Bonita's Cooking & Bento Wonderland

Zoo Buddies Bento

2012-01-26T23:23:00.000-08:00

Choo choo choo!!! Everybody get out of the way please.... The Zoo Buddies' bread train is coming! Honk honk! :D. I made this super simple bento a long time ago. Yes, the lil' kitchen in my boardinghouse has been clean for some weeks and for the next couple months. But as you had already known that I had losts of bento picts have not been posted yet, I don't need to worry about what to post LOL *the only problems are I often got confused about which one I have to post first and the spare time to post it hehehe.

The bento was from some slices of sweet baguette my friend bought me that I simply enjoyed with preserved blackberry (placed in another container, not photographed), a big red strawberry, some orange slices, and a blanched broccoli floret. I heavily relied on my zoo animal food picks to add lots of cuteness for my simple bento ^^. Yup, I love to call them my "great rescuers" :D.

To enhance the green theme of today's post, I present you all with a pict of green flowers :D

jours heureux, tout le monde! ^^

[IFP] Mie Ongklok Udang

2012-01-25T00:57:00.000-08:00

Yeaayy, Mie Ongklok Udang, my first IFP post in 2012 :D. Mie Ongklok is a famous dish from Wonosobo, a regency in Central Java. Pak Muhadi (Mr. Muhadi) is said to be the creator of this dish. Mi Ongklok is made of yellow noodles and some vegetables. I used fresh yellow noodles :D. If many noodle dishes use green mustard, Mi Ongklok calls for cabbage and chives. We are to shake the noodles and veggies with a strainer (traditionally made from bamboo) while we are blanching them in hot or boiling water. That is why this dish is called "ongklok" - ongklok is the Javanese word of "shake". However, I didn't shake those ingredients while I was blanching them. I only blanched them ;p. The blanced ingredients are arranged in a bowl, and then added with two kinds of gravy (they are called loh) and some condiments. The first brown thick gravy is made from the mix of starch, javanese palm sugar, ebi (dried shrimp), and some other ingredients. And the second one (I think it's like a sauce hehehe), it's made of ground peanut seasoned with ground white pepper and added with crispy fried shallots. Sambal or ground fresh bird eye chilies is sometimes used to add the heat for spicy food lovers :D. The popular companions of Mi Ongklok are beef sate/satay, tempe kemul (fried tempeh coated in flour batter), and tofu chips. Famous Mi Ongklok sellers are Mi Ongklok Longkrang and Mi Ongklok Pak Muhadi (Wikipedia).

A modification of Mi Ongklok calls for the use of beef. As at that time I only had shrimp and chicken breast, I used them to make the stock. I once read in Rasa Malaysia that shrimp's head and skin are good to make stock since it gives sweet flavor to the stock. And... yes it's right :D. So, never throw away those parts as they are good for stock :D. As my delight, when I was searching for Mi Ongklok recipe, I was brought to a GREAT Mi Ongklok recipe using shrimp by Keluarga Nugraha. The recipe doesn't result two kinds of thick gravy just like in the original one. However, it's more like soup with fresher taste :D. I added knotted celery stalk and green onion into the gravy to add the freshness. Yes, I like them knotted instead of chopped to make my gravy looks prettier and clean :D.

Mi Ongklok Udang
Source: Resep Keluarga Nugraha

Ingredients:
250 gram shrimp; remove the head and skin, leave the tail
250 gram chicken breast
1000 ml stock (mine was from the shrimp and chicken breast)
250 gram fresh yellow/egg noodles; blanched in boiling water
100 gram cabbage (thinly sliced) and 50 gram bean sprout; blanced until wilted
2 stalks celery; one knotted, one chopped
2 green onions; one knotted, one chopped
2 table spoons kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
3 table spoons starch; dissolved with some water

Spice to Grind:
6 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tea spoon of ginger powder
2 candle nuts; pan-toasted
1 table spoon chopped chives
1 table spoon ebi (dried shrimp); soaked first
Ground white pepper, salt, and sugar to taste

Condiments:
Hard boiled egg
Crispy fried shallots
Sambal
Kecap manis
Lime wedges
Kerupuk (traditional crackers)

Method:
Sautee the ground spice and the cleaned and washed shrimp's head and skin until fragrant and change in color. Pour in water. When the water is starting to boil, add in chicken breast. Cook until the stock is boiling and the chicken breast is done, turn off the heat. Take the chicken breast out from the stock and shred; a fork works well for this. Strain and reheat the stock. When the stock is boiling, add in shrimps, kecap manis, and knotted celery stalk and green onion. When the shrimps change in color, add in starch, stir until thick. Remove from heat. In a bowl, arrange blanced noodles, veggies, and shredded chicken. Pour in the gravy. Top with hard boiled egg and sprinkle with crispy fried shallots. Enjoy with other condiments :D

I also bring a good news for you today :D. Now you have a month to post your IFP entry, yeayyy!!!! So from now on, you don't need to worry to post your IFP entry late than the first two weeks of a month :D. Have you submitted your January IFP entry? ;D

Little Cows Bento

2012-01-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

Moo moo moo... les petites vaches ^^. Just a quick bento post for today. I randomly pick one of my old bento pictures. Those cute little cows were inspired by akinoichigo's bento creation :D. Those little buddies were made of cheese, egg sheet, and beef salami cut with various little cutters. Use a cutter with bear shape to make the cow's head, then cut a little on the ear parts. The facial details were from black sesame seeds and nori cutouts. For the side dishes, I had blanched broccoli florets, beef cocktail, boiled sweet corn, semur tongkol with quail eggs, and tempeh perkedel.

Briefly in this post, I want to share a little tip about styling your bento photo. I used my craft magazine as my photo prop here. Yes, I love to make use of anything around my photo spot (a gathering room in my boarding house where we watch tv or do our assignment - there I can easily find newspaper, novels, magazines, softdrink bottles/cans, and stationery) as my photo properties. If I see a set of crayons (my boardinghouse mate's ;p), then I'll make it as my prop like you can see here hehehe. You don't always need to buy expensive fancy props for your photo. I sometimes use my novels, books, and even useless *oh they are NOT useless for me* things such as out-of-date newspaper, bubble wrapper plastic, and mini mandarin orange basket as my props that you can see here, here, here, and here. The thing I want to tell you is that you can use almost anything around you as your photo props (glasses, mobile phone, iPod, laptop, headset, your kid's toys? No problemo :D). Let's have improvisations with 'em ;D. All you need to do then is just to capture the photos from a good angle :D.

Have a wonderful day my dear friends :D

[IFP] December Round Up

2012-01-09T00:58:00.000-08:00

Here I am with December IFP Round Up ^^. As December is always a busy month for preparing Christmas celebration that some of my foodie friends confirmed me that they couldn’t participate for December IFP, I thought I would have less entries for December IFP Round Up. Surprisingly, December IFP brings the biggest total entries so far, 13 entries ^^. I’m also delighted to have my friends who were absent for November IFP back and some new participants of course :D. Thanks a lot my friends, thank you, thank you, thank you :D.

Scroll down to see the entries :))

Peyeum Bakar (Grilled Fermented Cassava) by Tika Hapsari Nilmada of Cemplang Cemplung

Let’s start our round up with something sweet ^^. Peyeum is the Sundanese name of Tapai (ta-pie) / Tape (ta-peh). Tape is a traditional fermented food made of a variety of carbohydrate sources, but typically from cooked cassava, rice, and glutinous rice. Tape can be used directly as a food or in traditional recipes (Wikipedia). I love Tape very much. My grandma once said it’s good for my skin :D. Besides eating Tape as it is, I also love to enjoy it with Es Dawet (such kind of sweet treat featuring an assortment of tropical fruits and sweetmeats in sweet coconut milk soup chilled with shaved ice), as Tape Goreng (fried tape coated in flour batter), or as Proll Tape (fermented cassava cake). For December IFP, Tika grilled the tape/peyeum and gave it a special twist by adding the grilled cassava sweet condensed milk and chocolate sprinkles, yummmm!!!! This grilled cassava reminds me of home. As my grandma uses pawon (a traditional stove using wood or figs as the fuel *yes, she’s afraid to use stove with gas due to scary news on TV :D), my uncle and I love to grill fermented cassava in front of the pawon on wood coals. The fragrant grilled cassava with a hint of burning wood aroma will then make our traditional kitchen smells soooo good. And… enjoying our grilled cassava freshly from the pawon is felt way sooooo good :D. Nothing beats traditional :D

Proll Tape (Fermented Cassava Cake) by Diah Raki of Dapur Pemula 3D

Yes, we meet again with Tape (fermented cassava). And this is what is meant by Proll Tape ^^. As its name, this cake takes Tape as the main ingredient. It’s quite simple to make Proll Tape by only mixing Tape with egg, sugar, flour to make the batter. Proll Tape is a favorite; especially in East Java with Jember (a municipality of East Java) as its signature producer. It’s not complete to buy Proll Tape as a gift to your families upon returning or traveling from Jember :D. The popular toppings of Proll Tape are grated cheese, kenari (Indonesian almond), and chocolate. But, my favorite topping is Sultana :D. For me, Proll Tape is addictive; once I get my hand on it, it’s so hard for me to stop munching it LOL. When my friend brings Proll Tape to our office, the cake will be disappeared in a few seconds :D.

Wingko Babat by Indonesia Eats

Wingko, which is sometimes called Wingko Babat, is a traditional Javanese pancake-like snack made from coconut. It is a kind of cake made mainly of coconut and other ingredients. Wingko is popular especially along the north coast of Java island. It is sold mostly by peddlers on trains, at bus stations, train stations, or in the producer’s own shop. Wingko is typically a round, almost hard coconut cake that is typically served in warm, small pieces. Wingko is sold either in the form of a large, plate-sized cake or small, paper wrapped cakes. It's delicious due to the combined sweetness of sugar and the unique, fresh taste of crispy coconut. The most famous wingko is made in Babat. As its full name, wingko babat, suggests, wingko actually originated in Babat, a small regency in Lamongan, a municipality in East Java (Wikipedia). Semarang where is also located on the North Coast and the capital city of Central Java is also popular for its wingko. For IFP, Indonesia Eats comes with special wingko recipe different from the classic one. As she loves wingko with durian or chocolate flavor, she went with chocolate flavored wingko recipe (she mixed 90% dark chocolate and cocoa powder). It’s totally a new interesting wingko recipe to try :D

Kroket Kentang (Potato Croquette) by Indonesia Eats

There are many different styles of Croquette in every country. In Indonesia, Croquette was first introduced during Dutch Colonial rule and it becomes a very popular snack. The Indonesians like to enjoy croquettes with bird eye chilies or acar mustard (mustard pickle); I personally love to enjoy it with green bird eye chilies or hot tomato ketchup :D. In Indonesia, potato croquette is one of the most favorite party foods. It can be easily found from morning traditional market to supermarket, café, or even prestigious snack store. As Indonesia Eats is living in Canada, a country that is very easy to find mashed potatoes packages, she was so tempted to make potato croquette as a shortcut. Quick and energy saver, eh? :D

Bubur Kacang Ijo (Mung Bean Sweet Porridge with a Twist) by Hesti HH. of Hesti’s Kitchen

Mung Bean Sweet porridge with special twist from our new IFP participant; welcome to IFP Mbak Hesti ^^. Mung Bean Sweet porridge is a popular homey family treat. We don’t need to wait for any special occasions to enjoy this treat. But, it gains massive popularity to be served on Indonesian dining table especially during Ramadan for iftar (fasting breaker :D) or as an evening treat during cold rainy season. In case of sudden crave for this sweet porridge, we can directly make it in our own kitchen or buy in the near Mung Bean sweet porridge seller stall. Mung Bean sweet porridge vendors are also easy to be found, especially in the late afternoon, with a distinctive sound (it’s heard like: ting ting ting ting ting ting!) they make by hitting a metal spoon on a ceramic bowl to call the buyers :)). Typically, the common mix of Mung Bean sweet porridge is black glutinous rice. But, as what I said before, Mbak Hesti added special twist for her Mung Bean sweet porridge. Hers is a combination of classic Mung Bean sweet porridge with chewy balls made of white glutinous rice flour. She also added Durian flesh to the sweet porridge, oh My! Totally special! :D

Bir Pletok (Pletok Beer) by Julia Wingantini of Chef by Accident

Welcome back to IFP Mak Jul! :D. Well, although its name consists of “Bir” or “Beer” in English, this beverage totally contains NO beer that can make you fly ;p. Bir Pletok is a refreshing beverage made of ingredients such as ginger, fragrant Pandan leaf (Screwpine leaf), and lemongrass. Kayu Sechang (Sechang wood) is added to give an interesting red color to the beverage. The red color is created by pouring the wood with hot/boiling water. Bir Pletok is popularized by Betawi ethnic; an ethnic group of Jakarta. It can be enjoyed warm or cold by adding ice cubes. But, many love to enjoy it in the evening to warm their bodies. This beverage is also good for your blood stream. When you look at the picture above, you might be questioning since the color of the beverage is not red. Yes, our dear friend Julia is living in Berau, somewhere in Borneo/Kalimantan island ;D, that she couldn’t find Sechang wood there. But, it’s no problemo, your Bir Plethok still looks so refreshing Mak ;D.

