Baking and Waiting for Spring

This Easter pie looks better than it tasted- I should have trusted my gut instinct to never add gelatin to anything! Also, the shortbread crust was pretty much just a big cookie. 

After visiting Rose Bakery in Paris I knew that I wanted to get this cookbook but since I didn't want to lug it home with me in my suitcase, it had to wait for Christmas. Gorgeous illustrations and these banana oat muffins were pretty good if I may say so.

I woke up one morning really missing sultana scones and clotted cream which Ander and I ate for breakfast much too much while in Oxford last summer. These were tasty approximations but alas- no clotted cream!

Hand Stamped Linen

A while ago I carved a rubber stamp featuring an eye. I finally got around to stamping some fabric and decided to make a sample tea towel and a cover for my heating pad. Both have seen a fair amount of use this winter.

I also bought a huge glass jar to store the homemade granola I have been baking using this recipe from 3191 Miles Apart.

 I'm note really sure what else to stamp- I like the design but am not sure that it's something I would wear?

I used a bright orange thread for contrast on the tea towel. 

Bento Boxes

Every since visiting Little Tokyo in L.A. and visiting my family in Portland, I have been thinking about bento lunch boxes. Since September means back to school for grown up grads too, I decided to try packing these myself. But before investing in authentic bento boxes, I wanted to make sure that this was something that I could actually do without too much trouble and that we would actually enjoy. I purchased four inexpensive plastic containers and sewed up two chopstick covers and two bento bands from Japanese scrap fabric.

There is an asian market near our house and while the selection isn't amazing, there is enough to make packing bento lunches much easier. Some items like frozen fish cake and assorted dumplings, tofu, and furikake are nice to have on hand. I have also been enjoying this blog http://justbento.com/ and recently purchased Makiko's The Just Bento Cookbook.