Archive for June, 2006

Williams Sonoma for egg molds?!?!

How did I make this barnyard snack bento for my son without a traditional rice ball mold or egg mold?

Barnyard Snack Bento for Toddler

So my bento fixation is getting worse, and I’ve been browsing shops all over San Francisco looking for bento accessories in unexpected places. I wandered into Williams-Sonoma seeking inspiration. Usually I walk out empty-handed because of their prices, but full of ideas of things to buy somewhere cheaper. And then I saw these ice cream sandwich molds in cute shapes.

Molds

At first I thought, $14 for three molds that you’d only use a few times a year? Uh, pass. Then I realized that they could do quadruple-duty as cookie cutters, onigiri (rice ball) molds and boiled egg shapers for a child’s lunches. Perfect!!! Maybe even Alton Brown would approve — not a uni-tasker!

This is what the finished ice cream sandwiches are supposed to look like with the molds:

Ice cream sandwiches

Each mold consists of three pieces, with a cookie-cutter portion, little cap for the bottom, and a shaped plunger with a raised plastic design to create the pattern (giving you the cow face, etc.).

Molds

I figured they’d work just fine as ice cream sandwich molds, cookie cutters, and onigiri molds, but I was most curious about how they’d do as hard-boiled egg shapers. You may have seen these crazy gadgets before (photo below): you hard-boil an egg, peel it while it’s hot, pop it into a plastic mold while it’s still hot and pliant, and click the lid shut. Dump the whole thing into cold water for 10 minutes, and you’ve got an egg that looks like a rabbit head or a star. Only thing is, they’re hard to come by outside Japan, and they don’t seem to have many other uses. (July 2008 EDIT: You can get the egg molds below cheaply at Ichiban Kan’s online store for US$1.50 per pair (US shipping only), J-List starting at $3.20 per pair (international shipping), and from eBay sellers. Check out my list of online bento stores for additional sources.)

Molds for hard-boiled eggs

I boiled three eggs, peeled them while they were still very hot, and plopped them into the wet molds. But because these molds weren’t originally designed for eggs, they don’t have little latches to keep everything closed tightly around the egg while it chills in water. I improvised by looping a thick rubber band around the plunger & mold to apply even pressure. Here they are taking a cold bath:

Molds

Fresh out of the mold, this is what they look like:

Molded eggs, undyed

The star and pig shapes turned out okay, but the cow shape would have been better had I used extra-large or jumbo eggs instead of large. Had to be careful removing the plunger from the face of the egg. Next time I may spray the face of the plunger with a little Pam (vegetable oil spray) before putting the egg in the mold.

Deciding to dye the star and the pig eggs, I filled a couple of ramekins halfway with cold water and mixed in a little food coloring (blue and red). Left them in for a few minutes until they got to a color I liked.

Molded eggs in dye

Voila! Dyed, molded eggs from an ice cream sandwich maker!!!

Dyed, molded eggs

I looked around on the web for other places to find them, and found Tovolo ice cream sandwich molds on Amazon.com slightly cheaper, and in additional designs. Mission accomplished! (July 2007 EDIT: Evidently WalMart is now selling the cow/pig set for US$5, and Williams Sonoma has the three-piece set back in stores on sale for US$10. Full update here.)

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Published by Biggie on June 22nd, 2006 tagged bento, eggs, equipment, for kids, onigiri or sushi, recipe, rice, tips, tutorial or how to | 149 Comments »

Mini-sandwich nibbles

So this morning I had fun with rye cocktail bread — about 2 inches across and very thin. For some reason this lunch is making me very happy! Packed in my large 940ml Dear Label box.

Mini-sandwich bento for adult お弁当

* Six mini-sandwiches, stacked two high. Fillings were: 1) salami, havarti, lettuce and cognac/pepper mustard, 2) cream cheese, green onions and pepper, 3) Marmite and cheese, and 4) Nutella and peanut butter.
* Half a Fuji apple, cut side dipped in lemon juice
* Blueberries
* Leftover Peruvian purple potato salad
* Grape tomatoes
* Hard-boiled egg, shaped with a mold, dyed light blue

I made a smaller version for my son, and packed it in a new snack container.

Mini-sandwich bento for toddler お弁当

Two mini-sandwiches: one is cream cheese, the other is havarti (can you tell he likes cheese?). More grape tomatoes.

Small 260ml side dish bento boxes (”Comment vas-tu?”). With the very Canadian French sub-title of “il fait un temps magnifique, n’est-ce pas?” No metal in the hinges!

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Published by Biggie on June 22nd, 2006 tagged bento, eggs, meat, potatoes, sandwich or wrap | 8 Comments »

Shrimp and snow peas, a new way

A new way to pack lunch. Rice packed separately in a 300ml thermal food jar by Thermos Nissan — kept the rice soft and warm for five hours. Shrimp and peas in a 350ml Asvel bento box (with clear lid).

Shrimp and snow peas lunch

* shrimp in chili sauce with onions (recipe from berry_mix’s mom)
* Chinese quick-fried snow peas
* rice

Small Thermal Food Jar

From Thermos Nissan: a 300ml small thermal food jar for hot soups, stews, curries, rice, etc. (or cold items like yogurt, cold soup, salads, etc.). Dishwasher-safe. This has excellent heat retention: better than all thermal lunch jars I’ve tested, and better than all-plastic thermal food jars because it’s metal. They make a larger version as well for bigger appetites, and I’ve seen this sold at big stores like Target.

Shrimp and snow peas, lids closed

The lunch with both lids on.

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Published by Biggie on June 20th, 2006 tagged bento, equipment, fish or seafood, food jar, rice, tips | Comment now »

Mini-cheeseburger Laptop Lunch

Got inspired by a purple-themed Laptop Lunch I saw on Flickr last week, so I dragged out an old purple recipe for this:

Mini-cheeseburger Laptop Lunch for adult お弁当

* Peruvian purple potato salad
* apricot (and ketchup in a container for the burgers)
* imam bayeldi: Turkish eggplant and tomato appetizer
* mini-cheeseburgers on cut-out English muffins, with lettuce and onions (mayo packet stuffed behind the burgers)

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Published by Biggie on June 19th, 2006 tagged Laptop Lunchbox, meat, potatoes, sandwich or wrap | 1 Comment »

Toddler lunch with octodogs

Toddler lunch with octodogs お弁当

* cut-up hiyashi chuuka (Japanese pasta salad: tomatoes, egg, cucumber, and salami slices with cold pasta and soy sauce-based salad dressing)
* fresh pineapple (still using that up!)
* octopus-cut hot dogs on a bed of cucumber slices
* container of ketchup for hot dogs, container of yogurt/herb dip for cucumber
* drink container with apple, berry and cherry juice cut with water

I cut the tops of the octodogs because my toddler chokes on full-width hotdogs. Also substituted salami for the traditional sliced ham in the hiyashi chuuka. In my new Lock & Lock bento set,

Lock & Lock bento set: exploded

An exploded view of the little Lock & Lock bento set — the Korean tupperware by Hanacobi Co. You can see that the bottom right container is divided, while the bottom left container is not. The bottom two containers are 350ml each (12 oz), with a 300ml drink container/cup on top. Microwave/dishwasher/freezer- safe, and water/air-tight.

Lock & Lock bento set

The containers all stack and fit into their own little fitted carrying case with zipper. :-)

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Published by Biggie on June 17th, 2006 tagged bento, equipment, for kids, meat, pasta or noodles, salad | 1 Comment »

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