Casual Snack Bento - and a boat trip

A quick post of a fun little (I should say "tiny") bento. Jasmine rice with some furikake, pickled plum with a pick, and basil flowers. Oven roasted chickpeas sprinkled with chipotle powder and sea salt, grape tomatoes, sliced persimmons, tiny eggplant, fresh rosemary, and baby romaine leaves tucked in.

I try to fit in a few bentos here and there. Most of them are just functional and really not photo
worthy!

Here are a few shots of Maranda's birthday outing last weekend. She invited a few friends for a boat ride. We went down the inter-coastal waterway from Turtle beach in Sarasota to Venice, where we stopped for lunch.

She got to open her gifts on the way...it was a little overcast, but plenty warm.

I actually got a chance to get a close up photo of a dolphin friend who peeked up to see what was going on.

He was swimming right next to us...I'm sure looking for food, but just got some hellos, and ahwwws instead! We often will see dolphins, but I usually will catch the tails or fins in the photos. They move so fast you have to guess where they'll pop up next. He hung out pretty close to us for a little bit, but it's still hard to photograph because the boat moving too.
I am adding him to this weeks Camera Critters.

Lunch at the Marker Four restaurant in Venice Florida...

I didn't bring this bento along this was from the day before! Just wanted to share the whole weekend with you all!

Hibiscus Bento

I was not quite sure how to fill this lacquer bento box that I got for Christmas. I figured it would look good with my sushi that I make. The last time we had that was after a beach run and they just wanted to eat so I served my family first then had mine later and no time to look nice. I did serve it on sushi plates though. It's about time that I used it and I had a little more time to play with it. So here it is. Although hibiscus are edible, I didn't eat this one. Each hibiscus bloom lasts only one day, so I figured it would be okay to use it for the photo...
... and I wasn't quite sure what to do with the little tray in the center. I guess a dipping sauce, which is fine if you are eating it at home like I did.

The top left corner: chickpea tart with shallots and herbs, tamagoyak with fresh spinach.

Top right: sugar snap peas (they've been so good and sweet lately-perfect snack) steamed rice with furikake.

bottom left: lychees, green grapes and cherries.

bottom right: cucumbers, crab stick with baby cukes nori wrapped.

So I would love your help! If you have any ideas of how to fill this bento and would like to share!

Here is another blossom that has a short life. My San Pedro cactus blooms during the summer. The blossom only appears at night for one night. The blooms are large, about the size of my hand when I spread all my fingers out!

Happy Wednesday!

Pancake Bear Bento

A quick bento today, I wanted to use up my chickpea pancakes. I bought the pancake molds at Dollar Tree, there is a star and a heart too. It was fun trying to see how they work. I'll post that later. The bear is peaking over a few animals with his baby corn and papaya seed eyes. Green grape and grape tomatoes on a bed of baby greens. In front dish is a sliced plum, next to it we have leftover chicken piccata, sugar snap peas, and baby corn.
And a lizard on a cactus pad...just for fun!