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!

Old Bento #2

Here is another bento I had posted on my other blog The Tiny Skillet . I will bring them over to The Tiny Bento here and there, or now and then!
This is probably as "cutsie" as Maranda would let me get(for now). I got a set of six flower cookie cutters that range smaller to bigger. The watermelon radish is the smallest. I tried to cut the pickled daikon radish in a small circle for the flower center, but just could find anything to do it with.
Under the radish flowers is some steamed rice with furikake sprinkled on it. To the right of that are fried spam and cucumber flowers, broccoli could of been placed a little better. Strawberries and red grapes with the only small pick I have (for now). Baby carrots with circles (flower buds) of daikon radish (the smallest circle I could do for now).



This was one of the first container that I got with just bento in mind.
It is so hard to get much bento anything around here. I got the idea to use this from Target thanks to Debra of hapa bento. I had also bought an all blue one for Maranda . They work quite well for a bento lunch, just leave the spoon out. Sometimes I will use the smaller container and sometimes not. So there you have it. Thanks for looking!

Friday Bento Blues

There is a lot that goes into a bento blog, a lot more than what meets the eyes. Now what does meet the eye is a lot of what bento making is about. The color, the layout, the design, the theme! These women that do this everyday are truly amazing. The creative talent, and artists that they are, and they run a household on top of it all! Some have another full time job as well.

So this is what I am still learning, beside what to name the bento. How to photograph it. I don't have a SLR camera (my dream). I am not used to these, click and shoot, everything automatic...well I am getting used to it now, but I miss being able to get that close up, and to adjust the shutter speed, and aperture, getting that right depth of field etc... so we do the best we can with what we have.
Now that summer is here I can actually make lunch in the daylight. This is great to be able to take advantage of the light. Otherwise it 6:00AM and I have to use a flash in the dark.

The layout is important too. You want to get a nice background, Maybe show some other pieces of the box or utensils. Oops, some of the edge is showing. Let's try a different background...

Ahh...no, don't like that one. The angles not bad though. Gotta watch that edge!

Wanted to get the lid, after all that part of a lot of bento's cuteness. The blackberries show up better with a flash though.

Ah...still not right. Let's go outside on the lanis. Our morning sun shines on the front of the house, so in the back it's not in direct sunlight.

Not bad, a little dappled light showing through...

with the cute lid, but I gotta watch those corners!

Now for the bento if you are still with me here: Rice with furikake (Maranda loves it, say it makes it taste like sushi) avocado. Next layer is: Blackberries, jicama on a bed of spicy sprouts, and chicken tenders.

Our neighbor's cat who thinks he lives here! Meet Neji.

Have a great Friday!