Rempah Daging (Indonesian Coconut Meat Patty) by Indonesia Eats

Two of the many things that I love about Indonesia Eats foodblog are (1) every single post brings special background story for the recipe; and (2) this lovely blog sometimes comes across with a surprising recipe makes me feel that recipe is especially posted just for me :D. This Rempah Daging aka Coconut Meat Patty is one example. It reminds me of my beloved late great grandmother. Yes, Rempah Daging is our favorite. In the morning while looking at our chickens were enjoying their morning “meal” in the back yard, my great grandma and I loved to have our breakfast together. We would enjoy a plate of warm rice with Rempah Daging, and she would feed me a spoonful of warm rice with Rempah Daging accompanied with her lovely smile and patient look that I replied with a happy look of an innocent little girl with a full mouth munching the food :D. What a beautiful memory; I miss it, I DO miss it, I DO miss my late great grandma right now T______T. Well, back to the right path. If we break down the word rempah can be meant spice while daging is a meat. In this case it refers to beef the very common red meat source in Indonesia beside goat. Rempah daging is common to be served with rice (especially Nasi Kuning – Indonesian Yellow Rice) or enjoyed as a snack. It almost looks like perkedel (potato patty) but it has a different main ingredient by adding grated or shredded coconut, and slightly different way to add the egg.

Sambal Andaliman (Andaliman Pepper Sambal) by Indonesia Eats

It’s always fun to have a new sambal recipe as many Indonesians can’t live without sambal ^^. And that word “Andaliman” is just so beautiful to be heard; I think I’ve fallen in love with that word :D. Sambal andaliman is common to be enjoyed by Batak ethnic group especially the North Tapanuli sub-ethnic groups. In making Sambal Andaliman, the portion of shallot and garlic has to be 4 to 1. Indonesian cooking uses a lot more shallot than garlic. Two version of sambal andaliman recipe can be made, raw and stir-fry. If you have fresh andaliman, Indonesia Eats suggests to make the raw version as the fresh andaliman colour is green and look so fresh. If you have dried andaliman, the stir fry version will be better plus you can keep the sambal longer. Dried andaliman has a dark brown colour. To keep andaliman longer, you can always roast them and keep in the freezer. If you don’t have andaliman, you can substitute for Sichuan Pepper as andaliman is still a family of Sichuan Pepper.

Bakso Sapi (Beef Balls) by Yulyan Parwati of Cooking with Love

(Wikipedia) Bakso is commonly made from beef with a small quantity of tapioca flour, however bakso can also be made from other ingredients, such as chicken, fish, or shrimp. As most Indonesians are muslim, generally Bakso is made from beef or is mixed with chicken. Bakso are usually served in a bowl of beef broth, with yellow noodles, bihun (rice vermicelli), salted vegetables, tofu, egg (wrapped within bakso), Chinese green cabbage, bean sprout, siomay or steamed meat dumpling, and crisp wonton, sprinkled with fried shallots and celery. Bakso can be found all across Indonesia; from the traveling cart street vendors to restaurants. Today most of the bakso vendors are Javanese from Wonogiri (a town near Solo) and Malang. Bakso Malang and Bakso Solo are the most popular variant; the name comes from the city it comes from, Malang in East Java and Solo in Central Java. In Malang *my hometown :D*, Bakso Bakar (roasted bakso) is also popular.

Soto Betawi by Retno Prihadana of Kedai Hamburg

A warm welcome also goes to Mbak Retno; thank you for joining IFP :D. I’m happy to have a different Soto style for every IFP Round Up so far. For her first entry, Mbak Retno brings us festive Soto Betawi (Betawi Style Soto). Soto Betawi is popular in Jakarta. I never try Soto Betawi in my whole life since Soto Betawi is not quite popular in my town, Malang, that I get difficulty to find Soto Betawi sellers here. Yeah may be I’ll try to make it by myself someday :D. Soto Betawi is different from my favorite Soto type (Soto Ayam/Chicken Soto) and the other familiar Sotos that I know, whose soup is clear. Soto Betawi uses coconut milk for the soup :D. The original recipe of Soto Betawi also calls for the use of innards such us beef liver. But no worry, in her recipe, Mbak Retno offers us with healthier version of Soto Betawi without using innards :D. Her Soto Betawi, presented in a beautiful photography, looks so mouthwatering. Yes, I want Soto Betawi! :D

Lontong Balap by Chizzy of Chizzy’s World

Lontong Balap is a signature dish of Surabaya, the capital city of East Java province. This dish consists of lontong (rice cake), tauge (bean sprout), tahu goreng (fried tofu), lentho (such kind of grated cassava patty), bawang goreng (crispy fried shallot), kecap (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), and sambal (chili sambal). If Lontong Balap is translated loosely, we’ll get a funny literal translation in English :D. Well, let’s start from the Lontong first. Lontong is a dish made of compressed rice wrapped inside banana leaf that is then cut into small cakes as staple food replacement of steamed rice. While “Balap”, it means “race” :D. So, the literal translation of Lontong Balap is “Rice Cake Race” LOL. Why could it be such a kind of funny name? According to the information that I read: in the old time, this dish was sold by using heavy gentongs (gentong is a large earthenware for water). The sellers carried those heavy genthongs by lifting them with a wooden or bamboo pole on their shoulders (genthongs were tied to the pole with strong ropes). As the sellers were walking around the city to sell this dish while carrying those heavy genthongs, it made the sellers walked fast just like they were doing a race :D (in Javanese language race means “balapan”). Well, that’s the history of the dish’s unique name ^^. Today, Lontong Balap sellers don’t need to do such kind of slavery thing to sell their dish. Yet, the name “Lontong Balap” remains unchanged.

Tipat Cantok (Balinese Gado-Gado with Rice Cake) by Tata Bonita aka Yunita Rahmasari

Tipat Cantok / Gado-Gado Ketupat Bali / Balinese Gado-Gado with Rice Cake. When Indonesians hear the phrase “Gado-Gado”, many of them will be straightly directed to think of “Gado-Gado Jakarta”. Yes, Gado-Gado Jakarta is the most popular type of Gado-Gado in Indonesia. I even only know a few types of Gado-Gado: Gado-Gado Jakarta, Gado-Gado Surabaya, and this one; Gado-Gado Ketupat Bali. Gado-Gado is basically vegetable salad with peanut salad. As its name, Gado-Gado ketupat, it uses ketupat as one of the main ingredients. Ketupat (Javanese call it “Kupat”) is a compressed rice cake wrapped in young coconut leaves. The recipe in the book calls for bean sprouts as one of the veggies, but I just omitted it as we didn’t have bean sprouts at that time ;p. The recipe also gives practical idea to use peanut jam to make the sauce. It’s energy saving that we don’t need to pan-roast the peanut and grind it, right? :D

Tekwan (Palembang Fish Balls Soup) by Indonesia Eats

Tekwan is a fish soup typical of Palembang, Indonesia. Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra is also famous for its freshwater fish recipes such as pempek (fishcake with spicy tamarind sauce), otak-otak (grilled fishcake in banana leaves), pindang patin (spicy sour basa fish soup with tempoyak) as well as durian. Tempoyak (fermented durian) is also a popular South Sumatran side which can be made for sambal and thrown into pindang patin. For tekwan, the fish balls are made from the dough of fish and tapioca or sago starch. The fish balls are presented in shrimp broth with a distinctive flavor, served with rice vermicelli, mushrooms, sliced jicama, and sprinkled with sliced fresh celery, scallion and fried shallot. The people of Java likes making tekwan with ikan tenggiri (king or Spanish mackerel) while the South Sumatrans like using freshwater fish such as ikan belida (featherback fish) and ikan gabus (snakehead fish).

Thank you everyone for your lovely entries :D

Don't forget to join January IFP yaaa >.<

Smiley Blonde Girl Bento & Dainty Princess Mentrik

2012-01-04T02:46:00.000-08:00

Alô! Happy greeting from Indonesia :D. Sincere ear-to-ear smile for the first post in 2012 is to bring more happiness, smiles, and joy for all of us. I do hope that there will be no more copyright piracy; let's enjoy the true beauty of sharing by highly respecting and appreciating other's works ^^. This happy Smiley Blonde Girl Bento was inspired by one of Maki Ogawa's charabens. Yes, she's never failed to inspire me and many other bentoers. Never be tired of our gratitude to you, Maki, since we can't never stop to thank you ^^. The smiley girl was made of cheese and egg sheet; her nose was from pea pod and cheeks from blanched carrot. The yummy section was filled with pan-roasted salmon smeared with Indonesian curry paste, julienned chayotte and cayenne pepper stir fry, blanched broccoli floret, and carrot lacey flower.

Okay, let's continue babbling. Isn't it a great idea to share happy news on the first post? Oho, to make you smile, today I bring great news about fun giveaways. Our dear friends, Tika of Cemplang Cemplung and Nami of Just One Cook Book, are celebrating their blog anniversaries that they offer awesome prizes for the giveaways. Don't forget to click the links; who knows that you'll be one of the lucky winners, right? :D. For Tika's giveaway, it requires me, as the participant, to tell the reason behind my foodblogging. Well, I started my foodblogging in 2008 when I was still an undergraduate student. At that time, I was in my senior year and did enjoy blogging (yes, firstly I didn't blog food). As at that time I also learned cooking, so I posted what I had cooked as my posting variant in blog. And finally... Yup, foodblogging is addictive that I can't stop it! :D. Just like the other foodbloggers that call their blog as their second home, my blog is my home too - my magical home, my wonderland... Where it magically gives me sweet friends from all around the world... And my magical place to spread love through what I love - my passion in cooking, bentoing, and photography :D. For something that I forgot to mention in the previous post: Thanks a lot for all my supportive friends and readers for the wonderful 2011 ^^ (xoxo)

I have another sweet little thing for you today; the cute photo of my Dainty Princess Mentrik ^^. When I'm home, I love to photograph Pak Poh's beautiful cats. It's always a bundle of fun to capture what those cats are doing in the morning with their brothers and sisters. Wish I can edit the photos soon ^^. For Princess Mentrik's photo today, I edited it with PS CS2. I always love to date with Mr. Photoshop LOL :D

Have a wonderful day my dear friends! ^^

[IFP] Tipat Cantok / Gado-Gado Ketupat Bali

2011-12-31T04:48:00.000-08:00

I had to delay to post this IFP entry as I was in a really bad mood yesterday due to a foodieblogger’s classic problem – photo stealing with watermark cropping and omitting :(. I’m not included as one of the victims of this newest copyright crime, but I DO feel the anger of my friends whose pictures were stolen and their watermarks were cropped and omitted (what a disgraceful thing those irresponsible people did! If they knew the struggle behind our food photo making; it’s not easy!). Well….. Let’s just forget it for awhile *taking a deep breath then releasing it slowly.

Wanna know other surprises in this post? Scroll down to keep reading :))

My IFP entry today is Tipat Cantok / Gado-Gado Ketupat Bali / Balinese Gado-Gado with Rice Cake. When we and many Indonesians hear the phrase “Gado-Gado”, many of us will be straightly directed to think of “Gado-Gado Jakarta”. Yes, Gado-Gado Jakarta is the most popular type of Gado-Gado in Indonesia. I only know a few types of Gado-Gado: Gado-Gado Jakarta, Gado-Gado Surabaya, and this one; Gado-Gado Ketupat Bali. Gado-Gado is basically vegetable salad with peanut sauce. Is there a type of Gado-Gado without peanut sauce? If you have information about it, just let me know :). I made this Balinese Gado-Gado from a recipe book of Balinese Food by Linda Carolina Brotodjojo. Yup, the same book of this Balinese Pisang Rai recipe. I really love when I’m home, I can try many recipes. Today’s post was even made further before I made that Pisang Rai recipe when I was home. LOL, not a quite satisfactory angle I took for this pict, and the food styling is little bit messy hehe. Something special about the pict is that blue fabric as the background. My mother bought it in Bali in 1970s when she was still a university student (far away before I was delivered to this world LOL). I remember when I was a kinder I wore it to perform a Balinese dance in a national art and cultural performance night for celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day :)) *ah, so funny to remember that :D. The fabric’s condition is still good until now; it has a lot of beautiful memories to us that we treasure it ^^.

As its name, Gado-Gado ketupat, it uses ketupat as one of the main ingredients. Ketupat (Javanese call it “Kupat”) is a stamped rice cake wrapped in young coconut leaves. The recipe in the book calls for bean sprouts as one of the veggies, but I just omitted it as we didn’t have bean sprouts at that time ;p. The recipe also gives practical idea to use peanut butter to make the sauce. It’s energy saving that we don’t need to pan-roast the peanut and grind it, right? *lazy heheheeh.

