RICE PUDDING

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics is fast approaching, and the weather is not exactly cooperating.  It’s so mild you can walk outside in a t–shirt!

However, during the evening, it’s still quite nippy…enough to warrant a warming comfort food my daughters simply love.  They get all excited over puddings.  Warm rice pudding is their absolute favourite. 

I rummaged around my “rice bin”, which is simply a drawer filled with close to 100 pounds of practically 20 different varieties of rice.  I’ve got black rice, red rice, wild rice, Jasmine, Basmati, Brown, Semi-brown, glutinous, sushi rice and the list goes on. 

CYPRUS SALT-CRUSTED CRISPY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

Sometimes a little more salt is not a good thing.

Ordinarily, I'm all over Salty Caramel and Salty Chocolate (and even more so if the salt in question is Fleur de Sel).  One cookie in which I like a salty-sweet combination is a Chocolate Chip Cookie with salty almonds.  But nuts are supposed to be salty.  So it works for me.

Since experimenting with sprinkling some Cyprus Salt on my Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies, I am not so convinced they belong on this traditional cookie.  They were definitely not bad, but they weren't "wow, that was amazing!"  So in the interests of my family's blood pressure and my own (though my bp is low) I think I'll pass on the sprinkle of salt on these cookies. 

I used Superstore's President's Choice Cyprus Mediterranean Salt. Pretty, isn't it?

BIB'S 3RD BIRTHDAY CAKE

Bib's request for her 3rd birthday was "Chocolate.  And strawberries."

I baked a 6 inch chocolate cake and then at the last minute decided to change buttercream recipes.  I tried Rose's Heavenly Cake's Meringue Buttercream.  It was a pain in the you know what to make and the results though yummy were not worth the extra effort.  I have made other meringue buttercreams and this one is finicky and creates unnecessary anxiety.

DIVIDED BENTO CONTAINERS ROCK!

white chicken nuggets, mini sausage roll, potato smile, edamame, strawberries, and a huge container of ketchup!

We visited Daiso in Richmond the other day and I must say, $2 is a pretty good deal for a bento box!  The one I bought above though, is $4.  I really liked the fact it had a divider and it had a tighter fitting sealed lid than some of the other ones.  That being said, you can still buy a decent bento box for $2.

MINI SANDWICH BENTO

Mini soft dinner roll stuffed with ham, sliced strawberries and a wedge of orange

I think I am starting to get the hang of preparing bento for Bebe.  The key is to make stuff the night before and pack it.  That way, in the morning, when I'm rushing off to work, I'm not freaking out trying to make her something cute so she'll eat it.

VENTURE INTO BENTO

grape skewer, surimi impaled with a giraffe-pick, edamame, mini broccoli and cheese quiche, 2 white-meat chicken nuggetts, one mini pizza, one potato face, ketchup in the green chicken container

Bebe's in Grade 1 and it's tough coming up with lunch ideas that she'll eat.