May the Fourth Be with You Bento Hop

04 May 2013 57 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

Star Wars Onigiri

Once again, I am proud to join my Bento Bloggers & Friends on this “May the 4th Be with You” blog hop. Please find the hop button at the bottom of this post and continue through the hop until you visit all of the amazing blogs.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Background: Spinach

Stormtroopers: Onigiri made with upside down bear rice mold, paprika stencil

Darth Vader: Onigiri mixed with black sesame seeds and made with upside down bear rice mold

Tie Fighter: Cucumber

Millennium Falcon in Asteroid Field: Tortilla with food coloring, red grapes

Please click on the hop button below to see what Beth of A Boy & His Lunch prepared.

May the 4th Be With You Blog Hop

Once you’ve completed the hop…

Return to Base

Nest Themed Dinner

02 May 2013 27 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Food, Party Planning Tags: , ,

Nest Dinner Header

My 16 year old nephew and 14 year old niece came over for a nest themed dinner. It was enjoyable to have them help me cook and the food was delicious.

Menu

  • Salad with bird crouton. I mostly followed this recipe from Lady Nann’s Table. The eggs and rest of the salad are from the Bird’s Nest Salad with Citrus Dressing recipe from Beautiful on the Raw. I only made orange eggs and did not put garlic in the dressing. We also used the olive oil choice in the dressing instead of nut butter.
  • Potato nests from Eating Whole. They took a lot longer to cook than the recipe said but I think that I had more potatoes in each cup. We roasted red pepper, white onion and zucchini to add to the nests.
  • Birds Nest Pasta from Veggie Kids. My niece had hers with peas since she does not like cheese. My nephew and I had our nests with pearl fresh mozzarella balls.
  • Birds Nest Cookies from Martha Stewart. They take time to make but are worth it! I used Cadbury Mini Eggs (milk chocolate with a crisp sugar shell). I bought the eggs around Easter.

Bird Nest Salad

Bird in Nest Salad

Potato Nests and Spaghetti Nests

Potato and Spaghetti Nests

Birds Nest Cookies

Nest Cookies

May Day Basket for Neighbor

01 May 2013 25 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

May Day edible basket

When I read this post by Which~Craft 2 Create?, I knew that I wanted to make a May Day basket for my neighbor. And of course I wanted it to be edible.

I used my french bread dough and a 7 oz, (200 ml) ramekin to make this basket. The handle is held on with toothpicks. The vegetable flowers are cucumber, radish, and carrot.

My neighbors were delighted to receive this May Day basket.

May Day Bento and Mini Photo Tutorial

30 Apr 2013 26 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

May Day Bento

In honor of May Day which is tomorrow, I made this flower basket themed bento. It was a delight to make and eat this cheerful bento.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Fruit Flowers: Watermelon with dried blueberry centers (attached with spaghetti – will soften by lunch)

Nuts: Almonds and walnuts

Basket of Flowers: Peanut butter sandwich, basket made with french bread dough, asparagus, plum tomato, radish with carrot and yellow pepper centers

Braid Basket Handle

Braid Handle

Handle on Basket

Handle on Basket

Cut Lines in Basket

Cut Lines in Basket

Linking to:
Grown-Ups Gotta Eat

Did Not Make The Cut Bento Blog Hop

29 Apr 2013 24 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

Pasta Bento

I am joining 7 of my fellow Bento Bloggers & Friends on this “I Didn’t Make the Cut” bento blog hop. Please find the hop button at the bottom of this post and continue through the hop until you visit all of the amazing blogs.

Each of us entered the Bento & Co 2013 International Bento Contest. The theme this year was pasta.

I did not expect to make the cut. I could say negative things about this bento and I was hesitant to join this hop and share my entry. But the fact is I am very glad that I took on the bento contest challenge. It pushed me to attempt a more traditional Japanese type bento, gave me something fun to occupy my thoughts, and my husband and I had a wonderful pasta feast. It was similar to when I entered a flower show but at least this time I don’t think anyone is going to say that their 3 year old grandchild could make this.