Tipat Cantok / Gado-Gado Ketupat Bali

Ingredients:
2 ketupat (rice cake), diced or cut as you desire
200 g bean curd/tofu, diced and fried (or you can fry first then dice it)
200 g long green beans, cut 3-4cm in length (blanched or boiled for about 3 minutes)
200 g bean sprouts, blanched
2 cucumbers, sliced or diced
Crispy fried shallot to sprinkle
Kerupuk/Crackers (I had shrimp crackers) or Emping (A variant of Kerupuk made of Melinjo aka Gnetum gnemon)

Peanut Sauce:
200 g peanut butter
10 red bird eye chilies
6 cloves garlic
2 cm kencur (kaempferia galangal)
2 teaspoons petis udang (shrimp paste)
2 tablespoons carved Javanese palm sugar
1 lime for the zest
2 tablespoons kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
Salt to taste
Some cooked water

Method:
1. Peanut Sauce: Grind to paste bird eye chilies, garlic, and kencur. Sautee the paste until fragrant. Add in peanut butter, carved palm sugar, petis udang (shrimp paste), kecap manis, salt, and some cooked water. Stir well until you get thick sauce consistency, add suitable drizzles of lime zest.
2. In a big mix bowl, mix well the diced rice cake and veggies with the peanut sauce. Transfer on plates. Sprinkle it with crispy fried shallot and don’t forget to enjoy your Gado-Gado Ketupat with crackers :)).

2nd prize set photo courtesy: Cooking Gallery and Casabento

I have a happy news for you ^^. Do you still remember my Blooming Pink Flowers Bento for this fabulous bento contest by Cooking Gallery? Yeayyy, it won the 2nd prize that I really, really want to win ^^. So grateful.... Alhamdulillah... Thanks a lot CG Cooking Gallery, CasaBento, Nami of Just One Cook Book, and Bentolicious :D. Now I'm happily waiting for that wonderful prize set from CasaBento ^^. Ah, CasaBento is such a mouthwatering site for bento lover hohohoho. I drool a lot to see their beautiful bento boxes collection. But, to see their price in Euro just makes me dizzy LOL ;D

Well, that’s my post for today; the last day of 2011.

I wish you all my dear friends a wonderful*New Year :))

Stop Copas Konten dan Foto Foodblog!!!

2011-12-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

Ini kita para anggota Indonesian Foodblogger lagi supeeerrrr geraaaaammmm plus BETEK (gaya e Batak) abis! Apalagi kalo bukan karena masalah pengambilan foto di blog para Indonesian foodblogger tanpa ijin, hedeeeehhh. Disini saya ingin menjelaskan kenapa sih kami sebagai food blogger bisa super jengkel, marah, dan geram kalo foto-foto kami dipake tanpa ijin APALAGI KALO SAMPAI NGE-CROP WM KAMI. Kali ini yang menjadi korban LAGI-LAGI adalah Indonesia Eats, Cooking with Love, (former) Food is Love, Cemplang Cemplung, Bianca's and Jordan's Mom, Yummy Corner, A.G's Food, dan mungkin masih ada yang lainnya. Site yang mengambil foto tanpa ijin dan menghilangkan WM tersebut adalah www.dapurbumbu.com (kemaren sih udah under maintenance dan sekarang dah raib itu site, ek oookkk). Fanpagenya di FB masih ada, dan teteuuupppp foto-foto colongan itu masih nampang. Ini adalah satu contoh aja foto dari Mbak Lidia yang di-crop dan DENGAN NIATNYA dihilangkan WM yang dipasang di tengan foto jebret sama Mbak Lidia. Dooooohh.... Serba salah ya, WM ditengah bikin foto jelek udah gitu masih sempet-sempetnya lagi WM dihilangkan, apalagi yang ditaruh dipinggir, wassalam.... Padahal fotonya mbak Lid yang satu ini belum mejeng di blog beliau loh, masih di upload di flickr dan FB beliau. Haduuuh rajinnya :D

Sedangkan ini link foto asli Lepet Jagung-nya Mbak Lidia yang masih sempat di upload di flickr. Tuh kan WM di tengahnya ilang... Niat banget.

Langsung aja deh, kenapa sih kita, foodblogger, tuh lebaaayyy banget kalo foto kita diambil tanpa ijin dan dihilangkan WM kita bisa geraaam seperti lagi kebakaran jenggot (padahal kita foodblogger yg cewek gak punya jenggot ;p). Kalo ada yang bilang seperti tadi: "Foodblogger itu lebaaayyy bgt kalo fotonya dipake tanpa ijin, wong fotonya cuma dipake gitu aja kok, yang penting si "dia" yang udah nyomot foto udah minta maaf." Helooooooooooooo...... Walaupun HANYA untuk menghasilkan SELEMBAR FOTO AJA itu prosesnya tidak main-main, panjaaaang, bikin capek plus ADA BIAYANYA JUGA. Truly foodieblogger PASTI bisa merasakan apa yang kami rasakan dan kami maksud. Bagi anda yang bisa bilang "gapapa" mungkin *MAAF* anda belum terjun langsung sendiri merasakan dan menjalani lika-liku kami sebagai foodblogger untuk menghasilkan foto dan resep yg kami tampilkan di blog. Anda harus mencoba turun tangan langsung dan rasakanlah sensasi lika-liku perjuangan menghasilkan SELEMBAR FOTO itu untuk bisa merasakan apa yang kami rasakan.

Menjadi seorang foodblogger itu BUKAN HANYA SEKEDAR menjadi photographer bagi masakan kami. LEBIH DARI ITU, sekali lagi.... LEBIH DARI ITU (kayak kata Mbak Sefa :D). Apakah anda pernah mendengar ada selembar hasil karya foto makanan yang dihargai ratusan ribu bahkan jutaan? Kenapa bisa ratusan ribu bahkan jutaan? Well, seperti yang sudah saya tulis tadi: LEBIH DARI ITU. Untuk menghasilkan SEBUAH FOTO SAJA ada hal-hal yang terlibat:

BIAYA membeli bahan masakan. Kalo di bidang komersil "Biaya Produksi" lah. Nah kita sebagai foodblogger? Menjadi donatur bagi diri sendiri! Belanja ke pasar sendiri, capek2 dijinjing sendiri (jadi kuli diri sendiri), ngangkot juga bayar. Kadang kalo gak ada di pasar tradisional? Kita harus rela merogoh kocek sedikit lebih dalam dengan belanja ke supermarket yang berarti "biaya produksi" bertambah. Belum lagi yang bahannya beli online, ada ongkos kirim.
BIAYA bayar si Chef aka tukang masaknya. Itu aja kalo komersil beneran sudah berapa coba? Nah kita foodieblogger? Jd tukang masak ndiri!
BIAYA bayar Food Stylist. Apa yang dibayar buat seorang food stylist? Konsep, kekreatifitasannya untuk menyuguhkan masakan supaya terlihat cantik dan layak jual. Kemudian, food stylist butuh apa? PROPERTI PEMOTRETAN! Duit lagi yang berarti "biaya produksi" bertambah lagi. Kita foodblogger? Menjadi food stylist sendiri dengan memikirkan konsep pemotretan yang butuh mikir dan menuntut kekreatifitasan kita. Properti? Kita beli sendiri! Uang kita sendiri? Ya iyalaaah.... Kurang apa coba?
BIAYA bayar photographer. Gak main-main! Gak semua orang bisa mengambil angle foto yang pas untuk menghasilkan foto yang bagus. Photographer butuh apa? Kamera dan tetek bengeknya yang harganya bisa jutaan bahkan puluhan juta. Belum lagi ngedit-ngeditnya. Kita foodblogger? Jd photographer bagi masakan kita sendiri. Jd editor photo kita sendiri (tenaga dan pikiran bo'). Peralatannya nyewa? Ya NO lah yaaaa.... Kita MODAL lah.

Nah... Monggoooo, silahkan deh itu semua diitung-itung kira-kira untuk menghasilkan SELEMBAR FOTO AJJAH biayanya berapa. Nah kenapa selembar foto makanan harganya bisa sampek ratusan ribu bahkan jutaan? Yah karena itu tadiiiiiiiiiii......... Buat biaya dan bayar pihak-pihak yang terlibat dalam proses produksi: Biaya produksi (bahan mentah, alat masak, properti pemotretan, dan masih bisa merambah biaya hal lainnya), gaji tukang masaknya, gaji food stylistnya, dan gaji photograpernya. Dan juga hal-hal lain yang harganya lebih "mahal" daripada itu "kekreatifitasan" dan "skill". Dan untuk kami foodblogger? Kami merangkap semua profesi itu. Semua biaya itu kami tanggung sendiri. Jadi bagi yang mengambil foto-foto kami tanpa ijin bahkan menghilangkan identitas kami sebagai pemilik foto, SUDAH BERAPA BANYAK BAHKAN JUTA YANG ANDA RAMPAS DARI KAMI????? *emosiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!

Belum lagi lika-liku yang mewarnai perjalanan kami dalam menghasilkan SELEMBAR FOTO AJA itu. Bagi foodblogger yang sudah menjadi ibu rumah tangga, perjuangan itu tidak mudah. Karena mereka harus direcoki krucils saat proses pembuatan, harus pintar2 bagi waktu, harus cuci piring dan peralatan masak sendiri (means kalo di komersil ada tambahan "biaya produksi" buat yang cuci piring). Belum lagi saat kami bela-belain hunting properti, photography book, recipe book, de el el, kita *saya* harus rela bahkan gak milih beli baju baru atau jajan karena kepengen beli properti motret yang unik. Nah saya tinggal di kos-kosan, dapur ada di lantai bawah ujung selatan bangunan sedangkan lokasi pemotretan ada di lantai atas ujung utara. Saya harus capek-capek lari-lari naik turun tangga kejar-kejaran dengan sinar matahari supaya dapat foto bagus. Saya dan food blogger lainnya sampek bela-belain bikin studio odong-odong sebagai tempat pemotretan, sampek ada yang bela-belain bikin reflektor home made, stereofoam dll untuk penunjang proses pemotretan masakan kami. Kalo ada yang nyomot foto kami dan sengaja menghilangkan WM (watermark) kami, kurang SADIS gimana lagi coba kepada kami? Bahkan sebelumnya beberapa foto saya dan teman-teman juga dibajak dan diterbitin di buku resep. Si penerbit gak perlu pusing-pusing mikirin biaya produksi dan gaji orang yang terlibat di dalamnya yang seabreg tinggal comot sana-sini dan tiba-tiba Voila! nerbitin buku trus dapat untung. Kurang dirugikan kayak apa lagi para foodblogger ini? :(. Ini kasus sebenernya udaaah jamaaaaan dulu, sebenernya dah males saya.

Di cover dua buku atas sebagian besar hasil nyopet dari teman-teman food blogger, terutamanya foto dan masakan karya Mbak Ayin dari A.G's Food

Ini foto-fotoku yang diambil dan diilangin WMnya:

Link Nasgorku: http://bonitofood.blogspot.com/2009/05/grey-fried-rice-failed-black-fried-rice.html

Link Nasgorku: http://bonitofood.blogspot.com/2009/04/nasi-goreng-makaroni.html

SEDDIHHH T_________T

"Kalo fotonya gak mau dicuri ya gak usah susah-susah bikin foto yang bagus dong mbak...Ngapain mau repot-repot dan capek-capek kalo ujung-ujungnye foto bakal diambil tanpa ijin?" Kalo ada yang tanya gitu... Well, bagi kami foodblogger memang ada kepuasan tersendiri bagi kami untuk bisa menantang diri sendiri dalam menghasilkan karya. Bahkan kadang-kadang kami sampai rela mengalahkan rasional kami untuk mengumpulkan barang-barang "aneh" untuk properti pemotretan kami. Kami mencoba melakukan yang terbaik dalam menghasilkan foto dan bahkan tampilan blog untuk menyenangkan pembaca kami. Dan kami senang untuk berbagi dengan karya kami. TAPI: "berbagi" disini maksudnya bukan untuk seenaknya dicomot tanpa ijin. Kami meng-upload foto dan resep di blog bukan sebagai "supplier" bagi oknum tidak bertanggungjawab untuk tinggal seenaknya aja copas conten blog kami dengan menghilangkan WM pada foto atau tidak menyertakan link ke blog kami lalu me-re-post conten milik kami dan diaku miliknya dengan tujuan untuk mendapatkan keuntungan. Kalo itu sih si oknum yang ERROREJING. Mbok kalo mau sok nyiber (cyber) itu ya educate themselves dulu lah. Jadi kalo ada tulisan: "You are NOT allowed to use them for any purposes without her permission. PLEASE ASK FIRST!" itu bener-bener ngerti artinya, bukan ngerti arti literalnya saja, tapi juga memahami makna yang sebenarnya. Jangan sampek jadi Cyber Criminal, hiiiiiii!!!

