mom & pop design

Easy-ish Valentine Cookies

2009-02-14T12:54:36-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!
My daughter and I made these easy cookies for our school bake sale. I am the laziest baker on earth. I love cooking meals, but baking just drives me insane. I haven't yet delved into my inner self to figure out why. The thought of rolling out cookie dough would be unthinkable.
So I found these Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough Sheets on sale at the market. Just cut out the cookies, decorate, and bake them. That sounded fun! How hard could baking be?
We decorated them by pouring the sprinkles into small bowls, and pressing one side of the cut out dough into it, so the it's fully covered with sprinkles.
Two packs of dough made about 6 batches of cookies.
What felt like 14 hours later, we had these beautiful cookies. And I don't own a rolling pin. I packed them in little cello bags, gave half to the bake sale, and kept the rest!

Are Plastic Japanese Bento Boxes Safe?

2009-02-13T08:27:28-08:00

Hakoya elephant bento box from Ichiban Kan.

I've been hearing for a while about toxic plastics like BPA's. I thought it was an urban myth. But after seeing this episode of Expose on PBS, it convinced me to start getting rid of toxic plastics from my home, starting with my kitchen. I know it may take years to rid my entire home of toxic stuff.

For starters, I went through my daughter's dishes, cups, and containers. Anything with a label of #1, #2, #4, and #5 got to stay. Anything with #3, #6, and #7 got tossed. Then I examined all my bento gear...no numbers on the bottom. What to do?

I found a very informative post What are plastic Japanese bento boxes made of? on one of my favorite blogs, JustBento. JustBento says "None of the major Japanese bento box manufacturers use polycarbonate...any bento box from a reputable Japanese maker should be perfectly safe."

For now, I'm keeping my bento gear made in Japan. And I'm tossing out the questionable gear made in China, or ones without numbers on the bottom.

For more info, via JustBento, check out The Green Guide.

Holiday cards you want to eat

2008-12-07T00:26:44-08:00

These holiday cards from Gourmet Mag feature gorgeous photos of cookies, and their recipes! via lena.

Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook

2008-10-30T21:05:57-07:00

Cookbooks from Hawaii are full of really great asian-fusion home style recipes, that are easy, ono (delicious), and adapted to american tastebuds. So when I heard from Lunch In A Box that a new Hawaii's Bento Cookbook is out, it's on my "need it now" list. It has bento recipes for Spam Musubi, Shoyu Hotdogs, Mochiko Chicken, and Kahlua Pork. Bring it on!

boo!

2008-10-28T11:14:41-07:00

This adorable amigurumi set is from Etsy by EternalSunshine.

Corny Dogs Bento

2008-10-14T22:19:27-07:00

Forgive me for not posting in a while. We've experienced some huge life changes. My husband got a new job. I went to work full time, after staying home/working from home for 4.5 years. It's taken me a while to get used to the new lifestyle. I had to learn how to style my hair again. And wear grown up clothes. So, I had to take a break from blogging. But I'm baaaack!

I still pack bentos for my daughter. But it's thrown together quickly, not often pretty. There have been days when I pack it like "the brown bag style of my youth" (gasp!) in ziplocks (gasp!) because it's so easy and quick. Alas, I still love the bento format, because she will eat more veggies when it's all presented in one container. For example, If I put the veggies in a separate container, she wouldn't bother to eat it. Put the veggies next to the corn dogs...she will eat it. (insert evil laugh here)

Today's bento contains: mini veggie corn dogs, grapes, carrots, persian cucumbers, and some soy sauce in a little squeezy fish bottle.

design crush: mary blair

2008-05-30T12:11:30-07:00

We celebrated my husband's bday at Disneyland. While waiting for him to get his disney passport photo taken, my daughter and I walked into the Main Street Opera House next store. There was a small exhibit showcasing the creative minds behind "It's a Small World". I've always loved the look and feel of that ride, the children with their round rosy faces, the midcentury modern bold graphics. It was styled by Mary Blair, illustrator and designer extraordinaire. Her work -- dynamic, adorable, whimsical, and stylish-- touches my core and now I'm trying to get my hands on everything she's ever made. Pictures from the book "Little Verses" are from animationarchive, a great place to learn more about Mary Blair.

tiffins 'n things

2008-05-20T10:42:58-07:00

Japanese have bentos and Indians have tiffins. I'm just learning about tiffins and I love the concept. Each compartment carries a different food, like rice, curry, naan, and stacks tightly together. Great for saucy foods that might not work in a bento box. Traditionally, they are made of stainless steel or tin like this. In India, they have an fascinating tiffin delivery system called dabbawala, which delivers the tiffins from home to office. These melamine tiffin boxes are made by VIVO, and are available at Pearl River, one of my favorite shops in NYC. While at Pearl River, I spotted these adorable mushroom and apple bento containers. Now I'm craving to explore Little India...

just hatched

2008-05-17T08:13:34-07:00

Here's my latest amigurumi project from my already well worn book, Amigurumi World. The projects are short and sweet, perfect for my short attention span.

hello kitty bento tools from japan

2008-05-16T12:16:10-07:00

Bento cuteness can now be yours! {via JustBento} This Hello Kitty Bento Decorating Set is now available here . I just ordered one myself. It comes with 3 rice molds, a food cutter (looks like a cookie cutter), and 3 nori punches. What the heck is a nori punch? Well, it's basically a paper puncher but for nori (dried seaweed). That is how they made the little eyes, noses, and whiskers on the rice balls. We'll see if I ever manage to use it. It's a must have for bento freaks!