Retro posted from 6/30/2010- Orzo salad for a car bento

On my way down to DC, I packed a bento lunch so I wouldn't have to eat fast food. I should have taken a picture of it, because it was lovely. This posting has my bento lunch that I packed for the ride up. Less pretty. In fact, pretty darn simple.

Contents of Bento: mini peppers, orzo salad with feta, tomato, olives, and chickpeas. That's it folks. Pretty straight forward.

A car bento is, however, a great way to eat delicious food and also to save your pennies. If you are in the business of penny saving, like I am, it's pretty crucial.

Retro posted from 6/27/2010- Small sandwiches and the toll of no sleep

As the conference went on, it became more of a test of our fortitude--in DC by 8am, getting on the metro by 10:30pm. And then hanging out with my folks until the wee hours of the night--then getting up and doing it again. So this was the last day that I made a bento for us and it's pretty low-key. It ended up being pretty delicious, though, so I'm not really complaining.

Contents of C-bento: strawberries and grapes, carrots, tomatoes, small sandwich with star-cut out. More small sandwiches, two olives, carrots. The bottom section has cabbage, mini pepper, and a hot-dog octopus! The little face did not survive, but that's ok. There's also a fishy of ketchup. The octopus is sitting in an octopus food cup which was from the SWAG. The tiny sandwiches have pub cheese and jalapeno in them. It was actually really delicious.

Contents of my bento: tomatoes, olives, tiny sandwiches with star cutout, and carrot sticks. The other side has cabbage and strawberries and grapes.

Like I said, the pub cheese and jalapeno was good. And the sandwiches were not soggy by lunch time. The pub cheese was from Trader Joe's, so I don't feel that badly about eating it. It's more cheese and less cheese-food-product. This bento also reminded me that though I don't often pack a sandwich bento, I probably should consider doing it more often. They are very tasty and if you pack your fillings carefully, they can stay nice (not soggy) until lunchtime.

Retro posted from 6/26/2010- Jambalaya and other adventures in Little Mama's kitchen

As I mentioned, one of my former colleagues (who was also in the same library science school program as I was) stayed with my folks and I while we went to the conference. So of course I offered to make her a bento too! Lucky me, she definitely appreciated them. She also eats meat, so I could pack things I don't pack for myself.

Packing a bento box in Little Mama's kitchen was an interesting adventure, since I didn't know what she had for bento foods, but I think we made out pretty well.

Contents of bento for my conference buddy, C: small oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies, two meatballs, 1 grape, jambalaya rice from Trader Joe's with carrot hearts. The other side has a cream-cheese stuffed mini pepper, more grapes, and a spanikopita. The bottom section has broccoli slaw, grape tomatoes, garbanzo beans, and a fishy of lemon juice. The side car has salsa for the meat balls.

Contents of my bento: broccoli slaw, tomatoes, a few errant grapes and carrots, two cream cheese stuffed mini peppers, and garbanzo beans in the corner. The other side has a spanikopita, more grapes, and jambalaya rice. The lid held some more of those little cookies.

Everything was great and we even had a chance to eat together. It is very nice to make a bento lunch for someone who appreciates it. I had to use little mama's bento box, but she said that was ok. Anyways, fun! And bento lunch!

Retro posted from 6/25/2010-Leftovers and the ALA Annual Conference

As some of you may know, I'm a librarian. And this year I was able to make it to our ceremonial spawning grounds (so to speak) the ALA Annual Conference. It was great! I got to stay with my folks, hang out with one of my former colleagues, and see/learn/hear some amazing stuff. Of course, since I wanted to do the experience on the cheap, I brought a bento for some of the days. So that means for you, my darling, low-numbered public, that there are more bento pictures! And use of some of the awesome SWAG I got in the bento contest.

Contents of bento: Leftover eggplant parm with rigatoni. Two cut out cheese people in the top left--one of the advantages of being at little mama's house is the ready availability of american cheese for deco. Bottom tier: broccoli slaw with tomato, two dolmas, one kalamata olive, and a fishy of lemon juice. The top of this bento (which is from the contest) holds a little whole grain cookie, chocolate covered pomegranate seeds, and a salt and pepper packet I got from Scandinavian Airlines many years ago. They have hilarious messages on them:

Salt:

The color of snow

The taste of tears

The enormity of oceans

and Pepper:

Pepper has been called

"the gift of the East",

though "gift" means

poison in Swedish,

don't let that put you off.

The little cheese people were because this trip (1-week long) was the longest that HB and I have been apart since we've been married. I think we fared ok, though I was very glad to have him around again when I got back home.

I ate this on the top floor of the Washington Convention Center, sitting against a wall. It was very edible at that point, but the cheese people had gotten a little melty during the day. Oh well, I knew what they looked like when I made it, so it's not too big of a deal.

The white box, which shall be known as the white box, has, to the best of my measurements, 280ml in the top and 205ml in the bottom. There's also a little room in the lid, though none of my chopsticks are small enough to fit in the holders in the lid. I brought my ELPH chopstick set which was great instead.