Spring, spring, Where are you?



In dire need of some fresh, happy, colors…

Today’s bento included blanched snap-peas, sautéed chicken burger, blanched asparagus with okaka, or shaved bonito flakes and a touch of soy sauce, yellow carrot sticks, red pepper slices, and watermelon radish.

A burst of color spilling over the gray, browning slush covering the roads.

New beginnings, a new day, it’s Groundhog Day?

It’s been quite a while, dear reader, and my life was quickly overrun with various changes. Our beloved dog passed away, and I started a new job involving a longer commute, and different hours.

Of course, my blog suffered dearly, as I was unable to juggle everything as gracefully as I hoped.

Needless to say… A small triumph, despite the blizzard that whipped past the region last week, dumping 2 feet of snow, or the snow-sleet-freezing rain-snow fiesta that blanketed the area again…. I managed to pack my own bento today, inspired by a mouthwatering piece from Serious Eats I’ve salivated over the past few month.

I followed the basic steps – layering cooked udon noodles (I started with kanmen or dried noodles) and added blanched snow peas, carrots, scallions, a generous bit of roast chicken from Makinajian Poultry Farm – their herb roasted chicken has the most deliciously aromatic skin and juicy meat – and a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon, mushroom into my trusty Nissan Thermos.

Lunchtime came, and I filled the thermos with hot water, resealed the goodness for four (long) minutes, and voila!!

The photos truly are snapshots of the moment – however, they don’t capture my anxious moments before opening up the container revealing my long, anticipated udon lunch!!

I’ve had a few unsuccessful batches, where I sadly ate my mistakes – underseasoned soup, poorly drained noodles resulting in a gelatinous mess at the bottom, raw vegetables that didn’t seem to warm up despite the amount of time I kept the lid on…..

However this time, dear reader, it was a success!!

What IS your favorite food?

I can eat pretty much, anything.

I can also drink, pretty much anything.

…pause…

My ultimate childhood dream was to be given a spoon, and an endless container filled with salmon roe, or ikura – the brilliant orange mini spheres bursting in one’s mouth, snippets of alternating saline and ocean…. Ah – the ultimate would be to be given free reign of such decadent snacking…

I digress. Or not?

The girls’ favorite hors d’oeuvres – ikura (salmon row) adorning cucumber slices, 1/8 inch thick.

Orange gems bursting, salty, in one’s mouth – complimented by refreshing slices of pale green cucumber…

Need I say more?

Gochisosama!!Thank you so much Uncle K for our gorgeous treat!!!!