Dec 22, 2009: Bentos
 

I was checking out The GFCF Lady, and clicked a link to a company that sells those Bento lunch boxes. That site has a picture gallery.

How could any kid, or adult, resist these lunches?

http://cellar.org/2009/bento.jpg

:yum: Now I'm hungry.

mmm finger food.

Especially the pig-shaped one.

Bentos --The Lunchmaker!

I have one of those laptop lunch kits, mine is never that cute! Dangit, maybe I should draw some eyes on my hard boiled eggs :)

Vaguely related fact:

The bento-box is popular among Japanese commuters as it is possible to eat it standing up in a train.

As a result, having sex while standing up is called bento-sex.

When Classicman and I split an Archie McPhee box last year (or was it this year), I got custody of a Parasite Pals Lunch Kit.

I still haven't been able to bring myself to eat with it. I don't think I'll ever be able to.

Oh well, there's always next year's Secret Santa.;)

Meh - slap a lid on, put in kids school bag, send kid to school, wait three or four hours, remove lid. I'll bet it doesn't look pretty by then...

Killer Thai curry paste--forget Thai Kitchen
 

I clicked the GFCF link and liked what I saw, but the paste is an abomination to me!

Here's a killer recipe for Thai curry paste:

I must preface this with: I love onions, garlic, spicy food and basil.
You may need to adjust your amounts if you don't like these flavors.

I'll put a asterisk (*) next to the ingredients you might need to adjust.

3/4 cup chopped scallion *
1/2 cup minced chopped basil *
3 Tbs. minced fresh garlic *
3 Tbs. fresh lemon or lime juice
2 Tbs. brown sugar (if you like less sweet before the mouth burn, reduce this.)
2 Tbs. fresh, grated ginger root (You can use jarred ginger if you're lazy.)
1 or 2 minced green chiles. (Leave seeds in for napalm Thai curry; remove seeds for tolerable Thai curry.)*
1 Tbs. coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste

Whirl this up in a food processor until it has a paste-like consistency.

Add it to the GFCF recipe instead of the Thai Kitchen paste.

Worlds apart. :)

Believe it or not, it mostly does! A few of those photos aren't realistic, because the food is sticking above the edge of the containers--when you close the lid, it fits tightly flush against the individual containers and holds everything in place. The little piggy up there might not survive intact, but the food doesn't get totally tossed around.

Why yes, we own three of them. :)

Paste
 

ACh! Forgot to add that you should add Sriracha chili sauce if you want more kick.

Hope you enjoy.

I don't see any bacon or Big Macs. What kind of lunch is that, without that stuff, or coke or chocolate shake?

Pardon me for asking, but what makes the lunches that *don't* look like something cute or kitschy bento?

I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly, Els... but being a "bento" lunch refers mostly to the idea of multiple, reusable containers that fit tightly inside one larger container. The cutesy food design part of bento is just a side effect of being Japanese; they can't help it. ;)

I saw what you did there!