JADIIIIIIII.......... Stop Copas Konten dan Foto Foodblog!!! Mari kita perangi KETIDAKADILAN ini! Kita mendo'akan kalo masih ada oknum-oknum seperti itu semoga cepat tobat (walaupun kayaknya susah, semoga kebebalan mentalnya luntur dan segera insyaf agar selamat dunia akhirat :D). Kalau mau cari rezeki itu caranya mbok ya harus yang jujur dan bener dong yaaaa, gimana mau berkah kalau men-sadis-i orang lain :)

Wassalam.....

Blooming Pink Flowers Bento - Bento Contest by Cooking Gallery

2011-12-18T02:32:00.000-08:00

So happy, this morning I had a great time making bento as my entry for a Bento Contest conducted by Cooking Gallery :)). 'Til yesterday, I actually had no bento idea to come up with. Then, when I was in supermarket yesterday, I saw some fresh daikons and I got a great idea to make flower-themed bento from daikon. Yup, the flower idea was inspired by the the 2nd prize set offered by the contest; I really want to win them *crossed fingers ;D*. I was initially going to make lotus flower, but I found out that it was more difficult. Then I did what I could do by making those pink flowers you can see from the picts. I named them Blooming Pink Flowers :))

For the flowers, I thinly sliced daikon *not perfect yet: need a lot of practice and a sharp knife of course* then soaked the slices for about two hours in a cool cooked water colored with red dragon fruit juice added with some sugar. Bentolicious inspired me for this natural coloring method, thanks a lot for the tip Mbak Lia ^^. Later, I found out that my daikon petals were tasteless (little bit sweet) and fresh. No problemo to eat that raw fresh thinly sliced daikon petals :D. They were crunchy and fresh! I pinned the daikon petals with raw pasta to unite them to make a flower. For the leaves, they were made of local cucumber peel. The fact that I love about our local cucumber is it has unique green color tinge on its peel. So, when I made it as the leaves, it looks like that the leaves have special green color pattern :D. While for that yellow thing in the center of the flowers, it was from egg yolk of a hard boiled egg.

For the side dishes, I had salmon teriyaki with orange zest, vegetable salad with mayo and lemon dressing, home-made tempeh and tofu nugget, and boiled brocolli. I made an experiment with the salmon teriyaki; I added the sauce with orange zest and it turned out really great. I can say that it's the best salmon teriyaki that I ever had (I'm not exaggerating, I'm just telling what I experienced). For the salad, it was made from julienned carrot, thinly sliced cabbage, sweet corn kernels, and small diced cayenne pepper (to adjust my Indonesian palate ;D) with mayo and lemon dressing. It's rainy season here, the air is really hot before the rain is finally dropped. So, I chose to have fresh watery fruits: orange, kiwi, and watermelon :D. Heaven!

And... this is my entry for the contest. I'm so happy to take a part and thanks a lot CG for such a fun and great bento contest :D

Yummy Curry-ized Bento :)

2011-12-16T04:12:00.000-08:00

A very quick bento post for today :)). Yes, tomorrow is Saturday; I've planned to go for grocery shopping. Then.... having a great time cooking and bentoing on Sunday, yeayy!!! Yup, now I can only do bentoing on Sunday. Today's bento is not a charaben. My favorite recent trend of making bento is non-charaben; one of the reasons is because I don't have much time to make charaben ;D

This bento features boiled broccoli-beef sausage-quail egg, sauteed julienned carrot in curry seasoning, buna shimeji-wood ear fungus-boneless chicken curry, and tamogoyaki with chopped wood ear fungus and broccoli seasoned with curry paste. Yes, almost everything is curry-ized :D.

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

[IFP] November Round Up

2011-12-13T00:45:00.000-08:00

I’m back!!! Yes, I’m back! :D. Yet, have no idea when I will be back to blogging again :(. Hopefully sooner :D. Frankly speaking, I always hate to write an excuse explaining the reason behind my “absence” for couple of weeks from blogging sphere. I was totally occupied with everything dealing with graduation day. I DID work my tail off. As a result, a few days after the graduation, I was totally knocked down by fatigue accumulation plus severe flu and cough. I miss blogging, I miss buying fresh vegetables in the morning market, I miss cooking, I miss messing up a closet kitchen in my boardinghouse, I miss bentoing, I miss taking photograph of my cooking, I miss dating with Mr. Photoshop T_________T

But anyway, I’m so grateful that now I’m feeling better and coming up with this November IFP (Indonesian Food Party) Round Up :D. Friends, please forgive me for the late round up, I even neglected my FB for days ^^v. All I wanted to do was only sleeping for rest and recovery :).

November IFP Round Up is an Eye Candy to me, thanks all for your beautiful entries :D. As the bad news, Momon couldn’t participate as she was totally busy (Semangat Momon! :D). We also got new participants with great entries :D. Okay let’s start to explore our round up :D

Semur Betawi / Betawi-Style Semur

By Indonesia Eats

Semur is an Indonesian term for type of meat stew that is processed in thick brown gravy. Shallot, garlic, kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), nutmeg are the main ingredients. Semur word is derived from a Dutch term of Smoor which is basically a food that is boiled with tomatoes and onions slowly. Some recipes will call for other ingredients such as candlenuts, salam (Indonesian bay) leaves, cloves, cumin, and coriander. It depends on which area that the semur comes from. Semur Betawi is originally from Jakarta; it was named after the ethnic group of Jakarta, Betawi. Water buffalo or beef is the common ingredient to be used for Semur Betawi and it is served with lontong (Indonesian rice cake with cylindric shape).

Sop Kaki Kambing Jakarta / Jakarta Style Goat Feet Soup

By Indonesia Eats

Unlike other Indonesian creamy soups (known as gulai or curry based soup), Sop Kaki Kambing Jakarta is enhanced with dairy milk; using evaporated milk or heavy cream is the best one to make this soup. In this recipe, Indonesia Eats also substituted the goat feet for lamb feet. Sop Kaki Kambing Jakarta always reminds Mbak Pepy of her late dad who introduced this soup to her and her brother. Thou they resided in suburban of Surabaya, her dad often brought them to enjoy this soup in Surabaya.

Apang Gula Merah

By Tika Hapsari Nilmada of Cemplang Cemplung

Apang Gula Merah is a traditional snack from Manado, North Sulawesi. It’s usually served on Takir (Pandan leaf cups). As making Pandan leaf cups is quite challenging, Tika played simple by using paper cups :). Apang cakes or kue apang is usually cracked on its top surface due to steaming process. The use of coconut sugar mixed with spekoek powder gives a special flavor and wonderful aroma; sweet and fragrant. Spekoek creates the wonderful aroma as it is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and clove.

Balado Sambal / Indonesian Chili Sambal

By Elieslie of Give Thanks

Most Indonesians love spicy food. It’s no wonder that in BBC’s 50 Food Indonesians Can’t Live Without, Sambal (Chili Sambal) occupies #1 :)). Sambal Balado/Balado Sambal is one among Indonesian favorite sambals. Balado sambal is so fertile that we can use it as a base spice paste to cook various ingredients with. Just like what I have said before, we love to balado-ize everything :)). Balado is a great cooking rescuer; with only one sauce, we can prepare different kind of dish everyday! This chili sauce recipe is passed down from generation to generation in Indonesia. Sometimes the daughter will add more spice or maybe the granddaughter will lessen some spice but the most basic ingredients of balado sambal are shallot, chili, and tomato puree sautéed together with the addition of sugar and salt to taste. You can add a hint of Asian spice if you prefer your balado sambal has a fragrant aroma just like this one, or maybe you can add tamarind or even dried shrimp paste (terasi/belacan) to create a different kind of taste.

Prawn Balado / Indonesian Spicy Fried Prawn

By Elieslie of Give Thanks

This Prawn Balado is one of Elies’ Indonesian traditional dish creations made with the previous balado sambal as the base sauce. This Balado dish is special since she added Petai, the super smelly bean ;p. Many people here (especially girls) hate Petai for its “yikes” odor, even Elies herself ;p, but don’t count me in - I LOVE Petai :)). As a wise suggestion from Elies: Just be sure don't kiss anyone after you enjoy this dish, LOL :P

Sate Lilit Bali / Balinese Fish Satay

By Elieslie of Give Thanks

I think when someone says "Indonesia" that will remind him/her of one of the most beautiful islands, Bali! Bali is well known for its beautiful landscape, beaches, culture & of course... Food! One of the most popular traditional Balinese dishes is Fish Satay or well known as Sate Lilit in Indonesia. This authentic satay is prepared with most known Indonesian spice and herb. This fish satay uses lemongrass stalk as the skewer that gives fragrant aroma when it’s being grilled. Yummm…..

Otak-Otak / Indonesian Fish Cake with Spicy Peanut Sauce

By Elieslie of Give Thanks

Otak-Otak is one of Indonesian famous snacks often served with spicy peanut sauce. Since Elies’ husband and her oldest son love this snack so much, she learns to make it at home. The original version of otak-otak is wrapped in banana leaves and grilled and then served with spicy peanut sauce which stands up the taste of this fish cake.

Klappertaart / Coconut Tart

By Yulyan Parwati of Cooking with Love

In Indonesia, Klappertaart (Coconut Tart) is known as the iconic dessert from Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi and the second largest city in Sulawesi. Yet, Klappertaart is not native to Indonesia. The recipe was brought by the Dutch during their occupation there. But nowadays, Klappertaart is now widely spread in major cities in Indonesia, including Bandung. Klappertaart’s basic ingredients are coconut, flour, milk, butter and eggs. There are two methods in baking Klappertaart: When the recipe uses pieces of bread and then baked, the result will be a dense cake that can be cut as regular cakes. But it can also be baked au-bain-marie, and the result is a soft-textured custard that melts in your mouth. This soul food dessert is always best when served cold.

Opor Ayam / Chicken Opor

By Ida Chairunnisa

Opor Ayam is very well known in Indonesia. Some call it Javanese Chicken Curry. Yes, it’s especially from Central Java. However, this cuisine has also been widely known in other Indonesian areas. It’s a staple dish for Ied celebrations best enjoyed with Ketupat (Indonesian rice cake wrapped in young coconut leaves) and sometimes with Sambal Goreng Ati (beef/chicken liver in sambal). Opor Ayam is actually chicken stew cooked in coconut milk plus a variety of spices like lemongrass, kencur (kaempferia galangal), and so on. Nowadays, Opor Ayam is a common Indonesian daily cooking. In a morning Sunday market in our campus or morning traditional market, my friends and I love to buy and enjoy it with Serundeng (toasted seasoned shredded coconut) and Sate Telur Puyuh (Quail egg satay). Sometimes, I enjoy it with porridge and shrimp crackers :)).

Pangsit Singkong Telur Puyuh / Cassava and Quail Egg Siomay

By Ida Chairunnisa of Be Here with Me

Siomay (also Somay), is an Indonesian steamed fish dumpling with vegetables served in peanut sauce. It is derived from Chinese Shumai. It is considered a light meal that is similar to the Chinese Dim Sum. It is traditionally made from tenggiri (wahoo) fish meat. Sometimes other types of seafood such as tuna, mackerel, and prawn also can be used to make siomay. Other complements to siomay are steamed cabbage, potatoes, bitter gourd and tofu. Siomay is cut into bite size pieces and topped with peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chili sauce and a dash of lime juice. Indonesians love siomay! It can be found in street-side foodstalls, travelling carts, bicycle vendors, and restaurants. Siomay was influenced by Chinese Indonesian cuisine. However Chinese Indonesian siomay usually served not with peanut sauce, but in sweet-sour and spicy chili sauce. Siomay has been incorporated into Indonesian cuisine for a long time, and the most famous variety is Siomay Bandung. For this entry and to adjust with the local taste, Mbak Ida substituted the stuffing with local ingredient, cassava. I think this modification is very creative and sounds yummy (even with the addition of hard boiled Quail egg :D). I can imagine the taste when it is enjoyed with traditional peanut sauce, uhm…. Yummmeeee ^^

Soto Udang Bihun / Shrimp and Vermicelli Soto

By Tata Bonita aka Yunita Rahmasari of Bonita's Cooking and Bento Wonderland

As I had written before on the previous post, Indonesia has so many kinds of Soto. Different places have their own Soto specialty just like Soto Madura, Soto Banjar, Soto Blora, Soto Padang, Soto Betawi, Soto Mahakam, Soto Lamongan, Soto Pekalongan, Soto Bandung, etc. Not to mention, the various ingredients used, the serving method, and the spices used do enrich the variations of Soto in Indonesia. The most popular one is Soto Ayam (Chicken Soto) and my most favorite ones are Soto Ayam and Soto Madura. For November’s IFP, I have my own Soto creation, Soto Udang Bihun (Shrimp and Vermicelli Soto), using instant basic spice for Soto Ayam ;D

Some friends have already submitted their entries for December IFP, thanks a lot :D :D. Please happily wait for December IFP Round Up on January 2012 :D. Happy Holiday!

