Revival.

So it’s been a little dead around here lately. There are a few explanations for that.

1. I moved continents and started a new job.
2. I (by which I mean my husband..) broke the lens on the DSLR camera.
3. I bought a new smartphone with a decent camera and then promptly lost it.

So I have been busy and camera-less. Yesterday, I finally got around to hauling the DSLR to a photo place. In a total fluke, the guy working there was an old friend whom I haven’t seen in years. Turns out the lens was kaput – a pin inside had broken and the zoom no longer worked. I trusted my friend when he said it was not worth fixing – it would have cost more than a new lens. Given that I was unhappy with it anyway, and had been dreaming of buying a f 1.8 50mm prime lens to take better food pictures, that’s exactly what I did.

So hopefully this will mean more blogging and better pictures!

I have some white beans soaking which I will cook later, but so far all I have made is a lactose-free cappuccino. I recently got a used Gaggia machine and Isomac grinder, and I am slowly getting better at latte art..!

I <3 Atlantic.

I just came home from the Atlantic on Dundas – my third visit since it opened last spring, and everything was just as amazing as the previous two. I have yet to be disappointed by chef Nathan Isberg! Will keep coming back. No pictures – it was dark and I only had my iPhone, plus, I would feel weird about it. But here goes:

Jerk spice olives

Yummy! But a bit on the spicy side and didn’t match up so well with other flavors – would be better just on their own.

Lobster bisque with orange blossom cream

Delicious, packing both some unexpected heat and the very delicate flavor of the orange blossom cream. So good!

Roasted cauliflower and chickpea salad with cambodzola dressing

Black chickpeas, and garnished with flower petals. Delicate, interesting and so tasty.

Tartiflette with riesling and gruyère

Ultimate comfort food!!

Tarte Tatin with whiskey chantilly and nutmeg

He does magic with whipped cream, for real (last time it was rosemary flavored). This was wonderful and it came together so well.

Curry bento.

At long last!

I have been so BAD at bentoing lately. Not sure why I never got back into the game after we moved in November. But anyway, I made a bento today!

I am using the thermal bento set from Muji, which I picked up in Berlin in May 2009 when husband dearest and I went on a mini honeymoon.

The thermal compartment has brown rice and some sort of sweet potato and red bell pepper curry on top. It’s left over from last night’s dinner, which was curried lamb chops. The small compartment has cottage cheese and some raspberry jam, and then, of course, there is a kiwi. The little tool is a special kiwi eating tool, which I got for free at the Vegetarian Food Fair back in September. Very conveniently bento-sized.

I also got the Instagram iPhone app – here’s how the bento turned out. Not sure whether vintage is a good look for food…? The colors are quite nice with this filter, though. 

Brownie update.

So unfortunately my brownies did not make it into the finals of the U of T brownie contest. Too bad, because I was hoping to show that a vegan and gluten-free recipe could stand on its own among all those recipes that many of us could never eat. Still, it was a fun thing to do, and I  will certainly keep baking!

A bento for the road

I’ve been very bad about updating lately, in fact I haven’t cooked much worth talking about. The end of May was marked by a heatwave here in Toronto, and I could not bear the thought of turning on the stove in my 34 degree kitchen. I recently did bake a killer carrot cake, but then forgot to take a picture of it.

I am off to Norway tonight for 6 weeks, and I don’t trust plane food much, so I did make a little bento for the road.

We’ll see how much I can blog once I am there – I am leaving behind the SLR camera because I just don’t have room for it. So pictures will be mediocre until August.

So, the said bento has rice with some nutritional yeast on top (discovered my gomashio had gone bad..), baked tofu (marinated in tamari, sesame oil and chili flakes), celery sticks and a gluten free vegan carrot muffin (with tofutti-based “cream cheese” frosting).

Vivement Noël.

So my bento-making and blogging haven’t quite been up to standards this fall. I find that my schedule as a grad student isn’t as bento friendly as back when I worked a 9-5 job. The result is that my eating is much more random and unhealthy. Bad Anne.

Additionally, not having a proper camera has really taken its toll on the blog, quality wise. DSLR is a must have for good food photography… At least I haven’t figured out how to get around it, with my limited knowledge of such things.

Anyway, word is there will might a hand-me-down SLR under the tree this year, so I hope to make a grand comeback in 2010!

Toronto edition

This is a transitional time for both myself and for the blog. I am going from working 8-3 and having lots of time, to starting a PhD – a never ending project that will mean a completely different life and schedule. I also moved to Canada, leaving behind the excellent SLR camera that has allowed me to take so many lovely pictures food.

However, I really would like to keep making bentos and I really enjoy working on the blog. I also moved into the Korean neighborhood in Toronto, so bento friendly food abounds. In fact I succumbed to temptation yesterday and bought a Lock&Lock lunch set… It has two boxes, one of which has three separate compartments, and comes with a little waterbottle and a chopstick set. All in a little pouch. So cool!

So anyway, I’m gettig carried away. In a week or two, when I am settled and I actually have Internet at home, I’ll try to get back to thr blog properly!

No posts this week…

I have been busy this week for all kinds of reasons, mainly the fact that my hubby came back from abroad and it’s summer and we have been trying to take advantage of the lovely weather when I haven’t been working. We went out with my stepdad today in his boat, and I swam in the sea for the first time this year. Lovely!

I have made some bentos that I will try to upload soon, and some other baking projects. I made this blueberry lemon poppyseed bread on Thursday (yum!), which I served my colleagues for our Friday afternoon coffee. I also baked an apple cake and some mango coconut muffins. I have been forgetting to take photos, however…

I made a very exciting discovery today at the great health food store in the new part of the Sandvika Storsenter mall, namely vegan white chocolate (link)! It was even marked down because of the use by date, but it’s not expiring for another month.

This is great, because now the hubby will also be able to eat my green tea white chocolate cupcakes, and the fabulous white chocolate butter cream in general. The white chocolate has real vanilla in it, and tastes very good. Success! I also picked up more short grain brown rice and a vegetarian burger mix, which I will try tomorrow.

Vote for me!

So I entered one of my bentos, Bento #5, into a Vegetarian bento contest here. It would be awesome if you could click yourself over there and  vote for me! I can win a gift card to buy more bento boxes

I am entry number A6.

In other news I finally managed to fix the blog header, and it now features some of my green tea white chocolate cupcakes!

A new blog.

I have been thinking about getting back into blogging for a while, and I have been thinking that my return to blogging would be a food blog. I finally found the theme that inspired me to actually do it, namely bento making.

There are lots of bento blogs out there, and I will certainly not be able to compete with the most artistic among them, or even the slightly artistic ones… I am not so patient, and I refuse to get up that early in the morning.

That said, I like the idea of taking up bentos as a part of a healthy lifestyle. I don’t like the cafeteria at my job, and I am no big fan of sandwiches. I love Japanese food specifically and Asian food in general, so the idea of making Japanese inspired lunches definitely appeals to m. Also, it’s great for portion control, and it’s really pushing up my fruit and veg intake. So I’m going to try to use this blog as a motivational tool to make balanced, tasty and reasonably presentable bentos.

I also love baking, so I’m hoping to share some of my creations…