Book Review- Effortless Bento

Wow. Seriously, just WOW. This cookbook is my favorite new cookbook for the year.

It's released by Vertical Inc., so as you can guess, it's a carefully edited English edition of a Japanese book. So this is the real thing. The bentos aren't cute, this isn't a how to make cartoon characters out of carrots, nori and rice cookbook. There isn't a hot dog octopus in the whole thing. The focus is attractive and delicious food that can be prepared ahead to pack into a lunch box and the recipes are just as appropriate for adults as for children. These are the lunches you pack to make your co-workers jealous, and to give you a good reason not to skip lunch.

So starting at the beginning, there is a very good overview of how to safely pack lunches so you don't risk giving yourself a case of food poisoning. It talks about the different kinds of bento boxes, how to keep things cool, and how to pack the lunches so everything is at the optimum temperature.

Then the recipes. 300 of them! Now, I know that some recipes aren't going to appeal to everyone. For example, my husband won't eat squid. My son will. My daughter is hit and miss with nori, and my son eats it toasted instead of chips. Well, actually I think every single recipe in this book is something my son would eat. He loves Japanese food. This cookbook has a lot of tasty options for Americanized tastes. You cook a certain number of servings ahead of time, and freeze or refrigerate them so packing lunch is fast.

Some of the ingredients can be tricky to find if you don't live in an area with great markets but a lot of the recipes are a lot more accessible. So you might not be able to find fishcake and lotus root- but pork cutlets and panko crumbs are easy to find. Some recipes you can make substitutes. Like if you can't find kabocha in your area, substitute butternut squash. The cooking methods are easy to learn.

The truth is, as much as I'm loving the recipes, the book is worth it for the tips, hints, and quick recipes sections which include furikake (rice seasoning), pickles, vegetables, instant soups and a nice collection of onigiri (rice balls) recipes.

I'm loving this cookbook, and happily recommend it.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Tiny Food Party

I'm going to be completely honest before I start gushing about the cute. I love tiny things, adore tiny foods, and love good food well made. It just delights me, well-made tiny foods are a joy to look at it and to eat.

Tiny Food Party! -Bite Sized Recipes for Miniature Meals by Teri Lyn Fish and Jenny Park is full of tiny, appetizer 1 and 2 bite versions of regular food. While the focus is on making things small, there is also a strong focus on making them well so they are as delicious as they are cute to make for truly impressive appetizers. A lot of the recipes could also be used in bento style lunches, tea party foods, or even a full meal for a dinner party which allows guests to try several different things.

The photographs are wonderful, the colors are bright and cheerful and the instructions are clearly written with American style volume measurements. A few of the recipes use common convenience ingredients, but most of them are made from scratch. The recipes have a nice gourmet/foodie flair with details and flavors like mini churros made with candied bacon in the batter and suggestions for 3 different dipping sauces.

Here's where I start squealing and clapping. Because those recipes? Are fantastic, clever and incredibly tasty. Shallots in a light, perfect batter to make tiny onion rings, perfect mashed potatoes piped in rosettes on tiny Shepard's Pies, miniature eclairs! If you look at the cover, you can see the little Caprese skewers with a Balsamic vinegar glaze. Under that are miniature toaster pastries. That recipe comes with a few suggestions for filling so you could make them to suit almost anyone's tastes.


One of my husband's favorite recipes, except for size (he feels like a giant when he eats tiny food) is the Country-style Eggs Benedict, I love that recipe too because instead of a Hollandaise sauce it uses a cheesy/garlic sauce that's a lot easier to make and that tastes fantastic.

There are also cocktail recipes for the adults. Little tiny mixed drinks served in shot glasses with gourmet twists and details to make them special and not just a miniature version of a grown up drink. Like the Bloody Marys use a Korean rice wine instead of vodka, and the glass is rimmed with bacon bits. It's a flavorful, spicy, gorgeously garnished mini drink. Adults with a sweet tooth will enjoy the Orange Creamsicles drinks with the honey and sugar garnish.

