My First Bento Box (tm)
Apr. 4th, 2006 08:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
constanceI had a post all planned, a profound entry about blogging and motherhood and friendship and such, but I got my new Bento Box (TM) in the mail yesterday, and it was good, and so today's entry is all about lunch. Which in its way is also profound. Anyway, I will keep that other post in mind for a later date.
First of all, my Bento Box (TM)! It's black and shiny, and it has iridescent pink butterflies and waves of golden grass, which is frankly in itself enough to make me happy; but also, it's a miracle of good design, both stackable and nestable. And so I felt compelled to make my first lunch right away, despite the fact that once I wrote out my shopping list and went to the grocery and made the lunch--and friends, I had a most specific lunch in mind--it was going to be, like, midnight or so. But you know those compulsions. Or maybe you don't! And if you don't, how lucky you are!
So I did go to the grocery, and bought most everything on my list, and mastered my compulsion enough to make a couple of substitutions because (1) the seafood counter closed at 8pm and there was no lobster to be had and (2) there were no cherries in the whole store unless I was willing to eat pie filling with a spoon which I was not and (3) I really am not a fan of pudding. And came home and assembled my lunch with reckless abandon, and here it is:
Frances the Badger's lunch, from Bread and Jam for Frances
The next day, when the bell rang for lunch,
Albert said, "What do you have today?"
"Well," said Frances, laying a paper doily on her desk
and setting a tiny vase of violets in the middle of it,
"let me see." She arranged her lunch on the doily.
"I have a thermos bottle with cream of tomato soup," she said.
"And a lobster-salad sandwich on thin slices of white bread.
I have celery, carrot, sticks, and black olives,
and a little cardboard shaker of salt for the celery.
And two plums and a tiny basket of cherries.
And vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles
and a spoon to eat it with."
"That's a good lunch, said Albert.
"I think it's nice that there are all different kinds
of lunches and breakfasts and dinners and snacks.
I think eating is nice."
"So do I," said Frances,
and she made the lobster-salad sandwich, the celery,
the carrot sticks, and the olives come out even.
A few more notes:
First of all, my Bento Box (TM)! It's black and shiny, and it has iridescent pink butterflies and waves of golden grass, which is frankly in itself enough to make me happy; but also, it's a miracle of good design, both stackable and nestable. And so I felt compelled to make my first lunch right away, despite the fact that once I wrote out my shopping list and went to the grocery and made the lunch--and friends, I had a most specific lunch in mind--it was going to be, like, midnight or so. But you know those compulsions. Or maybe you don't! And if you don't, how lucky you are!
So I did go to the grocery, and bought most everything on my list, and mastered my compulsion enough to make a couple of substitutions because (1) the seafood counter closed at 8pm and there was no lobster to be had and (2) there were no cherries in the whole store unless I was willing to eat pie filling with a spoon which I was not and (3) I really am not a fan of pudding. And came home and assembled my lunch with reckless abandon, and here it is:
The next day, when the bell rang for lunch,
Albert said, "What do you have today?"
"Well," said Frances, laying a paper doily on her desk
and setting a tiny vase of violets in the middle of it,
"let me see." She arranged her lunch on the doily.
"I have a thermos bottle with cream of tomato soup," she said.
"And a lobster-salad sandwich on thin slices of white bread.
I have celery, carrot, sticks, and black olives,
and a little cardboard shaker of salt for the celery.
And two plums and a tiny basket of cherries.
And vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles
and a spoon to eat it with."
"That's a good lunch, said Albert.
"I think it's nice that there are all different kinds
of lunches and breakfasts and dinners and snacks.
I think eating is nice."
"So do I," said Frances,
and she made the lobster-salad sandwich, the celery,
the carrot sticks, and the olives come out even.
A few more notes:
- No doilies. No violets. I thought briefly about searching them down, but I think I'm going to have enough to explain at lunchtime without the vase and the violets.
- No extra salt. The tiny shaker does appeal, but do I really need extra salt in my diet? No.
- The sandwich is salmon salad with cream cheese and dill, cut out using a tiny apple-shaped cookie cutter.
- The pudding is not pudding at all but vanilla yogurt, with grated semisweet chocolate on top.
- The soup is tomato basil with a dollop of sour cream and grated parmesan cheese. No thermos; I do not own a thermos.
- Two plums is a hell of a lot of fruit. What you see is not even two plums--it wouldn't all fit in the box, and so I had three or four slices tonight for dessert.
- In fact, even with the soup and the yogurt in little four-ounce containers, this is altogether a veritable truckload of food. That Frances, she was a furry little bottomless pit.
- Also, Mrs. Badger must have done nothing but make lunches all the freaking livelong day, because Good Lord. I predict lots of leftovers in my future as a bento-er, or maybe nice little pre-made sushi rolls, because I can't be staying up every night till all hours making my lunch, no matter how satisfyingly purty it is when it's all done, and no matter how much extra time I have on my hands with my internet connection (temporarily) gone away.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 02:33 pm (UTC)I mailed you something commemorative yesterday, never imagining that your E-bay source would be so speedy and beat me to the punch. And arrgh- I don't have Bread and Jam for Frances, and when I googled the lunch, my source neglected to mention the thermos of soup, but oh, well. I got the rest right, anyway. /cryptic ;)
It's amazingly time-consuming, isn't it? I'm dying to know what your coworkers think/thought of it!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 04:36 pm (UTC)How are you doing on that front, by the way? Are you still having fun with it? Planning on sticking to it for a while? Because I was thinking that maybe it'd be fun to set up a casual community and post occasional photos. What do you think?
And! Package! Package! :D:D:D:D:D
no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 04:50 pm (UTC)I probably wouldn't participate yet but I'm thinking I'm going to get bento boxes for all three kids for school lunches next year. I'd participate then. Meanwhile, I'd love to see yours and Laurel's creations and anyone else you can rope in!
(also, I love your icon)
*overdoses on exclamation points!*
Date: 2006-04-04 04:59 pm (UTC)And the more I think about this community idea, the more I like it--I hope lots of people will want to play!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 10:36 pm (UTC)I'm still having a blast with mine, even though it isn't as decorative as yours is. I joined the Mr. Bento community on Flickr so I'd have someone upon whom to inflict my daily pictures, but they're, you know, strangers, plus they don't talk much, so I'd love to have a community amongst ourselves. Sounds like
It's just so cool that you're interested in all this. My family and friends were making me feel like perhaps I was devoting too much enthusiasm to this. (Although I just got a note from my stepmonster- she's jumping on the bandwagon, too!)
no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 10:54 pm (UTC)they're, you know, strangers, plus they don't talk much
Yes, exactly! I love looking at people's boxes in various communities and blogs, but for posting my own stuff, especially as a beginner, I'd just be more comfortable with people I know, and I'd rather look at the efforts of people I know as well. :)