happy birthday, sally!

I'm excited about the prospect of all the produce we'll be getting this summer, what with our regular bin delivery, our vegetable garden, and the CSA we signed up for this year. May have to scale back our bin delivery until the garden and CSA peter out in the fall, as it's entirely possible we'll be overrun with fruit and veggies, but that's a good problem to have, no? Still a few weeks yet until we'll see anything from the CSA, though, and it'll be a couple of months before the garden gets going, so no need to panic just yet.

But it does mean that every other Monday, my bentos tend to be a little forlorn as they await the arrival of the next delivery. While we had the grill going last night, I had Sally throw on a couple of chicken basil sausages to use in lunches this week.

Breakfast, cute animals sidecar:

• oatmeal, with Braeburn apple chunks underneath
• butter, brown sugar, and raisins in the mini-sidecar to mix in

Lunch, black strawberry box:

• chicken basil sausage
• julienne cucumber and carrot strips from the weekend's sushi party (see below)
• grilled potato with butter, sour cream, and green onion, leftover from last night's dinner
• Braeburn apple slices
• yogurt and dark chocolate covered raisins
• garlic dill cheese curds

Is there anything better than a gorgeous weekend in the Pacific Northwest? NO NO THERE IS NOT.

All weekend we had temps in the mid/high 70s, blue or mildly cloudy skies, and not a breath of wind. Our roses exploded all over the place in the last few days, and combined with the rhododendrons and azaleas and irises, I'm so in love with our house and our neighborhood I could burst. Next weekend we'll be doing some yard work -- weeding the back bed so the plants my mom put in don't get clogged into oblivion, trimming back the lilacs, pruning the apple tree, planting a few new and replacement things, and putting up the twinkle lights in the trees -- but the yard is in good enough shape already that when Sister, Guy, and the Fabulous Miss M came for the weekend, all that was needed was to set the patio chairs out for us to while away some time soaking up the gorgeous, gorgeous weather.

They came for Sal's birthday -- which is actually today; Happy Birthday, Sally!! -- and we had a nice, easy-going time with family to celebrate. Did a bit of running around Saturday-- to Portland Nursery to pick up the gift certificate and two black and blue salvia my mom had reserved for his gift -- then to Steinbart's so the boys could get all atwitter over brewing supplies. We stopped for lunch at Grilled Cheese Grill, which Guy hadn't yet been to, and though we had to wait in line thanks to the street fair going on down the block, we managed to have a yummy lunch all around. Back home to put Miss M down for her nap, and we passed the time at our wonderful table under the apple tree, which is all you really need in life, frankly.

After a run to New Seasons for supplies, and back home for a snacky interlude of bread and cheese while Miss M ate her dinner, she was off to the pre-bedtime ritual of jammies, storytime, and a goodnight song. Meanwhile, we got things ready for Sal's requested birthday activity: a sushi-rolling party! Great, great fun and lots of laughs while hoovering up plates of sushi in every combination we could think of. When the last of the sushi rice was rolled up, we retired to the living room to finish off our plates and watch Louis C.K.'s most recent stand-up show and finished off the evening with four mini-cakes, complete with candles and a rendition of "Happy Birthday".

The next morning, Guy treated the chef (and the rest of us) to a fabulous breakfast -- yeasted waffles with lemon-poppyseed creme -- and then it was time for them to head home. Afterward, I retired to the nook for a bit to edit while Sally read some of his brewing books out on the front porch. We moved to the patio, where I did so more editing, though mostly I just kind of sat there in contented silence, trying to absorb just how absolutely perfect the day was. We grilled for dinner -- steaks and potatoes, with some steamed broccoli and green onions from our bin. And though I had website work to do, I did absolutely none of it, opting instead to watch a movie and fold clothes (I am determined to stay on top of the laundry, dammit!), get to bed relatively early, read for a bit, and get a good night's rest. Website work will be there tomorrow, and anyway, I knew it was supposed to rain today. How's that for procrastination?

a house in order is a mind in order

Busy but productive weekend. The house had gotten to such a state that I was nearing a nervous breakdown if it wasn't dealt with post haste, so we got up (relatively) early Saturday, resisted the pull of the glorious weather, and busted out an impressive To Do List. It meant missing out on the St. Johns Parade and Bizarre (not Bazaar), unfortunately, but I knew if we didn't get to it, we'd regret it.