The authors worked small in very clever ways, and this is one of my favorite cookbooks this year. There are menu suggestions for various party themes, and lots of dessert recipes to go with all the main course and side dish recipes. The end of the book includes equivalencies for people using metric, and a good index to find things quickly.

Published by Quirk Books, you can find recipes and templates HERE.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Mini Pies

Mini Pies: Adorably Delicious Recipes for Your Favorite Treats by Christy Beaver and Morgan Greenseth is a collection of recipes and instructions for miniature pies.

The authors run Mini Empire Bakery in Seattle, a bakery that specializes in tiny treats, with options for restricted diets.

When my husband saw this book, he said "It's a cute little pie book about cute little pies. You love it don't you?" It is a little book! It's 6x6 inches square, with 128 pages and 29 pie fillings and 7 pie crust recipes. It's simply adorable, and this is the kind of book that would have thrilled me in my stocking when I was younger.

The pies are made in muffin tins and topped with traditional toppings like whipped cream, meringue and a vegan whipped topping recipes, or with little cutouts made from crust. Along with traditional crust recipes, there is also a vegan pie crust and a gluten free crust. The instructions for making the crusts, rolling them out and putting them in the muffin tins are clearly written and easy to follow if you're a first time pie baker. There are also instructions for jar pies which use little mason canning jars as both the pie pan and the serving dish.

Each of the fillings and crust recipes are enough for 12 pies.  Fantastic mix of pie recipes. While they could have just done traditional pies and filled the cookbook, they didn't. A lot of the recipes have foodie touches and twists to make them a bit fancier. The fillings are made from scratch. No jarred pie fillings here! So there are some very traditional pies like key lime, pumpkin and chocolate cream, there is also an Apple Chai pie which adds more seasoning and flavor than just the cinnamon that's usually used. Instead of strawberry-rhubarb, there is a recipe for raspberry-rhubarb whiskey pie. Since I have raspberries and rhubarb in my garden, that will be popular this summer.

There are also a few savory options like a quiche and an onion pie. The onion pie I could easily see becoming a favorite of my son.

Some of the recipes have sweet tips on the side bars. For example with the above mentioned raspberry rhubarb pie, it suggests using liquid you pull off the filling to make a sorbet.

If you're a fan of baking  and love cute, you'll probably appreciate this cookbook. Great combinations of flavors and just wonderful presentation. The photos are gorgeous. I really love the ones they cut a slice out of these tiny pies.

Published by Ulysses Press.


My reviews are always my personal and honest opinion. You can read more about my review policy here.

Seasoning or Seed Packets

It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love.
Moliere

When I was a child, I loved hard boiled eggs, so Mom packed them in my lunches every so often, securing salt for me in a twist of paper or in a folded slip. I can't remember how she did those clever little twists with waxed paper, but the slips I do remember how to fold. You may have seen needles in the same kinds of folded paper slips.

This card will hold 3 slips, and you can put seeds or seasoning into the slips. You can see the little teaspoon I used to fill mine with in that picture.

Print the slips on paper and the card on card stock. If you use a thin paper, you can fold them just as they are, if you use plain printer paper like I did, you may want to trim a bit off each long side before folding. Fold all the folds, then unfold and put the seasoning in the middle.

Refold, tucking the top into the pocket formed by the bottom. There are instructions on the template for folding.

Because all the corners are folded, this packet doesn't leak easily, which makes it great for small seeds or for seasoning. The printable is both blank and marked for seasoning. 

Note on mixed seasoning- I keep a big jar of pre-mixed seasoning on hand for quick meals. It's the mix my family likes, low in salt, with onions, garlic, pepper, a bit of cayenne and various other things. If you find you use the same seasonings for a lot of things, it's so convenient just to have a big jar pre-mixed and ready for use!

Click on the images for the full sized versions. Don't forget to score folds on the card before folding and gluing. I used a bit of string to tie the card shut. This card makes a nice way to share seeds, or a way to pack seasonings in a lunch or for picnics. The fills I made and used for this are at the bottom of the post.

Recently I listed two new bead patterns in my Etsy store.