hapa bento

These are the bento boxes that I wish to received this year… I know that Santa reads my blog, so I’m hoping he’ll recognize the hint.

I desire each one for different reasons.   Yes, bento making is my obsession, but what’s the harm except losing kitchen space to some of the most beautiful and the cutest lunch boxes you’ve ever seen.

Click on each image to read more about each.

Read the rest of this entry →

 I stopped by the Alderwood Mall’s Daiso store to check on their current supplies.  But it’s not the supplies that you may be thinking of… Read the rest of this entry →

Quick post:

I popped in at the Daiso shop in the International District of downtown Seattle. Their bento box shelves were well stocked. Not like the Alderwood Daiso last month where I believe the back-to-school rush depleted their supplies. See anything you like?

I’ve been checking out the bento box supplies in my neighborhood and noticed that the Asian markets are starting to carry more than just Lock & Lock boxes. I found this exact bento box style at H-Mart in Lynnwood, WA. They had some other cute boxes too and again, I had to control myself to not bring home any more boxes.

What kind of boxes have you discovered and where? Bento lunches are quickly catching on and if your stores are carrying bento boxes and supplies, add it on to the comments. Update: I’ve added this post to “Top Topics” on the left side of the page. Let’s keep adding on to the comments as you encounter local bento box resources.

The rain continued yesterday which put a damper, pun intended, on my trip to purchase tomatoes at the farmer’s market. Not only did it rain, but it was so windy it pummeled my owl kite, which I hang on my deck to scare away the squirrels. No matter… the squirrels were undaunted and brave, the cat was not and is probably very relieved.

Okay, back to the tomato quest। I ended up at the grocery store, Central Market to be exact; they have pretty much all my usual bento ingredients and they keep a well stocked, self serve, bakery case. In fact they have so many yummy things I almost forgot the main reason why I decided to leave the comfort of my computer to drive in the pouring, windy rain. TOMATOES!!! And wow, did they have them. Heaps of organic, beautiful tomatoes. Now some of you know that I have a habit of packing Insalata Caprese in my bento boxes. Well, with all these beauties my addiction to this Italian summer salad will surely continue way beyond Labor Day.