Hi, everyone!

I got a red Smart Bento for Christmas! I'm very excited about using it for the first time, and I was wondering if anyone on this comm has one. Its dimensions are quite narrow, so I'd be interested in seeing how people pack them.

But my main question is this: Are they microwave-friendly? The instructions that came with it are in Japanese, but there's a drawing of what looks like a microwave with a big X through it. I am not sure whether that means the whole thing is not microwavable, or just the lids, or what. I know that most bentos are microwavable without the lids, but I'd like to hear from someone who actually owns one of these particular boxes.

Thanks!

Banning those holiday treats and getting back to healthy eating.

Read more about this bento on hapa bento.

To say I had... issues... with the recipe I chose to use (Y's Scandinavian one) would be a huge understatement.

More at my food blog HERE

I guess this is a mean way to make my first post...seafood off my grill while half the country is buried in snow...



Lobster tail & white shrimp marinated in 100% Florida Orange Juice (but of course!), soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic and then grilled on a marble stone that's been seasoned with olive oil.

Snow peas and broccoli stir fried in a wok on the side burner.

And since we're experiencing frigid 54 degree weather tonight, a glass of Tower of London Mead with Scotch Whiskey.

And yeah...it was good.

After going to a couple of grocery stores in the area and not being able to buy a duck this year, we decided to give Turducken a go... I've always heard such nice things about it.

It was... alright. As with most processed and boxed foods, the seasoned skin was a little on the salty side to us, but not completely out of control. I think my husband summed it up thusly... "Well, I wouldn't not do it again, but your roasted ducks are better. Maybe if we got an unseasoned one and you had more to do with that." All in all, that's high praise from my husband for both me and the Turducken.

I'd give it 7 or 8 out of 10 forks.

But the Farnum Hills Cider was amazing.

Made these today for Christmas and used the book Hello, Cupcake! by Alan Richardson for the idea! I love this book, a lot of cute and easy ideas!



( More pictures )

My husband and I have four children and are on a somewhat tight budget, so "date night" doesn't happen very often. I was driving with him this evening and decided that on New Year's Eve, I'd like to try to get the kids to bed on time and ring in the new year with my husband. I've got one remaining bottle of bubbly mead that I brewed for my sister's wedding nearly five years ago. I'm trying to think of some relatively low effort, not too expensive vegetarian treats to go alongside. I had been thinking of making baked brie, but he asked me to make that to bring to his parents' house on Friday, so I'd rather not eat that twice in one week. The only reason I mention it is that this sort of thing -- gooey, rich and hot -- is the sort of thing I think he'd enjoy. Advance preparation would be a BIG bonus since I had back surgery this month and tend to be in more pain at night.

While I think of it, here's a photo of the baked brie that I will be making for his parents:




The original recipe, posted on Crockpot 365, calls for a 13 ounce piece of brie in a small ceramic dish to be placed at the bottom of a crock pot. I made some modifications in the photo, using dried cranberries instead of apricots, dropping the sugar altogether, and quadrupling the cheese without scaling the topping up. I used the crock pot without a ceramic dish, so the cheese cooked more quickly than the original recipe despite being a much larger amount.

This Friday, however, I'm considering working fresh cranberries into the topping also, since it was still sweeter than I prefer and unsweetened dried cranberries are impossible to find. I'm concerned that they might not be fully cooked before the cheese is done, though, so I might precook the dried and fresh berries together on the stove before assembling the dish. Has anybody done anything like that?

Let's sing it... "on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...."

Read more about this holiday bento on hapa bento's blog.

Two cookie recipes, one post! Mexican Wedding Cookies and Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies. For recipe and pictures visit FotoCuisine.com


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The very best holiday greetings to all of you.

Cheers.

Mikey Mo

I went on a bit of a cookie baking binge today for Christmas presents.  The thing I love about these cookies is that they all came from the same dough then I just divided it into 1/4 and went in different directions for each person's fave flavours.  These are Fakewell Cookies (sort of but not quite a Bakewell), Ginger and Chilli cookies and Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies.  I also made Choc Chip and Hazelnut cookies but they got eaten before I could get a picture!  So simple to make and such diverse results, I'm in love with this cookie recipe!

Find the recipes over at AnnaintheKitchen.   Merry Christmas!

Wow it's been a long time since I last updated. Sorry for having disappeared for a while. I still read the updates in here but have not been posting or commenting much. As I have recently mentioned on my food blog, I pretty much went 'off' food for the past few months while dealing with morning (read: all-day-and-night) sickness and the exhaustion typical of early pregnancy. I did very little cooking and not many bento lunches were packed. Even when I did pack lunches, they were not very inspired and I did not bother taking any photos. I am feeling much better now halfway through my pregnancy (I am due at the end of April 2010) and it's been really good to get back to cooking and bento again. Here are a couple of them that made it to photos:

Chicken rice, cucumber slices, steamed chicken breast, char siew (Chinese bbq pork) and kai lan in oyster sauce.


Tuna pasta salad with sundried tomatoes, sliced red peppers and hummus


I am looking forward to getting back to more regular bento-making in the new year. I know that most people are probaly busy with holiday festivities now. Merry Christmas to you all and have a great new year ahead. Cheers to more bento ideas and may your Christmas stockings be filled with lots of bento kit and goodies!

I believe this is my... Eleventh bento?
Haven’t really been brining lunch to school recently ever since I discovered my school’s salad bar!



Top: Broccoli and leftover baked potato
Left: Honey turkey, lettuce and mayo on a whole wheat roll
Right: Pineapple Tidbits


With today being the last day of school before vacation, I don’t think I’ll be having any more bentos until the new year.
Happy holidays!!

One of my favorite snacks. In this one, I grew the tomatoes & basil, and used buffalo mozzarella. Yum!

Russian cusine but known in Europe and ex-USSR countries.



More in my Blog

More at my food blog HERE

Every now and then I get the urge to make something cute. These little snowpeople were the result of just such an urge :) They're golden oreo truffles, decorated up and served on a platter with coconut "snow."

Had some issues throughout the recipe, so it took forever to finish, but after I saw how adorable the first one was, I couldn't given up!! They were very tasty; my boyfriend's already clamoring for more.

( recipes and photo )