Koreanese bento #18: If I could only bento all day

Steamed shrimp and pork meatballs with steamed asparagus, baby tomatoes, radish flowers and a fruit cup; a bed of multigrain rice sits below.

It’s been a crazy few weeks with lots of travel and some new deadlines. I’m trying to limit my extracurricular activities until this project is done! But I can’t stop bento-ing, or exercising for that matter. So here’s one I made because the meatballs could be done in the microwave without sacrificing taste! Props to Makiko Itoh for the awesome recipe. You can find it in The Just Bento Cookbook, which is kind of like a newbie bento-maker’s bible!

Koreanese bento #17: There’s no place like home

Fried tofu and edamame nuggets with baby lettuce, radishes, cucumbers and multigrain rice; bell pepper kinpira and a berry-citrus fruit salad for dessert.

Ft. Lauderdale! The Everglades! The Keys! Napa Valley! A bevy of beautiful places and faces in a whirlwind week and a half.

I could never get enough of dolphins, anhingas, stingrays and miniature deer. Sleeping in a suite is all the better for having slept under the stars. And I love drinking beer at the No Name Pub on Big Pine Key, Fla., as much as I do sampling the wine pairings Ad Hoc in Yountville, Calif.

But have to say, I am so happy to be back home and making bento on this most beautiful of San Francisco days.

Koreanese bento #16: No-time-for-bento bento

Slices of broiled miso pork tenderloin with bell pepper bits on multigrain rice; baby arugula, kumquat and kiwi salad with a chocolate chip cookie for dessert

Change in plans, no time left, need lunch …Tossed this sucker together in a hurry. (Ate it in a hurry too!)

Koreanese bento #15: Keeping it simple

A ring of blanched broccoli florets and bell pepper "spare parts" lines my oyakodon (chicken and egg donburi). A bed of multigrain rice sits below.

There are some lessons that you are supposed to learn again and again. I think keeping it simple is one of them. I tried cutting out all sorts of fun shapes from bell peppers: dolphins, whales, flowers … But, really, I’m feeling more somber than that.

So instead, this simple bento brought just enough sunshine into my cloudy day.

Thinking of all the folks in Japan …

Koreanese bento #14: Bento brunch

Fried egg, ham and fruit salad; mini waffles with strawberries, pecans and maple syrup. (Extra layer of waffles hidden below.)

Got a Nordic Ware silver-dollar waffle pan at a thrift store on Fillmore Street a few weeks ago. Woke up this morning and decided it was time to give it a try. One batch of batter from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” app goes a long way with mini waffles! So I packed a few of the extras into a bento. I will be eating waffles for days and days …

This bento is a bit busier than I would like. Think I got carried away since it’s Saturday, and time was less of an issue than during the week. I used a flower-shaped cookie cutter for the egg and rolled the ham into a “rose,” My baby spinach leaves, however, kind of got lost in the mix.

Dressed up the waffles with cheese and ham flowers and tossed in a “bottle” of real maple syrup. Plan to sprinkle the pecans and fruit on top. It was silly but amusing to cut my strawberry into a strawberry shape with a cookie cutter. Very meta, no?

Most excited about the pint of kumquats I picked up this week. They remind me of Florida, of sunshine and of being a kid. All things I miss right now …

Koreanese bento #13: @KoreanHapa(imitation) / @justbento = flattery

Chicken kara-age, tomato and shallot salad with sesame vinaigrette and rice with carrots and peas

So I’ve been getting bento inspiration from all over … But I must give credit where it is due. I first fell in love with the idea of bento this January, when I spotted “The Just Bento Cookbook” at a bookstore in Santa Cruz.

I was making my annual New Year’s pilgrimage to the coast and contemplating ways to bring new joys into 2011. And there it was, this book that I just couldn’t put down.

Since then, co-workers have gifted me books on bento, and I’ve found so many amazing bento-makers on the Web. It has been a pleasure cooking, learning and eating my way down this road.

So thank you, Makiko Itoh, for the inspiration. This bento’s for you!

Koreanese bento #12: In/out of shape

Sliced teriyaki beef, asparagus spears with roasted sesame dressing, hardly heart-shaped hard-boiled eggs over multi-grain rice with strawberries and strawberry-shaped kiwis

Just came back from a long weekend in Utah. I had made a few molded hard-boiled eggs before I left. My hearts, however, didn’t turn out quite as nicely as my star. One heart, with a yolk so off-center that it poked out the side, was so unattractive that I had to eat in on the spot! The other one wasn’t quite so bad, but it still didn’t look much like a heart … Still, why waste food?

So I rolled the misshapen sucker around in some soy sauce, sugar and ginger until it was nicely coated, cut it in half and then popped some asymmetrical nori hearts on top before tossing it in the bowl. If you’re going to be misshapen, might as well be proud.

The kiwis I bought at the Ferry Building after my run today took to their strawberry cookie-cutter shapes much more nicely. (Though you can’t really tell from this picture.)

And speaking of being shape … I had thought, after a three days skiing downhill and one day cross country, that I must be in pretty descent condition. But then I stepped on the scale this morning and found myself four pounds heavier than when I left. (And I wasn’t happy with my weight then either.)

Guess, like my bento, I am both in and out of shape.

Koreanese bento #11: Paul Oakenfold tribute

Hardboiled egg and bell pepper stars, carrot flowers and a fresh fruit over a bed of shitake mushroom rice

In light of yesterday’s crab roll disaster, I decided to keep it simple today. Besides, I’m about to get on a plane. So I prepped the mixed mushroom rice and eggs last night, and then all that was left this morning were the fun bits — making stars.

This was my first time using a “bowl” as a bento. Kinda liked the simplicity of one round space to work with …

Starry-eyed surprise: Mixed mushroom rice hidden beneath fruit cup, revealed

The pink silicone liner was the most I could cough up for Girls’ Day. Pink has never been my favorite color, unless you count magenta. I need something bold.

Koreanse bento #10: Red crab, blue crab

Koreanese bento #10: Badly formed California roll made with real Blue Crab unrepentantly hidden behind fake Red Crab (bell pepper); asparagus in roasted sesame dressing, strawberries and ImoJeane Mayes' awesome, Colorado-baked chocolate chip cookies. (Secret layer of cucumber scraps and celery strips beneath.)

I confess: Today was not one of my better bento days. I’d been so psyched about making something with my lump crab stash, and debated between mini curry crab cakes and California rolls for way too many days. Then finally, fixed on the latter, I proceeded to make the ugliest inside-out sushi roll you’ve ever seen. So like any newbie bento-maker, who is running late to an appointment and potentially facing embarrassment at work, I carved up a big haphazard “crab” to cover my wonky rolling results. At least it has a theme …

My roomie noted the funky crab-shell-like texture of the bell pepper. “How did you do that?” she asked. Truth be told, it’s just puckered from being in the fridge too long. But sometimes, things do work out. And it’s OK to make mistakes.

Off to the Utah slopes for a long weekend. I’ll be making bentos out of snow.

Oh, yeah. And that’s supposed to be a pickled ginger and Italian parsley rose. Ha!

Koreanese bento #9: Butter shrimp and happy flowers

Koreanese bento #9: Butter shrimp, radish tulips, bell pepper flowers, celery stems and parsley leaves over rice; baked parmesan tomatoes and fresh berries.