The house is gloriously clean again, all dishes washed and put away, our bedroom/attic restored to order (and thus our sanctuary-within-a-sanctuary is once again available), all laundry folded and put away, floors swept and vacuumed, etc. etc. We also got the porch rocker and swing put up, the patio raked, and the yard generally tidied up -- still need to put the decorations out, string the lights in the trees, and clean/sweep the back porch so we can use that, as well, but we're off to a good start for the summer.

When we were done, we scrapped plans to see Iron Man 2 in favor of staying in and enjoying our lovely home. I indulged in a bath and one of my bath bombs with the local jazz station playing in the background, used another of our new towels and just generally pampered myself, and then we had dinner and started a new show. (Jekyl, which is really fantastic. Kind of a cross between The X-Files, Memento, and Dexter, if you can imagine such a thing. With British accents.)

Sunday was our fun day. And another day of really fabulous weather. Sal brewed another batch of beer, I spent the day writing and editing. And finished off the day with a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that Sally made. Not a bad life, not a bad life at all.

black strawberry box:

• spicy taco-seasoned chicken breast with spinach leaves and cheddar shapes for garnish
• green onions and more cheese in the cups
• all of the above are meant to be heated and combined in the flour tortilla (packed separately in a ziploc) to make a taco
• broccoli for gap filler and a bit more veg
• braeburn apple slices and orange sections (I know, try to contain your shock at the absence of the ubiquitous dark chocolate and yogurt covered raisins...)

bento to the rescue!

I'm going to be gone Friday and Thursday, so unlike a normal week where I'm trying to cram 7 days of work into 5, this week I'm going to attempt to cramp 7 days of work into 4, and whatever's not done by Thursday will roll into next week, to be crammed into 4 days. And for my next trick, I'll cure cancer....

black strawberry box:

• egg fried rice with heart-shaped carrots for garnish
• Pixie tangerines with the last of the dried cherries as gap fillers
• carrot sticks
• yogurt and dark chocolate covered raisins

The fried rice was actually a last-minute "aha!" dish. Last minute, as in, "crap, it's 10:30 and I can't think of anything for tomorrow's lunch!". We had the jasmine rice that we'd had with skewers the weekend before last, and it needed to be eaten up, but I didn't really have much for a protein other than hard boiling some eggs. It finally dawned on me that I could combine the two, and that I had another leek that could be substituted for green onion (can you tell we have a few leeks to use up?). Scrounging in the freezer yielded the last little bit of a bag of frozen peas and carrots (maybe a quarter of a cup, if that), and voila! I scrambled up an egg, then added everything else. Since the rice had been made with beef broth, I didn't add anything else for flavor other than a bit of sea salt. Turned out pretty delicious and would've made a good dinner instead of the handful of cheese and crackers and leftover potato salad I'd eaten earlier in the evening while trying to get some work done.

The proportions are all out of whack, but I'm just glad to be eating something relatively healthy -- at 10:15 last night, it was looking like an eating-out-for-lunch day. But nope, bento saves the day again.

spring is in the air...

Busy weekend. I got no writing done this weekend, unfortunately (and synopsis still isn't done...) but I/we did get other things done. Did some housecleaning -- well, straightening, really...we're so far behind that we have to clean before we can clean! -- and the house looks marginally less like a sty than it did. The weather was just beautiful and we were able to open up all the windows throughout the house to really give it a good airing. Still have mountains of laundry to fold and put away and the floors all need to be swept and vacuumed (and if I were really going to do things right, I'd dust, but HAHAHAHAHAHA); perhaps I can tackle those this week. Oh, and I had to get all my monthly reports to my website clients and then everything invoiced, but that's all done at last.

Also got the soil in the garden beds worked and the compost from our compost bin amended into the soil, so they'll be ready for the starts we started earlier this spring. The starts trays are all out there now to acclimate to being outside and then we can go ahead and plant. Can't wait to get that garden going!

And because it was so nice out, we grilled! Well, Sal grilled, so today's lunch comes courtesy of last night's yummy leftovers.

pink strawberry sidecar (for breakfast):

• a-little-less-than-half an English muffin with strawberry preserves
• honey & nuts granola
• Greek yogurt with a dollop of strawberry preserves in the mini sidecar

black strawberry box:

• grilled chicken skewers marinated in a Thai peanut sauce
• jasmine rice (made in a beef broth, which is why it's brown)
• steamed broccoli
• fresh mango slices
• dark chocolate covered raisins
• dried cherries as gap fillers

approximating normal

Well that sucked. Two weeks to the day since I first came down with the bug from hell and I'm finally feeling something approximating normal. I'll probably be fighting the lingering effects of this bug for awhile, but the worst has passed, I think. Which is a good thing, because I have a busy week ahead. As long as I stay drugged up, I should make it through the week okay.

