend



We are experiencing a Pacific NW freeze wave, so I packed a garden basket in attempt to simulate a summer's day!

An omelet weave covers veggie fried rice. The second tier has both roasted asparagus and stir fried bok choy, baby corn, etc.

How did that omelet get so so yellow?

Christmas Bento

Add to Memories Tell a Friend


Tomorrow's lunch has a cucumber tree with a cheese star on top of some cherry tomatoes, a cheese present with a cucumber bow, a tomato pasta present with a cheese bow, two mini mince pies, dried cranberries and apricots.

Bento #7

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
Here's today's bento.



In the back there is a smiling rice with tamagoyaki left and right.

On the front there's two little rissoles, some veggies with sesame and some fruits to the right.




I finally tried tamagoyaki and I have to say I love it! The taste is great and after the recipe of Justbento for a (1-egg-tamagoyaki) it was so easy and fast!

I will surely try that again with some lighter soy sauce.



The rissoles are quite salty which goes well with the plain rice, really.

First Bento <3

Add to Memories Tell a Friend
title or description


Ingredients:
-1 small banana lightly cooked with a bit of splenda and vanilla extract
-1/3 cup of rice with a small amount of this amazing grilling sauce
-1 red potato cooked in olive oil with sea salt, Italian herbs and a few tiny carrot sticks


Ok, not literally my first bento but it's close enough. My very first was just rice and grilled chicken to try things out.

Been finding this community a very good resource for food ideas. I'm just one of those people needs a visual reference in order to be inspired to eat different things (restaurant menus are not my friends). In an effort to prepare myself for living away from my parents (someday anyway) and of course eating cheaper, I thank you all.
Powered by InsaneJournal