[IFP] Soto Udang Bihun - Shrimp and Vermicelli Soto

2011-11-20T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! So glad that finally I can post my entry for Indonesian Food Party (IFP). Spare time for blogging is recently a luxurious thing for me. Yes, again, teaching, teaching, and teaching :D. Okay Tata, no more babbling, let's directly go to the main topic ^^. I have Soto Udang Bihun (Shrimp and Vermicelli Soto) for today's post. As I had written before on the previous post, Indonesia has so many kinds of Soto. Different places have their own Soto specialty just like Soto Madura, Soto Banjar, Soto Blora, Soto Padang, Soto Betawi, Soto Mahakam, Soto Lamongan, Soto Pekalongan, Soto Bandung, etc. Not to mention, the various ingredients used, the serving method, and the spices used do enrich the variations of Soto in Indonesia. The most popular one is Soto Ayam (Chicken Soto). My most favorite Sotos are Soto Ayam and Soto Madura.

My aunt loves to bring me fresh Soto Ayam spice paste everytime she visits me. Sometimes she buys it from traditional market or she makes it by herself. As I live in a boardinghouse and cook for myself, that Soto spice paste is a good friend for speedy cooking :D. I love to soto-ize some cooking ingredients such as tofu, tempeh, and potato. I sometimes add Soto spice paste to my omelet and I even made Soto rice that I enjoyed with Camarones en Salsa ^^.

When I run out of my Soto spice paste, I love to buy the instant one in the supermarket :D. For my Soto Udang Bihun, yes, I used the ready-to-use Soto Ayam seasoning mix that you can see from the picture below. As for the ingredients used, the combination was my imagination. I replaced the common ingredients of Soto Ayam with my own favorite ingredients ^^. I added fresh bruised lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves to give more fresh fragrant aroma to the soup. To make your own Soto spice paste, you can refer to this link; click English for the English recipe version.

Soto Udang Bihun

Ingredients:
Ready-to-use Soto spice paste
Bruised lemongrass
Kaffir lime leaves
Vermicelli/Sohun Vermicelli, soak in hot water for about 10 minutes
Medium shrimp, remove the dirt and rinse well
Bean sprouts, blanched
Fried diced potato
Hard boiled egg
Crispy fried shallot, chopped green onion and celery for sprinkle
Red tomato, quartered

Method:
Add shrimp to boiling water to make the stock. Remove shrimp from the boiling stock when the shrimp is done. After that, add in the Soto spice paste, kaffir lime leaves, and bruised lemongrass. Continue boiling the stock. Taste the Soto soup, you may need to add a pinch of salt or sugar to adjust your palate.A few minutes before you turning the heat off, add in again the shrimp with tomato and knotted green onion. Arrange vermicelli in a bowl and top it with blanched bean sprouts, quartered hard boiled egg, shrimp, fried diced potato, and fresh quartered tomato. Pour the Soto soup and don't forget to sprinkle your Soto with crispy fried shallot and chopped celery and green onion. You can also enjoy it with shrimp crackers and chilli sambal :D

So, this is it! We are waiting for your IFP entry ^^

Sisters in Kimono Bento

2011-11-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

友人私のハロー！お元気ですか？Yūjin watashi no harō! Ogenkidesuka? Hehehe, I love to have fun with Google translate ;D. Ahey! It's time for bento post ^^. Today's bento post is Sisters in Komono Bento. Those girls are Tata-chan (purple) and Sari-chan (red) :D. This charaben actually belongs to my old bento creation. My bad: when I make new bentos, I forget to post my old bentos ;p. In my old bento collection, I also made bentos with Hina Matsuri and Koinobori themes; hope I will not forget to post them hehe.

I made the girls' head from egg tofu and Kimono from egg sheet and the red part of imitated crab stick. I wish I could make a good smooth egg sheet at that time, but I think my non-smooth egg sheet added special fabric effect on the purple Kimono hehehehe ;D. The red and purple flowers spread over the rice were made of baby corn colored with food coloring. Yes, I added the ribbons and smiles by CS2 ;p.I had boiled sweet corn-broccoli-mushroom (forget the name, Shitake or something?), rolled crab stick and egg sheet, spicy boneless fried chicken, and two cute cucumber slices enjoyed with sweet brown sauce placed in another container. For the fruit, I had manggosteen, Balinese grapes, and kumquats. I had to eat the manggosteen after taking the photo since the color turned out ugly due to air exposure T____T

Next post is for my IFP entry, don't forget to submit yours friends :D. For you who had sent your entries, THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!! :D :D :D

October's IFP Round Up

2011-11-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

Yeayyyy!!!! Here you are the round up of October’s IFP (Indonesian Food Party). From 2 to 3, and now from 3 to 12 entries... It’s a great pleasure to see many of my Indonesian food blogger friends posting more about Indonesian food. I’m so excited! Gadzillion thanks to everyone who had participated in this foodie event :D *hugs. Momon and I really appreciate your participation and happily wait for your next participation for November’s entry ;D. Here, I also want to say really sorry for coming little bit late for the roundup since I had to go back home to celebrate Idul Adha with my family and attend a wedding; and when I just wanted to post the round up, the internet connection was just... Aaarrrggghhh, slower than a snail *Indonesians know well what I mean.

Okay, let’s go back to IFP business. October’s round up is such a wonderful feast to my eyes. Sweet, savory, and spicy foods color the round up. The entries do add new insight to me; I now know some traditional snacks about that I didn’t know before. Besides, getting new friends is a special sweet bonus :D. We do hope that there’ll be more participants and through this event more foodie bloggers will know each other better :D. Let’s explore the diversity of Indonesian culinary. This foodie event is open for everyone from every nook of the world. Yes, cooking unites us all! ^^

Keep reading and scroll down to see more details on the entries!

Sate Lapis Singkong by Ike Kartika Hermawan of Pawon Ike

This colorful cassava cake with grated coconut flesh on bamboo skewer does bring me to my chilhood memory where my grandma used to buy me this traditional snack from morning traditional market. Ah, I can remember well my happy facial expression when my grandma gave the snack to me; what a big smile added with a wow look :D. Thanks Teteh Ike for bringing me back to that sweet memory ^^

Kue Lumpur by Chizzy Hidayat of Chizzy’s Life

Kue Lumpur literally means “mud cake”. It is a common cake type served at many occassions. Different from many, I love to enjoy this smooth cake after being saved in fridge for some hours. The cold, smooth, and firm texture of the cake after being fridged just gives me a unique sensation of Kue Lumpur which is different from the usual one ;p. For her entry, Chizzy came up with two different colors of Kue Lumpur, yellow and green.

Soto Kudus by Tika Hapsari Nilmada of Cemplang Cemplung

Indonesia has numerous kinds of Soto (kind of soup). Different places have their own Soto specialty. With her beautiful food styling and photography, Tika came across with Soto Kudus. Kudus is a town of Central Java province. Soto Kudus is a part of Tika’s sweet childhood memory; she used to enjoy it with her family in a restaurant in Radio Dalam. Exploring the Indonesian Soto diversity is really fun. I hope we’ll have another kind of Soto for the next entry (Count me in! I’m raising my hand :D).

Ayam Goreng Kremes by Pepy Nasution of Indonesia Eats

Sambal Bajak by Pepy Nasution of Indonesia Eats

What a perfect combination! Ayam goreng (fried chicken) and sambal (chili paste) :D. When I’m served this combo with warm fragrant steamed rice, I may not be able to stop eating eating before my tummy getting really, really full. Spicy and savory are something that just cannot be resisted ;p. When I’m home, my grandma often makes me Sambal Bajak, and I love to enjoy it simply with warm rice, blanced fresh amaranth, and fried tempeh. I also often buy Ayam Goreng Kremes in a food stall near my boardinghouse. Thanks a lot Mbak Pepy for your entries. It’s an honor to have the entries from #1 Indonesian food blogger :D. We wait for your next entries! ^^

Brownies Kukus (Steamed Brownies) by Diah Raki of Dapur Pemula 3D

Yes, brownies is absolutely not originated from Indonesian culinary. We enjoy lots of foreign cuisine that Indonesians adjusted and modified some of the ingredients, flavors, and the making method according to the local taste and cooking style. Brownies is one of them. Here, we do enjoy steamed brownies. Steaming is Indonesian popular and common cooking and baking method. I personally prefer to steamed brownies than the baked ones. The soft and moist texture of steamed brownies is just delectable :D. The most popular combination of original brownies with local taste is Brownies Pandan/Pandan Brownies (two layers: chocolate and pandan).

Kolak Pisang by Izza Zulfana of dirikudisini

It’s a must treat for fasting breaker when Indonesians are celebrating Ramadan. It is banana cooked in sweet and savory coconut milk soup. Besides banana, the other common ingredients include cassava, pumpkin, sweet potato, mung bean, sago pearl, kolang-kaling (I don’t know the English name ;p), and tape (fermented cassava). The Pandan leaf (Screwpine leaf) and carved javanese sugar/coconut sugar add the fragrant sweet for the coconut milk soup. To result clean white soup, some usually use white sugar ^^

Daging Balado by Tata Bonita aka Yunita Rahmasari of Bonita’s Cooking and Bento Wonderland

A simple and spicy culinary specialty from West Sumatra. Indonesian food based on Balado spice is numerous since Balado spice is quite fertile to be combined with any ingredients. For daily home cooking for example, we love to have eggplant Balado, chicken Balado, sunny side up fried egg Balado, fried oyster mushroom Balado, fish Balado, tofu/tempeh Balado, potato Balado, anchovies Balado, shrimp Balado, and many more (we love to Balado-ize everything :D).

Dadar Unti by Monica Adriana of Mari Bermain di Dapur

Dadar unti or rolled crepes with coconut stuffing is an entry from IFP’s co-founder, Monica Adriana :D. It is one of Monica’s favorite traditional kue/kuih. This traditional snack is made of rolled Pandan crepes stuffed with sweet grated coconut filling. I often buy this at a canteen in my campus as my afternoon snack ^^. When I’m home, I love to make the Pandan crepe then stuffed it with steamed banana and chocolate sprinkle or chocolate jam. Of course when I do that way, the name is not Dadar Unti anymore LOL :D

Onde-Onde by Nely Eka Somelia of Me Time

Say O for Onde-Onde! :D. It’s a fried ball made of white sticky rice flour dough filled with Mung Bean paste and coated with sesame seeds. It’s a popular traditional snack sold from traditional market to supermarket. Other types of Onde-Onde are the one uses black sticky rice flour and the one uses white sticky rice flour but with the addition of green food coloring and Pandan flavor for the dough. Yum.... the photo is so georgeous! It makes me crave for Onde-Onde :D

Cireng Pedas by Julia Wingantini of Chef By Accident

Super easy homey snackie. To be honest, from the all entries, this is that I want to give a try LOL. The reasons are crystal clear: the ingredients are simple and easy to get, the method is also simple, and the sauce is super hot! :D. Definitely I’m gonna make it and I bet this will be a great snack for me and my housemates when we watch tv or our favorite Korean Drama :D. Thanks for the great simple recipe Mak Jul! ;D

Lapek Bugis by Yulyan Parwati of Cooking with Love

A unique cone-shaped traditional snack from Sumatra. It reminds me of Javanese Iwel-Iwel, but Lapek Bugis has coconut milk sauce as the addition. The sticky and chewy skin made of black sticky rice flour combined with sweet and savory grated coconut flesh filling and then enjoyed with coconut sauce sounds little bit heavy yet it has made my mouth water :D

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Adha bagi teman-teman yang merayakan ^^. Are you missing my bento post? Yes, me too LOL. Wait my bento for the next post and we wait for your next IFP participation, ciao! :D

Rujak Manis Apel & Jambu Air (Indonesian Fruit Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce)

2011-10-31T03:56:00.000-07:00

Last minute... Yes, I almost forgot to submit my entry for October’s Bloghop with the theme Applelove. Talking about apple in Indonesia (especially in Malang – a Regency of East Java Province I’m living in), *according to a tourism book that I read :D* apple tree was known about the year 1908 before Indonesia proclaimed its independence. The Dutch was the first people who brought it, and reached good areas for apple growing. Batu, a district of Malang Regency, is one of them, and above all it is the most suitable. The first apple variety grown in Batu was Rome Beauty.

In my family, apples are ‘compulsory’ fruit. Mom and dad are big fans of them. They love to enjoy them freshly with the peel on or making them into fresh apple-carrot juice. My brother and I love apples too, but we are not big fans. Our parents are never tired to “poison” us to the apple love that apple dices are our loyal “snackie” friend while we are watching tv (especially soccer match :D) or studying.

