Despite the impending arrival of the Typhoon Milenyo (international name Xangsane), I still got ready for work yesterday morning. My mom was hesitant, wanting to stay home to look over the house, just in case floodwaters gather. Personally, I wanted to stay home, but the fact that I had a deadline and skipped half a day last week pushed me into working.

So, off I went to the kitchen, preparing my bento (at least I would have something to look forward to during the dready day). I felt proud of myself because my dedication to work overcame my laziness. As I was waiting for my mom to get the car out of the garage, I checked my phone’s messages. Which to my surprise was from my boss, saying, “Let’s all work from the home today because of the weather.”

So, we stayed home instead (my mom opted to stay home when she found out I wasn’t going to work), with me deciding to enjoy my bento in bed instead. Bento in bed. What a new experience ^_^;;

Top Tier:
• California Onigiri with carrot & cheese happy-faced flowers. So called because it’s filled with California maki fixings: shredded kani, mangoes, and kewpie mayo.
• Soy sauce in the strawberry container
• Lots of Umeboshi, supposedly for sharing with my work colleagues. Uh-oh!

Bottom Tier:
• Sake-steamed shimeji mushrooms
• Smoked Tanigue (mackerel according to google)
• Pineapple Tidbits
• Blueberry Dewberry Cookie

Add-ons:
• Beefy Buzz Soupy Snax! - Just-add-water instant noodles soup
• Oolong Tea packet & mini-cups of cream for making milk tea
• A packet of Sampaloc / Tamarind candy

I threw in a lot of warm extras in my kinchaku, soup and tea in particular, but of course, since it was for later in the day, I didn’t get to enjoy them anymore, preferring to sleep out the storm.

Sampaloc is a sweet and sour tamarind candy. The tamarind pulp is usually mashed and mixed with sugar, then formed into balls or strips, then rerolled in sugar. Totally sweet and SOUUUUUR! Absolutely an integral part of my childhood.

I shared my bento with my mom, to my surprise, she enjoyed eating the onigiri. I imagined she wouldn’t like it since she hated the Mc Donald’s Rice Burger we tried out the day before. Will update this post when I’m done with that).

Sake Steamed Shimeji v. 28 September 2006
1 pack shimeji mushrooms
2 Tbsp sake
1 tsp soy sauce

1. Lightly rinse the shimeji mushrooms, tear off into mini bunches, then lay them in a single layer on a shallow pan.
2. Pour the sake and soy sauce on the mushrooms, cover then simmer until cooked, that’s around a few minutes.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 8:06 am and is filed under bento, recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.