And then! To the coast this weekend!! Happy happy joy joy it cannot come soon enough.

• bottom tier: beef stir fry, consisting of tri-tip steak, jasmine rice, artichoke hearts, kale, carrots, onion, leek, and garlic (we had a bunch of veggies to use up from our organics bin)
• top tier: minneola tangelo sections, carrot sticks, peanut butter honey dip, dried cherries, and dark chocolate raisins

ho-hum

This week may or may not be as busy as last week's was, depending on how much I get done today. Based on past experience, I'm going to bet that it's not going to work out in my favor. But ever the optimist, I'll continue to hope....

Breakfast and/or snack (animals small box):

• Gold Blush apple, carrot sticks, celery sticks (underneath everything), and honey peanut butter for dipping

Lunch (strawberry box):

• top tier: breakfast burrito -- egg scrambled with spinach, scallions, asparagus, and cheddar wrapped in a tortilla; fresh spinach leaves to tuck inside when I eat it
• bottom tier: Gold Blush apple slices, dried cherries as baran and gap fillers, dark chocolate covered raisins

This one doesn't look quite as pretty as it tastes, mainly because the wrap takes up one whole tier. That's the reason I also packed a sidecar, since the wrap tier isn't as densely packed as it probably should be for a smaller box like this. But it's a pretty good (and good for me) lunch, at least, and considering my weekend, it's kind of a wonder I have something that looks this put together.

ETA: And I was going to take another picture of lunch because that one didn't turn out well, but managed to dump the bottom tier on the floor. Sigh. Welcome to Monday.

root vegetables bento

Another day, another new box. Well three, actually. Using my black strawberry box, my zoo animals sidecar, and one of the mini sidecars.

Breakfast:

• plain Greek yogurt in the sidecar; this was exactly the purpose I wanted the sidecars for, thanks to my last breakfast that ended upside down on the car floor...the box lid is sealed so it wasn't in any danger of making a mess, but my breakfast was a mostly lost cause
• Fremont tangerine and some fresh raspberries

Lunch:

• top tier: maple-glazed parsnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes in one half; steamed broccoli, homemade pasta, and the rest of the chicken from the other day in the other half
• bottom tier: pineapple, raspberries, green grapes, and a small container of dark chocolate covered raisins

The maple-glazed root veggies were an experiment. We had parsnips in a delivery awhile back that I wasn't sure what to do with. We've also had a sweet potato sitting here since Thanksgiving(!) that I kept meaning to roast but never got around to. So when I stumbled across this great recipe that called for parsnips and sweet potatoes and carrots, I had to make it.

Maple Glazed Winter Root Vegetables

1/4 cup maple syrup + 2 tbsp dijon mustard + fresh garlic, minced
olive oil, salt & pepper
sweet potato, carrots, and parsnips, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat parsnips, potatoes and carrots with the olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking pan. Roast in oven for 15 minutes, then remove and retoss on baking sheet. Cook 15 minutes more, until all the veggies and potatoes are soft. Comine maple syrup, dijon mustard and garlic powder in a small bowl. Drizzle the maple mixture over potatoes and veggies and mix to coat well.

I'm not a fan of dijon and I almost left it out, but I know that in recipes it can make a difference and you don't necessarily taste the dijon-ness. I can taste it in this, but I actually really liked how it all turned out; I think I would experiment with putting in less, but it definitely needs something like that in order to keep it from being too sweet. Anyway, a great find, super simple, and highly recommended.

bento glee, baby!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU GUYS YOU ARE SO GOING TO HATE ME LIKE FOR REALS OMG.

GUESS WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY HMMM I WONDER WHAT IT COULD POSSIBLY BE??????

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY FOR TWO WEEKS BUT ALSO FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS IT IS LIKE BEING SEVEN YEARS OLD ALL OVER AGAIN I AM PROBABLY GOING TO BREAK MY CAPSLOCK KEY JUST FYI.

Click to read more ...