For this vacation themed bento I made a bread canoe. Canoes remind me of summers at our family property in the Adirondacks  (Hamilton County, NY). I love canoeing on a calm lake in the morning or evening.

Canoe: French bread with cheese lettering (see below)

Paddle: pretzel stick with chocolate

Lake: blueberries

Trail mix: Wegmans Berry Pistachio blend

Adirondack Pack Basket: carrots, chives, cucumber (see below)

Supplies used to make a carrot basket

Carrot basket tutorial

Supplies:

• Mandoline slicer (vertical carrot strips)
• Vegetable peeler (horizontal carrot strips)
• Carrots
• Cucumber sliced to size of desired basket
• Sharp knife (to cut the carrot strips in half lengthwise)
• Pins (to hold vertical carrot strips while weaving horizontal strips)
• Chives (to hold top of basket when pins are removed)

Method:

Start by cutting carrot strips with a mandoline slider. These will be the vertical strips for the basket. Pin vertical strips to the cucumber.

Cut carrot strips with a vegetable peeler. These will be the horizontal strips for the basket. Start at the bottom and weave carrot strips horizontally. Keep weaving strips until you get to the top of your vertical strips.

Tie a long chive around the top edge and carefully remove pins. Insert shorter chive pieces for the basket handles.

I only made one basket. It was very fragile but was fun to make and eat.

Bread canoes after baking

I made my french bread dough and tried different size canoes. I followed a similar method as my alligator. I sprayed aluminum foil with cooking spray and pushed into bread before second rise and baking.

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