When I’m visiting my aunt and uncle, apples are also something that can be easily found on the dining room’s table or in a fridge. My uncle is a vegetarian, so apples are a must :D. Some months ago when I was in my aunt’s house, I made my own simple version of Rujak Manis Buah (Indonesian Fruit Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce). The common fruits used in Rujak Manis are green manggo, pineapple, starfruit, bengkoang (jicama), rose apple, (almost ripe) papaya, and cucumber. We sometimes love to add slices of fried tofu too and enjoy our rujak manis with kerupuk (Indonesian traditional crackers, yuuuuummm ^^). For my Rujak Manis, I only used Rome Beauty Apples and Red & White Rose Apples for the salad.

For the peanut sauce, we have some variations here. Some love to add roasted peanut while some don’t. I’m included to the ones who love to use roasted peanut for the sauce :D. For me, the peanut-y flavor just adds the savory of the sauce. For the heat level of the sauce, I mostly choose for the medium one. But for my aunt, oh don’t ask, she’s famous for her “sauce from the hell”. At many times she makes me wonder with her amazing ability to bear with super hot food. When many of us judge a sauce is already hot with 3 bird eye’s chilies; the one with 10 chilies is “ordinary” for her that she can bear for 15! Even when she goes for a food stall selling rujak manis, she will bring her own chilies to be given to the seller to make her sauce in order not to make the seller bankrupt, LOL!

When I make or cook my own food, I often get difficulty to give or tell the exact measurement. I tell you, I love to use my feeling-o-meter :D. For me, cooking is not like baking. Baking needs exact measurement for the ingredients to get perfect result, while in cooking, we can add or lessen the ingredients until we get the taste that we want ;p. Here for the recipe, I don’t give the exact measurement since I only made the sauce and salad just for me hehehe.

Rujak Manis Buah

Ingredients:
Your preference fruits

Spicy Peanut Sauce:
A hand of roasted/fried peanut
Carved Javanese sugar/coconut sugar (adjust to meet your sweetness level ;p)
Bird eye’s chilies (as you like :D)
Tamarind juice (3/4 teaspoon)
A pinch of salt
A pinch of roasted Terasi/dried shrimp paste (In Malaysia it’s called “Belacan”)
Warm water

Method:
1.    Grind the bird eye’s chilies, a pinch of salt and roasted terasi, and roasted peanut in a mortar (not too smooth).
2.    Add carved coconut sugar, and then lighly pound until the ground peanut mix well with the coconut sugar.
3.    Add some warm water to the mixture until you get the desired sauce consistency (not too fluid and not too thick).
4.    Serve the fruit slices with the sauce, or you can dip the fruit into the sauce. Enjoy! :D

Happy day all! ^^

This is also my entry for idfb challenge chapter 2 by Indonesian Foodbloggerwith the theme Indonesian traditional snack ^^.

October is #applelove month!

Please join in on the #applelove fun by linking up any apple recipe from the month of October 2011. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #applelove event! The twitter hashtag is #applelove :).

Cohosted by:

Bakerstreet, Bloc de recetas, Bon a Croquer, CafeTerraBlog, Cake Duchess, Elephant Eats, Hobby and More, Knitstamatic, Mike's Baking, Queen's Notebook, Simply Reem, Skip to Malou, Teaspoon of Spice, The Daily Palette, The Spicy RD, Vegan Miam, & Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

Tamagoyaki Chicks Bento

2011-10-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Another quick bento for today :D. The characters in this bento, the tamagoyaki chicks, were inspired by one of Maki Ogawa's creations. I always get amazed by her bento creations and always wonder that she never runs out of ideas for her cute charabens ^^. Thanks Maki for the joy that you bring through your cute creations. You have inspired many moms in the world to make cute lunch for their children that has created million smiles on their faces; SUPER JOB!!! :D

Talking about that lace-y carrot flower, I made that by using metal flower-shaped cutter with another small hole/round cutter. Now, you can save the time to make it. I just bought a new helpful tool to make that cute lace-y thing; it's called Decora ^^.

[IFP] Daging Balado - Beef Balado

2011-10-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Tadaaaa!!! Here I come with my entry for October’s IFP (Indonesian Food Party). I’m a huge fan of simple recipe and… spicy recipe of course :D. Indonesians love spicy food, right? ;D. The recipe of Daging Balado (Beef Balado) I come across with today brings me the best of both worlds ^^. As my surprise, when I was exploring a host of folders of my food creation pictures, I found out that I made this Daging Balado (Beef Balado) on September 9, 2009 *oh My… More than 2 years ago*. I got the recipe from here, thanks Sexy Chef for the easy yummy recipe; love it a lot :D.

Balado is a specialty of West Sumatran culinary. Balado spice is actually like sambal (chili paste); it greatly depends on the use of chili to kick your taste buds ;p. I remember one of foodie friends says that Sumatran food, particularly the West Sumatran, is greatly based on chili and shallot for the spices ^^. Indonesian food based on Balado spice is numerous since Balado spice is quite fertile to be combined with any ingredients. For daily home cooking for example, we love to have eggplant Balado, chicken Balado, sunny side up fried egg Balado, fried oyster mushroom Balado, fish Balado, tofu/tempeh Balado, potato Balado, anchovies Balado, shrimp Balado, and many more (we love to Balado-ize everything :D). Shrimp and fried oyster mushroom Balado are my most favorites ^^. But, the most popular one in Indonesia is actually 'Dendeng Balado'. Dendeng is thinly sliced dried meat. It is preserved through mixture of sugar and spices and drying through frying process (Wikipedia). Dendeng Balado is a combination of Dendeng and Balado spice, of course ^^; it originates from Padang, West Sumatra.

Talking about the level of spiciness, this Beef Balado is not that hot for me actually. Those torn pieces of red chili on the photo were actually not as hot as they might seem. I used only cabai merah besar (In Bahasa Indonesia it’s loosely translated: big red chili). Indonesian cabai merah besar is less hot than bird eye chili. So, next time when I manage to make another Beef Balado, I have to make sure that I add a good amount of bird eye chilies LOL!

Daging Balado (Beef Balado)

Ingredients:
500 gram top side beef
600 ml water to boil
½ tablespoon of tamarind
Lime juice
Salt to season
10 shallots
8 cayenne peppers, seeded
Cooking/vegetable oil to fry

Method:
1.    Slice the meat approximately 2cm thick.
2.    Bring to boil water, the sliced meat, tamarind, and salt.
3.    After the meat slices are done and tender, turn off the heat and cool them down.
4.    Pound the meat with pestle ‘til get bruised. For a cleanliness purpose, put in the beef into a plastic bag before pounding it.
5.    Fry the bruised meat (not too crispy), set aside.
6.    Coarsely pound cayenne peppers and shallots then sauté them by adding a pinch of salt. When it is done, remove from heat. Sprinkle it with adequate amount of lime juice and add in the fried meat. Mix well.

Now talking about West Sumatra, it's one of provinces in Sumatra that I really want to visit besides Nias and Toba Lake of North Sumatra. Those places are just AWESOME!!!! West Sumatra is not only popular for its rich culinary, its dazzling traditional house architecture and natural beauty are also a heart winner. I REALLY REALLY WANT to go there, but I wish when I have that chance I have already had a DSLR to take photos of those beautiful places hehehehehe ;D

Photo credit: Google + Key Word "Rumah Gadang"

Photo credit: Google + Key Word "Ngarai Sianok"

Well buddies, we got 3 IFP entries so far in our e-mail (now is 4 including mine :D). Thanks a lot for you who have submitted your entries. We wait for the others! Fighting! q^o^p

Pink & White Usagi Bento and Heart Locket Award!

2011-10-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

A quick bento post before I come across with my entry for October's IFP :D. For you who do not know about IFP you can check this post and for you who have declared about your participation but haven't posted the entry yet, you have better been prepared (so can't wait to see your entries ;D). Well, it is a super quick bento that I didn't make manually any characters on it. My cute pink and white usagi (bunny) food picks had given me a big full-of-cuteness rescue ^^. I had blanched broccoli, tamagoyaki, little red tomato, and ikan Patin bumbu Bali (Patin fish in red spice; I don't know the English of Patin fish ;p). I arranged vertically-half-sliced chikuwa with hot and sweet sauce and white sesame seeds sprinkle and put my cute food picks for the final touch.

I'm also happy to tell you that I got a sweet award, Heart Locket Award, from a new sweet friend of mine, cookingvarieties. Thanks a lot for the award, so happy ^^. This is what I love from blogging; I can get many sweet and kind friends from all around the world. Yeah.... that's blogging power :D.

These are some rules for the award receiver:

1. If you get this award, pass it on to other 7 blogs

2. Put in the award picture in your post

3. Don't pass the award back to the award giver

4. Answer the questions below and post them in your blog

Only 2 questions, it's good to know you better :D

1. What makes you feel great about yourself?

2. Who inspires you most? Also be more specific, which qualities inspire you, in each person? You can list as many people you like.

My answers:

1. The things that me feel great about myself at many times are my creativity ;p (please pardon me for this) and my fidelity for something that I love :D

2. Ehm... Quite difficult to answer this. Many people have inspired me. But, the one who always inspires me is my beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW :D. But recently..... I let you know the ones who inspire me are Indonesian motivator Ippho "Right" Santosa and Oh Ha Ni (a character in Korean Drama, Playful Kiss ;p). For a stubborn girl like me, the reason why I like Oh Ha Ni character is clear hehehehe :D.

Okay okay... I pass this award to 7 lucky beautiful blogs in random:

1. My Little Messy and Cheeky

2. Cemplang Cemplung

3. Mama Elaine's Cooking Adventure

4. Pudding Pie Lane

5. Mommy of Twins

6. Cooking Gallery

7. Adventures of Bento Cat

Have a great day all! :D

Indonesian Food Party (IFP) - Round Up

2011-10-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

It's a relief that I finally can come up with Indonesian Food Party (IFP) Round Up. Yes, it's the round ups for August and September. Some of you maybe do not know yet about what IFP is. Well, I copied from my post some weeks ago: IFP is a special monthly foodie program that my friend, Monica Adriana aka Momon of Mari Bermain di Dapur, and I have arranged. What foodie program? Well, it is a foodie program where Momon and I will regularly post an Indonesian recipe once in a month (on the first weeks of the month). As Indonesian, both Momon and I are certainly always in love with our national food. We are always curious about them. That’s the reason why two of us make this event, we want to make our monthly foodie event as our media to know and learn more about our food. As this program is totally new that the participants are only Momon and me, we widely open the door for everyone who wants to join us and to introduce our Indonesian food that is so rich in variety from Sabang to Merauke :D. No worry about what to cook or bake, we don’t have any special theme every month - just go with your favorite recipes as long as they are Indonesian :D. As for the language, you can use English, Bahasa Indonesia, or other languages that you master ^^. We have a great expectation that many of you, especially Indonesian food bloggers, would like to join us in this foodie event :D.

