hello summer bento

This Saturday's market was full of signs of summer's arrival and the ripening power of the sun:

 

Local peaches have arrived:

 

 I found perfect zucchinis at this stand:

 

 Hydrangea close up:

 

Our dear pal Cheryl just came back from a wonderful vacation in France and brought us back this sachet of Herbes de Provence:

....which in turn inspired our meal with her on Sunday, along with recipes from The Provence Cookbook by Patricia Wells, and some very fresh finds at the farmer's market. Olives to start:

A highly recommended approach to zucchini, adapted from The Provence Cookbook: saute very fresh zucchini slices and a sliced orange pepper in a wok in which you've just gently sauteed four plump garlic cloves in olive oil and butter.

Add salt, thyme and/or Herbes de Provence to taste, and fresh basil leaves. After the zucchini slices have taken on a golden hue, place in an oiled casserole dish and top with grated gruyere cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about a half hour:

 

Baby potatoes oven roasted with chicken stock and bay leaves:

Roughy fillets with artichoke cream sauce, tomato, basil and Herbes de Provence.

Green salad with roasted pine nuts, fresh basil, avocado and creamy Dijon vinaigrette:

Cheryl brought these lovely homemade angel food cakes with fresh berries for dessert:

Today's bento includes fish from our big meal, baby potatoes, fresh basil and snow pea tops from the farmer's market, a small goat cheese rolled in Herbes de Provence, blackberries, and watermelon:

Happy summer, bento pals!

blue butterfly bento, lamb feast

Tuesday's lunch was made with wonderful lamb prepared by hubby Jamison, an awesome, intuitive cook with a knack for combining flavors with a Mediterranean-meets-Silk Road spice twist. This weekend a lovely leg of lamb with a rich, fragrant marinade of fruit and spices was on the menu!

Here, green apples and peaches marinate in red wine with whole cloves, star anise, vanilla bean, coriander, onion, and dates. The leg of lamb was added to absorb the exotic flavors for a few hours. Next, everything was roasted in a copper casserole until the lamb was medium rare.

 

 

Beautiful, flavorful lamb at the table:

 Salad with fresh oregano, artichoke hearts, mushrooms...

 

A new favorite red wine: Klinker Brick Farrah Syrah from Lodi, California with deep vanilla notes (yum!):

Today's bento features the last of the lamb, sliced thin with yogurt sauce and basil, romaine, parsley, blackberries, kiwi, peach, watermelon, dates with coconut:

Some images from the Farmer's Market this weekend:

 

 

 

 

 Dahlia plants:

 

And at home, the peach daylily is in bloom...

Japanese Morning Glory seedlings:

 

Have a very good Wednesday, bento friends!

gemini bento

Hello bento pals--especially Geminis! My Gemini-themed bento takes inspiration from the fresh, tart foods and flavors associated with this sign (lemon, dill, fennel, capers, coffee, apricots) and also some traditional New York treats.

Why New York, you ask? Well, the city's bracing, ever-changing, restless energy epitomizes Gemini: a place where people move, think and speak quickly and newness and novelty is expected. Mercury rules the exchange of information, ideas and inspirations; NYC is a major center of media, publishing and trade, all Gemini specialties (I may feel a special connection to these themes as my parents met while working in publishing here...)

Inside the Gemini bento we have twin mini whole wheat bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, red onion, farmer's market dill and dill flowers. A delicious green bean and tarragon salad with piquant caper and green peppercorn dressing shares the magewappa, from a super recipe found at the interactive, dynamic cooking site food52.

Tart lemon slices, sweet watermelon and apricot, and a mini cupcake decorated to echo a New York-style black and white cookie also inside (Gemini-associated coffee was added to the chocolate glaze!).

I'd like to share a few more pictures from my recent NYC visit that highlight the mercurial, Gemini nature of the city. Grand Central Station is a NYC landmark, key local transportation artery (Gemini) and features a dynamic sculpture of Mercury as focal point:

Inside the station, its famous celestial ceiling features an image of the Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux:

At Gray's Papaya, patrons eat their speedily served hot dogs standing (ideally with a delicious papaya juice drink, a perfect compliment to the briny hot dog) surrounded by signs, testimonials and ever-changing city scenes:

At Rockefeller Center, another graceful image of Mercury:

The beautiful golden facade at La Maison Francaise, 610 Fifth Avenue:

 

 

 

New York-style cheesecake with strawberries in the window of Carnegie Deli:

Kinokuniya in Midtown is wonderful resource for printed Japanese culture: an airy, well-stocked emporium of books, magazines, stationary and more delights. For those interested in books on Japanese arts and crafts, especially, its a heavenly place to get lost in for a couple of hours. There's even a cafe.

The shelves include a good selection of books on bento:

 

Downstairs is a wonderful stationary department with some bento supplies...it was nice to see this NY Times article on bento featuring Sheri and Debra on display:

 

Cute temptation...

 

And for lovers of Japanese paper, cards, stickers, crafts, so many variations on the kawaii and beautiful!

Hope you enjoyed this month's Astro-bento and the NYC images...