bánh xèo spring bento

Hello friends! After a mild winter, spring has arrived early and bright. 

 

Blue Nikko hydrangea leafing out in glorious bright green this morning:

Native redbud. Love the candy like magenta pink bud-blooms: the festive essence of spring!

There is a feminine light and brightness to Vietnamese cuisine that always makes me think of spring; today's bento reflects that spring-association and a recent visit to Eden Center, Northern Virginia's epicenter of all things tastily Vietnamese.

Likely for the last time (our home is under contract now!), we visited our fav restaurant in the center, Huong Viet, for a selection of tried and true delights.

Bánh xèo, a crisp and addictively delicious filled crepe, served with aromatic herbs:

Caramelized heads-on jumbo shrimp over lotus root salad

Savory squid with cilantro

We ambled around Eden Center after our meal. Pretty and friendly Song Que Deli offers bahn mi and other prepared snacks and treats, a delightful place...

 Mmmmm, mango ice cream!

Delectably pastel Banh Bo rice flour sweets

The corridors of Eden Center house innumerable cafes, restaurants, snack bars...

Tropical bubble drinks!

                             

 

In today's bento, a portion of bánh xèo is nestled on a bed of springy green watercress, with fresh fennel and ruby red grapefruit in fan shaped sections...

 

Happy spring and happy cooking this week!

asparagus and lamb salad bento

Hi bento pals! A quick lunch for a radiant and springlike day...the kind where breezes are edged with birdsong and a mild delicious chill that sings of the new season arriving!

In the bento we have a buttery stir fry of asparagus combined with lamb in a Greek yogurt-mayo dressing accented with fresh tarragon and green peppercorns. Plump cherry tomatoes and a sweet fruit section of champagne mango and a heart-accented clementine. The bento is resting on a lush bed of periwinkle, a sweet harbinger of spring with delicate yet tough little blooms in one of my very favorite colors.

Delicate pale pink magnolia twilight flower captured on an early evening walk....

Happy cooking and bentoing this week, friends!

sunday at the national gallery of art, dc

Hi friends! I wanted to share some images from a relaxing Sunday we spent at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In additional to a wonderfully diverse collection of European and American art, this museum is one of our very favorite venues for people watching and Sunday paper-reading...

We settled in with cappuccinos in the Cascade Cafe...enjoying this month's display of brilliant, deliciously tropical hibiscus blooms in wild shades of pink-coral-orange:

Orange-gold (and rare) clivia:

Have a sweet gelato with your cappuccino (unless like me you had leftover Thai food for a late breakfast)!

This museum features an amazing series of gift shops with delightful books, art supplies and colorful gifts for adults and children...

Some favorite artists, works: The Artist's Garden at Vétheuil by Monet. Love the blue and white ceramic detail in this riotous summer garden, and the intense blue sky above...

Matisse: Still Life with Apples on Pink Tablecloth, 1924. Such a sense of dynamic yet deeply harmonious color and pattern...

A permanent installation of Henri Matisse cutouts in the East Wing, a wedding of organic, joyous form and the colors of spring in the French Midi

Wayne Thiebaut's "Cakes", 1963. Luscious pop art--tender colors, ample and festive cakes sweetly frosted onto canvas:

Outside, in a chill March wind intense pink magnolia had burst into bloom...

Happy cooking this week!