Here are the rules for joining Indonesian Food Party (IFP):

Post your favorite Indonesian food recipe (cooking or baking) with the photo on the two first weeks of the month. We don't have any special theme for each month, so you can come up with any posts of your favorites, no worry :D.
Don't forget to put Indonesian Food Party's Logo with your post.
Submit your entry (photo, food name, and URL) to our e-mail at indonesianfoodparty[at]yahoo[dot]com. You do not need to mention or put a link of my blog or Momon's (as the hosts) if you do not want to. But, do let us know about your participation by sending us your entry through our e-mail :)
We'll come up with the round up on the first week of the following month :)

We wait for your participation :D

Hai semuanyaaaaaa, dan semua Indonesian food blogger tercintaaaa :D. Tata dan Momon dari Mari Bermain di Dapur ceritanya bikin acara bulanan njang disebut dengan Indonesian Food Party (IFP) looooh. Nah, apa'an tuh Ta? Jadi begini.... (hihihihi) IFP adalah sebuah foodie event bulanan dimana disetiap 2 minggu pertama dari setiap bulan Tata dan Momon bakal mendedikasikan postingan itu dengan resep masakan Indonesia. Postingannya bisa masakan atau kue-kue gituuuu, terserah mau yang mana asalkan masih Indonesia :). Usul punya usul, sebagai orang Indonesia, sembari belajar cooking dan baking trus dipostingin di blog, Tata dan Momon pingin juga lebih mengenal lebih mendalam (awas tenggelem hehe) tentang keragaman kuliner Indonesia yang kaya sekali ragamnya dari Sabang sampai Merauke :D. Kalo mendengar kata Soto, Sate, Rawon, Lemper, Gado-Gado, atau Pecel mungkin kita sudah biasa karena kita sudah akrab dengan mereka di kehidupan sehari-hari kita. Nah, bagaimana dengan kuliner Indonesia otentik yang lain yang eksotik (jiaaah bahasanye) semisal dari Aceh, Papua, atau Maluku? Naaaahhh..... Marilah kita mulai mengenal dan menggali kekayaan kuliner negeri kita yang tercinta ini :D. Kalo bukan kita yang mengenalkannya kepada dunia, SIAPA LAGI? :D (Copy Paste katanya Mbak Pepy :D). Tapi gak usah kuatir yaaaaa.... Gak harus yang eksotik, masakan sehari-hari juga will be absolutely appreciated :D. Soal bahasa juga gak perlu khawatir, Jawa, Indonesia, Inggris, Prangcis, atau yang lain yang penting jangan Alay (asli sumpah puyeng daku bacanya ;p). Soal foto juga gak usah khawatiiirrrr, kalo ada yang nanya: Ta, foto gue jeleeekkk, gak pede ah. Jiaaaaahhhh..... Pede aja kali, kalo liat foto2 awal di blog Tata juga bakal nanggis anda2 sekalian T_____T. Tata juga cuman pakek kamera poket kok. IT'S NOT about photo competition, IT'S ALL ABOUT introducing our national culinary to the world :). Gimana? Ikuuutttt Yuuukkk...... Yuuuuk, jadi duta kuliner Indonesia, sekalian mempromosikan blog kuliner Indonesia yang kece2 abis ;D. Sekalian khaaaaaannnn.... Mengeratkan TALI SILATURAHMI para foodblogger Indonesia, ngaku dehhh.... banyak yang belum kenalan kan? Padahal kita teman seperjuangan kaaan heheheeh ;D

Nah, berikut peraturannya:

Postingin resep masakan atau kue-kue Indonesia (terserah anda tercinta pokoknya mah) pada 2 minggu pertama setiap awal bulan. Sekali lagi gak usah pusing mau posting apa, kita gak punya tema khusus setiap bulannya. Terserah anda wae lah pokoknya, masakan favorit sehari-hari juga oke, asalkan teteeeeppp..... Indonesia :)
Jangan lupa yeeee buat ngikutsertakan tuh si Indonesian Food Party Logo yang kece hehehe. Kan kalo logonya lumayan kece ini jd semangat ikutan yah (ngarep.com hehe). Dooohhh... Tata sampek bergadang sampai jam 3 pagi loh bikin ni logo, apalagi pas gambar pulau-pulau dari Sabang sampai Merauke ituuu (serasa sampek juling hiks, jadi ikutan yaaaaa :D). Kenapa sampek jam 3 pagi? Karena dapet idenya pas hampir jam 1-an pagi hiks.
Jangan lupa kirim entry-nya ke e-mail kami di indonesianfoodparty[at]yahoo[dot]com beserta foto, nama makanan, dan alamat URL-nya. Kalo merasa males nyebutin link blognya Tata atau Momon sebagai admin, beneran deh, it's totally okay gak usah ditulis (soalnya ntar lama-lama bosen hehehe, I know it so well lah, soalnya Tata ndiri kadang juga ngrasa gitu hehe. Yang penting anda pasang logo dan kasih tau tentang partisipasi anda nanti kami tampilkan gambar beserta link-nya di Round Up :D)
Round Up akan kami tampilkan setiap awal minggu bulan berikutnya.

Naaaaaaahhh..... Sounds asyik kan? Ikutan yuuukkkk :D.

These are the entries of August and September IFP

1. Kue Pepe (Indonesian Thousand Layer Sticky Cake) by Monica Adriana
2. Sate Telur Puyuh (Quail Egg Sate/Satay) by Yunita Rahmasari aka Tata Bonita

For September's IFP, we are so glad to have additional participant, Yulyan Parwati with her Soto Ambengan. Thanks dear friend for your entry :D. Yulyan is a talented Indonesian foodblogger with fabulous photography skill, she also makes bentos (yeayy for her :D). Please give a visit to her beautiful blog :)

1. Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Yellow and Fragrant Rice) by Yunita Rahmasari aka Tata Bonita
2. Soto Ambengan (Eastern Java Style Chicken Soup) by Yulyan Parwati
3. Putu Ayu by Monica Adriana

Tuh kan tuh kan asyiiik bgt, pengen ikut? Yuuuuukkk...... Kita tunggu ya partisipasinya. Oke semuanya, SALAM OLAHRAGA! MERDEKA! Hehe ^^v

Happy Hen Bento

2011-10-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, yes... Pathetic me only to be able to post 2-3 for each month (and it can be done at many times only in the weekend T_____T). Teaching business has been so occupying me buddies... But, I just CAN'T neglect my dear blog and all you my dear readers and friends :D. So here I come with my Happy Hen Bento ^^. I hand molded rice to make the hen. To make the rice ball smooth, I covered it with cling wrap when I was hand molding it. The wings were made of the white part of tofu sandwich. I had fried shrimp and Shimeji mushroom and Tuna cooked in Spicy Sambal Goreng spice paste generously added with Kecap Manis (Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce); yes, I LOVE the perfect combination of spicy and sweet :D

O yea, some weeks ago I also got a sweet food pick set from dear friend, Fang Fang. Thanks a lot dear friend for the super sweet picks :D. LOVE IT A LOT!

I'll come across with the last two month IFP round up for the next post :D.

Simple Spaghetti Bento with Fresh Fruit

2011-09-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

This is what I owe to my dear friend Bunda Zahraa aka Miss Anyong (I like to call her like that ;p) of Bento si Ayah for her birthday. I bought this lovely tiffin from her facebook little bento online shop. So, she asked me to post a bento using the tiffin I bought from her as her b-day present :D. Happy belated b-day Bunda, so sorry for coming so late with the post ^^ *hugs. And.... I really love the tiffin. It's GREAT!! :D

Yes, the spaghetti is very simple. I cooked it with hot tomato ketchup, a little amount of Oregano dried flakes, and Sambal Bangkok (Well... I'm a weird cook ;p). I love Sambal Bangkok; it's hot and sweet taste with a hint of sourness is just addictive :D. I love to enjoy Sambal Bangkok with French fries, fried chicken, deep-fried tofu, or anything deep-fried ^^. Sometimes I enjoy Sambal Bangkok with fruits like Pineapple or Jicama with Kerupuk/Indonesian traditional crackers (Well, I'm also a weird eater :D).

Todos tienen un gran día! ^^

Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Yellow & Fragrant Rice) Recipe

2011-09-14T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hello sweeties! I’m extremely happy that finally I can get back to blogging again :D. I had a really good time during the previous Ied holiday. I didn’t take so many photos of food during the celebration just like I did before, instead I went to paddy field and took some photos; hope I can edit the photos sooner and share them with you all ^^.

When I posted my Tumpeng Mini and shared a little story about Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Yellow & Fragrant Rice) and Nasi Gurih (Indonesian Savory & Fragrant Rice), my friend Lyn asked me to share the recipes and now here I come! ^^. This post is also my entry for this month’s IFP (Indonesian Food Party). Momon, so sorry for coming late again and for not being able to make the logo yet ^^v. Have you done with this month’s entry?

When we look at the photo of Nasi Kuning I have here, it may remind us to the appearance of Saffron Rice. But they are different of course, Indonesians use our local rice grains and turmeric root extract to color the rice. I ever read a joke that turmeric is the poors’ version of Saffron ;p. Nasi Kuning is a typical Indonesian food often enjoyed during festival, holiday, or celebration such as birthday celebration, Ramadhan, Ied celebration, farewell party, thanksgiving, etc. For that festival and celebration, Nasi Kuning is often used to make Nasi Tumpeng, a cone-shaped dish accompanied by various Indonesian typical side dishes such as ayam goreng (fried chicken), perkedel kentang (potato fritter), telur dadar (thin egg omelet), crispy tempeh, and some garnishes like sliced cucumber, flowers made of cayenne pepper and celery. Other than for celebratory banquet, Indonesians nowadays can enjoy Nasi Kuning for breakfast menu (they can enjoy it everyday if they want to) since it is now commonly sold in the morning traditional markets or sold by itinerant food vendors.

Nasi Kuning has savory and floral aroma since it is cooked in coconut milk along with aromatic leaves used in cooking like Salam leaves (Indonesian Bay Leaves), Pandan Leaves (Screwpine Leaves), Kaffir Lime Leaves, and also another aromatic ingredient like Lemongrass. Among Indonesians themselves, we have some different versions for the recipe. Take my aunt for the example, she doesn’t like to add Pandan Leaves (Screwpine Leaves) on the recipe. But when it comes to me, I like to add Pandan Leaves and Kaffir Lime Leaves, and other aromatic ingredients :D. For this post, I took the recipe from my recipe book collection.

Nasi Kuning takes a quite long time for the cooking process, but once we get it done and ready to enjoy, it feels so worthy :D. As I live in a boardinghouse, I often take a shortcut in cooking Nasi Kuning. I cook it by rice cooker that it cuts the cooking process time a lot. But believe me, the shortcut way can’t result the delicate and original taste we can get by cooking it in the traditional method ^^. But at least, the faster way can heal my crave for Nasi Kuning when I get it in a sudden :D. Nasi Kuning is also a great ingredient to make characters with yellow color in Bento, right? :D. I made this Nasi Kuning when I was home in the previous Ied celebration, hope you enjoy today’s post ^^

Nasi Kuning
(Indonesian Yellow & Fragrant Rice)

Ingredients:
1000 grams rice, washed and drained
1500 ml of coconut milk
4-5 cm of Turmeric root, grated and get the extract
2 Pandan Leaves (Screwpine Leaves), knotted
2 Salam Leaves (Indonesian Bay Leaves)
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves
2 stalks Lemongrass, bruised
1 teaspoon of salt

Method:
1.    Soak the rice grains in water for 2 hours, drain.
2.    Steam the soaked rice grains for about 45 minutes or until half-cooked. Remove from heat.
3.    In a heavy saucepan, boil coconut milk, turmeric extract, Pandan leaves, lemongrass, Salam leaves, and Kaffir Lime leaves over moderate heat. Stir frequently.
4.    Reduce the heat then add in the half-cooked rice grains and salt into the saucepan. Stir well, cover (my grandma loves to cover it with banana leaves) , and simmer for some more minutes until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid.
5.    Remove from heat and transfer the rice into a steamer.
6.    Re-steam the rice for about 1.5 hours or until done.

Notes:
•    Indonesians love to use fresh Turmeric roots instead of turmeric powder. If you can’t find the fresh one, you can substitute it with 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder. Be sure to use mature Turmeric root to get the beautiful yellow color. But, be careful not to use excessive turmeric extract to get the desired yellow color, I’m just afraid that you will also get “so-turmeric-tasted” Nasi Kuning ;p
•    If you want to take the shortcut method by cooking it in the rice cooker, you just need to put everything into the rice cooker pot. But, don’t forget to put the appropriate amount of liquid for the rice amount that you use.
•    My grandmother and people in my hometown love to cover the rice with banana leaves before re-steaming it. It also gives aromatic fragrance to the rice. But, you can use tea towel or another dish towel if you don’t have one :D
•    If you are able, use fresh ingredients only since the delicate and floral aroma is irreplaceable ^^

Besides IFP, this Nasi Kuning is also my entry for IDFB Challenge #1: Food by Its Country of Indonesian Foodblogger group in Facebook. Yeah, this Nasi Kuning represents one of many culinary in Indonesia :D

Oya, although it’s way late, I want to say Happy Belated Ied ul-Fitr for all my muslim friends and readers. I pray that we will be endowed with many chances to celebrate many and many Ied celebrations in the future :D

Happy day! ^^

Update:

When I visited Xinmei's blog today, I'm interested in joining Blog Hop Program with this month's theme is #ricelove. Since my recent post is about rice, so I entered my post ^^. But, I did make definitely an embarrassing mistake by entering my entry for twice T______T. Anyone (the hosts) please help me to erase one of my entries T______T. For anyone of you, you can join the #ricelove fun by linking up any rice recipe from September month. And as I have copied from Xinmei's blog, don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #ricelove event :D

Co-Hosted by:

Baker Street Bloc de Recetas Bon a Croquer Cafe Terra Chef Pandita Daily Palette Elephant Eats Food Wanderings Hobby and More Knitstamatic Mike's Baking Simply Reem The Professional Palate The Queen's Notebook The Spicy Rd

Red & White Strawberry Hip Hop Pudding

2011-08-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

August is a special month for three South East Asian countries –Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia- since the three neighbors celebrate their independence in that month. Singapore comes first celebrating its independence followed by Indonesia and Malaysia. Yesterday, August 17th, Indonesia celebrated its 66th birthday. I was actually to come with red and white themed food posting on the previous day; to celebrate the Independence Day with our national flag’s theme, red and white. But since I was not in a good shape yesterday (cough, flu, and fever), I could only directly go to bed after joining morning Independence Day flag ceremony in campus that it happened me to delay posting for today. I didn’t make a bento for celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day just like I did last year. Besides I don’t do bentoing during fasting month this year, I don’t even have much time to spend for cooking in the kitchen since the activities in campus always keep me busy from morning to late afternoon. So for fasting month this year, I often buy the food instead of cooking it by myself :D

Mbak Tika, one of Indonesian Food Blogger Club members (an Indonesian foodie club in FB), arranged a special event for celebrating our national Independence Day requiring us the members to post something with red and white theme. I then remember about a hip hop strawberry pudding that I made last year with my boardinghousemates on Ramadhan month. Why is the pudding named hip hop? I have no idea; it was inspired by a pudding named hip hop whose recipe calls for the use of cute colorful jelly balls. It might be because of the jelly balls used, the pudding named hip hop, what a really cool name :D.

