Sakura Ma Po Tofu Bento

Sakura Ma Po Tofu Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

MisterMan's ma po tofu gets an accent of three beet-dyed sakura cut tofu "blossoms" floating atop his meal. Did you enjoy the cherry blossoms in your neighborhood? Seems this year I noticed quite a few specimen trees that I never noticed in years past. There's one fabulous double-blossomed tree that I pass every single day, and somehow I never realized its striking beauty until the past couple weeks. I can't take a picture because there's no parking, but I've been slowing down to appreciate it each day. So here's my homage to that lovely spring display. His upper tier has a couple of the last market strawberries, and some cups of: marinated baby bell peppers and pickled red onions; pickled turnips with sliced kumquats, pickled carrots and daikon, and pickled bittermelon. The baby turnips recipe called for lemon, but I substituted kumquats -- it's delicious this way! I think the kumquats would be nice by themselves as well. They are an unusual fruit in that the flesh and juice are tart but the skin is sweet. Have you had them? And this batch of bittermelon was marinated in equal parts vinegar and pineapple juice. It's a lot more palatable this way. I think this method is a winner! I may put together a post of all my pickling experiments, in case you have a hankering to try any of these, and so that I can remember what I've tried so far. What do you think?

Egg O'Lantern Bento

Egg O'Lantern Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Egg-o-lantern today, dyed with beet and shoyu, and with a nori face, sits on greens next to grilled portobello (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and green onion). He also gets a piece of corn on the cob, a purple and pink carrot skewer, an orange cherry tomato, some pickled renkon (lotus root) and bittermelon, and sliced pluots. Are you feeling the Halloweeeeen yet?

Banh Mi bento

Banh Mi bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Let it be noted that this is my favorite sandwich bento basket. I love it a lot, and wish I could send more sandwiches to school with my boy just so I can use it :)
MisterMan gets barbeque pork Vietnamese sandwich (Banh Mi), and I added bean sprouts and extra cilantro (and removed the jalapenos). Sometimes I will add lettuce, but this time I just added a side salad in the tiny stainless box with tricolor tomatoes and pickled bittermelon. The pickling juice acts as a perfect salad dressing, too.
He will flip when he sees the fruit section! I don't think I've ever given him quite so much variety: blueberries, peaches, peapods (ok, not a fruit but I needed the vibrant green color), raspberries, blackberry, Italian plum, cherry and lychee. (doesn't the lychee look luscious?? .mmm, I am soo in love with them..)

MisterMan goes "beachcombing" for shells to make into artwork, halfway through Camping Week at Summer Adventures...