Fruit: Strawberries

Vegetables: Broccoli, sugar snap peas, mukimame, tomato

Ravioli: Cheese & Spinach Ravioli with homemade pesto (the basil is from my herb garden), garnished with pine nuts

Garlic Knot: Homemade with garlic and parsley

Riccioli: Riccioli with fresh tomato sauce that I made with diced tomatoes and vegetable bouillon

Garlic Shape: Horseradish cheese

Please click on the hop button below to see what Lise of Veggie-Bento prepared.

DidntMakeBentoCut

Sashiko Pillow

26 Apr 2013 29 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Crafts, Embroidery Tags:

Sashiko Pillow

This is my first experience with Sashiko. I found it relaxing and fun.

Sashiko is a type of embroidery stitching from Japan. It uses a running stitch. In 2011 I took a Sashiko class at the City Quilter in Manhattan. At that time I purchased a kit and started this piece. I completed the Sashiko stitching shortly after the class. But I did not sew it into a pillow until yesterday. One of the great results of having a blog is that it encourages me to complete projects.

Ready to Drive Bento

25 Apr 2013 12 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

Driving Bento

I made this bento for my nephew who recently turned 16.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Vegetable: Sugar snap peas

Fruit: Strawberries

Bagels: Peanut butter on homemade poppy seed bagels

Cheese: Car (horseradish cheese with food coloring paste details), Railroad sign (sharp cheddar cheese with food coloring paste details)

Linking to:

BentoForKidlet

Artichoke Pasta Bento

24 Apr 2013 16 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

Artichoke Pasta Bento

This was a fast bento to make because it was entirely made from dinner leftovers. I was not very fond of the pasta recipe but it was good enough to eat as leftovers for lunch.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Vegetable: Asparagus with toasted hazlenuts, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper

Fruit: Blackberries

Pasta: Pasta with Grilled Artichokes (I roasted the artichokes instead of grilling)

Linking to:
Photobucket

Knight Bento

23 Apr 2013 10 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: ,

Knight Bento

When I made my first knight bento I knew that there would be other knight themed bentos in my future. My 8 year old nephew requested that I use the ECO Lunchbox because it is metal like armor. I don’t like using sanding sugar for healthy bentos but I made an exception for this lunch.

Container: ECO Lunchboxes

Background: Sugar snap peas

Nuts: Brazil nuts in small Wilton snack cup

Dip: Ranch

Knight Helmet: Peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich on wheat bread with Wegmans Fruit Flat details, silver and red sanding sugar “glued” with a little bit of soft butter.

Fruit: Strawberries, one strawberry dipped in melted chocolate to represent a shield

Linking to:
Bento Lunch

April Showers Bring Bento Flowers

22 Apr 2013 27 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: ,

April Showers Bring Bento

This bento was enjoyable to assemble. The colorful cucumber and melon make this rainy lunch cheerful.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Rain: Flour tortilla pieces with homemade apricot jam in the middle, rain drops drawn with Wilton food marker

Umbrella: Peanut butter and homemade apricot jam sandwich on wheat bread, handle (green pepper)

Vegetable Flowers: Cucumber

Fruit Flowers: Cantaloupe and watermelon

Linking to:
BentoForKidlet

Tissue Box Die

19 Apr 2013 19 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Crafts Tags: ,

Tissue Box Die

When my 8 year old nephew and I spent the day together recently, we created a craft for JDaniel4′s Mom: 3rd Annual Tissue Box Challenge 2013. The challenge was to “decorate or build a tissue box(es) with or for your children”.

Our project is basic but it was a great Aunt/Nephew activity and it was fun to work together in my craft room. We brainstormed ideas. I drew the circles, he did most of the coloring. Together we attached the panels.

View of  3 and 2

Tissue Box Die 3-2

View of  6 and 4

Tissue Box Die 6-4

JDaniel4's Mom_tissue_box_challenge

Reject Pasta Bento

18 Apr 2013 25 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Food Tags: , ,

Reject Pasta Bento

Recently I made several pasta bentos for possible entry in the Bento & Co bento contest. The theme this year is pasta. I determined that this bento is not good enough for entry but it was delicious.

Container: Bento box from Japan

Top Tier: Wegmans Tortiglioni with homemade herb garden pesto (garnished with pinenuts), homemade garlic knot, bowtie pasta with fresh tomato sauce made from canned diced tomatoes and vegetable bullion.

Bottom Tier:  Asparagus, local maple sugar candy, and strawberries

Linking to:
Grown-Ups Gotta Eat

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