Starry, Starry Night Bento #124

Wednesday evening I made this Starry, Starry Night Bento to take to work on Thursday. I was feeling a bit under the weather and put in plenty of vitamin C… but it was too late. I was ill the next day and ate my bento in bed! A real luxury not having to get out to fix lunch though ;)

Left tier
Leftover Nasi goreng (fried rice) and bell pepper star in radicchio leaves ‘cup’, veggie dog & gherkin skewer, stars of an apple cake home-baked by my mother-in-law and a shy Brussels sprout (hiding).

Mini container
Roasted walnuts.

Upper right container
Lemon drizzled Elstar apple slices, Clementine and toasted walnuts.

Lower tier
More apple & mandarin, corn salad, cucumber stars and scrambled egg with tomato (my favourite!) in a new star-shaped silicon cupcake mold.

Bento FAQ

The pictures I took of bento #124 can answer no less than three of my Frequently Asked Questions.

Doesn’t your food get dry or mouldy when packing a bento the night before?
See for yourself: this is how it looks like the next day at lunch hour. Not too bad at all, is it?  Here’s a photo of how it looked right after I composed my bento — not much different. I kept my lunch in the fridge overnight and took it out in the morning to let it get to room temperature.

How come the cake (or whatever) doesn’t get soggy?
Yes, I cheat sometimes in photographing my bentos. The following picture shows you how: the cake stars are actually wrapped in saran to prevent them from getting wet and tasting of the neighbouring Brussels sprout or fried rice.

Since that doesn’t look as neat, I first took a photo without the plastic. ;)

I’m really not the only one to do this! I used to think that I should present my bento exactly how it was packed (quelle naïveté!), but fellow bentoïsts have taught me differently. So if you wanna shoot me, you’re going to have to create a massacre. ;)

(Am I the only one hearing Twin Peaks’ Pete Martell in my head:
“She’s dead. Wrapped in plastic.” ???)

Why doesn’t your apple get brown?
After I’ve put the apple slices in the container, I drizzle them with lemon juice, close the lid and shake the box. Can you see me dancing through the kitchen? That way the juice covers all the apple parts and prevents them from browning.

You can also put your slices a few minutes in a bowl of salted water for the same effect, but I really like the taste of lemon on my apple! :)

Home-grown: chilli pepper.
Local & organic: apple, corn salad, radicchio, leek, onion, capsicum, Brussels sprout, tomato, parsley, egg.
Organic: cucumber, garlic, rice, vegetarian sausage.

More of this week’s bento lunches can be found at Shannon’s What’s for Lunch Wednesday (week 28)!

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Mmmmm matcha cake!

Eindelijk heb ik mijn eerste matcha-experiment uitgevoerd! Ik wilde al heel lang iets bakken met deze groene poederthee (die eigenlijk is bedoeld voor Japanse theeceremonies), maar eerst moest ik het ergens zien te scoren en daarna een goede gelegenheid vinden om ermee aan de slag te gaan. Die deed zich voor bij onze laatste Twin Peaks Marathon sessie! Voor onze eerste bijeenkomst van 2 jaar geleden experimenteerden we met de originele Twin Peaks Cherry Pie waarvoor we Crisco nodig hadden en speciale zure kersen, zodat dit een toepasselijk moment leek voor een cake met bittere groene thee en zoete witte chocolade. Loopt het water u al in de mond? :) De foto bewijst dat het bakexperiment lukte en neem maar van mij aan dat-ie ook lekker was :) Dank dus aan La Tartine Gourmande voor het recept.

Wat zal ik volgende keer eens proberen te maken met mijn groene poederthee? Wie het weet mag het zeggen! En er kan ook worden nagedacht over een nieuw filmproject :)