The story of this strawberry hip hop pudding began last year on a Ramadhan month when my friends and I looking for a simple recipe for iftar (fasting breaker) in my recipe books collection. One of my friends found a hip hop pudding recipe and was inspired by it. I then remembered that I had white agar-agar and strawberry flavored jelly powder. As we didn’t have the jelly balls, we manually made the jelly balls from strawberry jelly by using fruit baller (yes, it DID take time :D). We added a drop of red food coloring to the the strawberry jelly mixture before cooking it to make it more reddish, instead we would have pink jelly ^^. We didn’t follow the meauserement suggested by the recipe, we were only inspired by the hip hop idea.

When the strawberry jelly balls were ready, my friends cooked the white agar-agar with water mixed with white milk and added it with sugar and a pinch of salt. Before turning off the heat, we added soaked biji selasih (Selasih seeds/Chia seeds) to the agar-agar mixture and stirred it well. After done, we poured the agar-agar mixture into a pudding mold. We waited for minutes until the pudding cooling down (but still in the liquid form and not solid yet) before we put in the jelly balls into the pudding. After becoming solid, we put the pudding in a refrigerator and got a very nice slice of sweet hip hop pudding for iftar ^^. We were happy! :D

Happy 66th Birthday my beloved Indonesia!

It’s always my pride to be part of you ^^

Saté Telur Puyuh (Quail Egg Saté/Satay)

2011-08-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! How are you? It’s so great to see you all again :D. Through this post, I want to tell you about a special monthly foodie program that my friend, Momon of Mari Bermain di Dapur, and I have arranged. What foodie program? Well, it is a foodie program where Momon and I will regularly post an Indonesian recipe once in a month (on the first week of the month). For Momon, I’m really sorry for coming way late. This week was pretty crazy for me (main issue deadline and taking care of my mom who had been hospitalized *gadzillions thanks to Allah, she’s fine now :D).

As Indonesian, both Momon and I are certainly always in love with our national food. We are always curious about them. That’s the reason why two of us make this event, we want to make our monthly foodie event as our media to know and learn more about our food. As I’m a baking dumb-dumb while Momon is really good at baking, my task is to post something “cooking” while Momon’s will be something “baking” hehehe :D. But it doesn’t mean that I will always post something cooking and Momon’s will be something baking; we can come up with any Indonesian food recipes that we have cooked or baked ^^. As this program is totally new that the participants are only Momon and me, we widely open the door for everyone who wants to join us and to introduce our Indonesian food that is so rich in variety from Sabang to Merauke :D. No worry about what to cook or bake, we don’t have any special theme every month - just go with your favorite recipes as long as they are Indonesian :D. As for the language, you can use English, Bahasa Indonesia, or other languages that you master ^^. I want to name this foodie program --> “Indonesian Food Party” (IFP); but I need to ask Momon about it first since we have not discussed ‘bout it yet ;p (hope she’ll like it ^^). I think I also want to make a logo for this foodie event LOL! We have a great expectation that many of you, especially Indonesian food bloggers, would like to join us in this foodie event :D.

As the maiden recipe post for our Indonesian food program, I come across with simple Saté Telur Puyuh (Quail Egg Saté/Satay) recipe. In Indonesia, Saté is not only about grilled meat on a bamboo skewer. We love to call every food arranged on bamboo skewers (from meat to vegetables) as Saté ^^. Saté Telur Puyuh is one of popular side dishes in Indonesia that we can easily find them sold by street food hawkers to big restaurants. Saté Telur Puyuh is also traditional accompaniment to Soto Ayam (Javanese Chicken Soup). The kind of spice bases used for Saté Telur Puyuh itself are many - from the more complicated yellow/red spice bases to the super simple one just like the one I come up with today :D.

I also submit this post for another foodie event by Indonesian food bloggers, Masak Bareng Yuuk!!! (Let’s Cook Together!!!) with the theme “Food for Birthday Celebration”. As you can see from the pict above, I enjoy my Saté Telur Puyuh with a mini set of Tumpeng Rice with some other side dishes. The set I come up with is my very own humble and homey version, not like the common Indonesian festive one for celebrations. Tumpeng rice set is one of common traditional dishes prepared for celebrating birthday in Indonesia. For the Tumpeng (the cone-molded steamed rice) is mostly made of Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Yellow Fragrant Rice) or sometimes Nasi Gurih (Savory and Fragrant Rice). In my post case, I come up with the latter :D. I made this mini Tumpeng set for celebrating my aunt’s birthday some months ago. She loved what I made for her and enjoyed my very humble gift of simple everyday cooking for her birthday :D. For the quail egg saté/satay, I used the basic spice for Semur (Indonesian sweet soy sauce based stew).

Sate Telur Puyuh
(Quail Egg Sate/Satay)

Ingredients:
24 quail eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
2 cloves garlic, ground
3 shallots, ground
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2-3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
250 ml water
Salt (and sugar) to taste
Cooking oil to saute

Some Bamboo skewers

Method:
1.   Saute ground shallot and garlic until fragrant.
2.   Add in water, ground white pepper and nutmeg, sweet soy sauce, salt and sugar. Stir well.
3.   When the water is heating, add in quail eggs and cook the eggs over low medium heat until you get brownish color on the eggs.
4.   When it’s done, turn off the heat and cool down the eggs.
5.   Arrange the eggs on bamboo skewers (3-4 eggs for each skewer).
6.   Enjoy! ^^

Please check out what Momon has for you on her sweet blog :D

Hello Kitty Loves Berries Bento & Ramadhan Mubarak!

2011-07-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

I spent the last weekend for a fun out bound with all my workmates in Coban Rondo - Batu; I have edited some photos and will be happy to share them with you all on the next two post. For today's bento post, Hello Kitty theme is in the air to make you happy :D. This bento is inspired by akinoichigo's book. The HK is easy peasy to make, you just need to hand mold warm rice then decorate it with nori cutouts, sweet corn kernel for the nose, and ribbon food pick. HK's friends are chopped button mushroom and beef omelet, beef sausage flowers, blanched broccoli, and chicken fingers. As in this bento case HK loves berries a lot, she brings her berry buddies: strawberries, blueberries, yellow raspberries, and red currant berries.

And in this great opportunity, I want to say "Ramadhan Mubarak" for all my Moslem friends and readers. May the holy month will be the one endowed you with Allah's forgiveness, gratitude of Allah's blessing, and the courage to always be a better person. InsyaAllah :D

Sandwich, anyone? (My Bento Idea is in a Craft Book :D)

2011-07-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

Do you miss me? Or miss my post? Ahahah ;D. Well, as my latest facebook status, yes, I’ve been being attacked by blogging and bentoing blues. I didn't make any bentos and was kinda lazy to post many of my ready-to-post bento picts. But if I wanted to bring lunch, sandwiches like these were the only thing that I could come up with. These simply yummy sandwiches were perfect for my lunch that I love to pair them with yogurt or plain milk. Sandwich, anyone?

Yesterday morning when I reorganized my book collection on my bookshelves, I found a craft book about making food miniature from felt fabric that one of foodieblogger friends, Nursaadah (I call her Bunda Nunung) of Cozy Corner, sent to me about a year ago. A year ago? That’s a very long time, eh? So sorry Bunda for my carelessness, I forget to post it for a very long time ^^v. The craft book is written by Bunda Nunung and Mrs. Dewi. Bunda Nunung is a writer of many best-seller recipe books published by some notable Indonesian book publishers. I love her works, and some of my collections of her books are Padupadan Menu Nasi Kotak and Hidangan Soto Khas Jawa Timur.

The craft book’s title is Membuat Miniatur Makanan dari Kain Felt (Food Miniature Creations from Felt Fabric). The thing that makes this craft book is so special to me is that one of this book’s miniature food creations features a bento theme of my bento creation. When Bunda Nunung was on progress doing this book project, she asked my permission to use my bento idea for her craft book. Since Bunda is one of my nicest friends that always supports and encourages me for my love of bento making, and that I just knew that she wouldn’t do something that creates disadvantage for my ideas or creations, of course it’s an honor for me to have one of my bento ideas is featured on her lovely craft book :D. Maybe you still remember about a kitty mouse bento I posted here? Yeah, that’s the bento idea in the book.

My Kitty Mouse Bento

Bento felt fabric creation with my bento idea :D

Photo courtesy: Bunda Nunung of Cozy Corner

The book and the author's autograph (special for me ^^)

The book has so many cute and creative ideas on making food miniature from felt fabric. As the addition, this book offers the patterns for the creations in real sizes printed out separately on paper trace. These are some of my favorites :D

I also found another neglected knitting craft book. I bought this book about a year ago since I wanted to learn knitting again. I really want to put my hands on knitting again, I miss it but I have lost my skill on it T____T. FYI, when I was an elementary student, my grandma taught me knitting and I was really good on it. But as the days went by, I just left it and now I completely forget how to do it. When I get my knitting skill back again, I want to make the creations below. I think they are so great for my bento photo props :D

See you all! ^^

Boof Bento (Suzy's Zoo Cute Brown Bear)

2011-06-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

Boof Boof Boof! Yes, please welcome one of Suzy's Zoo cute characters, Boof the brown bear! :D. I received my Suzy's Zoo bento book from Mummy Raifan some weeks before my b-day; so I considered it as a b-day present from my own hehehe. As my previous book review post on Kaerenmama's bento book, I bought this book was because of the freebies (1 bear head silicon mold, 1 bunny head silicon mold, 2 stencils, and 2 heart shaped silicon cups). The book itself is very thin and only has few bento samples. I was deeply into the bear and bunny silicon molds :D. The molds sound that they'll be useful to make a big batch of charaben without much effort. But in practice, I got difficulty in molding the rice to make Boof. Boof's face turned out great but I needed to remold Boof's perfect ears for couple of times (at many times Boof's head was resulted earless T_____T).

To make Boof's head, I mixed steamed rice with hot tomato ketchup and a drop of kecap manis. I tried to faithfully copy the Boof bento sample from the book by adding beef sausage heart and side dish from jullienned carrot hehehe, but my another side dish was different from the one in the book, I had crispy fried chicken. The only thing that created a regret on me was.... I forgot to add cheese cuouts for Boof's ears T____T

I hope Boof brightens up your day! ^^

Twin Purple Flowers Bento & Thank You! :)

2011-06-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Yes, I was paralyzed by a killing toothache on the past three days. Sooo happy, yeayyyy for the swollen cheek has gone :D. Well, some days ago I celebrated my b-day, but I didn't make a special bento for it. As the good news (for me hehehe), I still have a bento photo stock whose theme is twin, just like my zodiac, gemini :D. Through this post I just wanna say my deep gratitude to all my friends who had sent me their very kind wishes to me. Terimakasih, Thank You, Xie Xie, Syukron, Arigatou, Gamsahabnida, Gracias, Danke, Merci, Teşekkür Ederim, Takk, Tack.... :D

And... I was so happy too that finally I could find Japanese purple sweet potatoes in the town! <3 <3 <3. Japanese sweet potatoes have strong beautiful purple color, and the taste is just so sweet, love it love it love it :D. In the box: warm steamed rice sprinkled with black sesame seeds and adorned by twin purple flowers made of steamed Japanese sweet potato and yellow egg sheet and black sesame seeds, boiled broccoli-beef sausage-sweet corn, garlic shrimp, sosis Solo, and spicy grilled chicken. Yum yum!

Hey, can you find something twin in this bento besides the flowers? They may come in different sizes and colors ;D

Amaranth Greens Crackers (Keripik Bayam) - A Guest Post on Indonesia Eats! :)

2011-06-16T01:25:00.000-07:00

OMG!!!!! I was asked by Mbak Pepy of Indonesia Eats, one of the most well-known Indonesian food blogs, to write a guest post! Yes, yes, yes... Tell me, I'm so ecstatic 'bout it hehehe. I submitted my Amaranth Greens Crackers, one of my family's favorite homemade snackies, for the post. Gazillion thanks to Mbak Pepy for the chance :D. Guys, don't you wanna see the post and recipe? Please give a visit to my guest post Amaranth Greens Crackers and enjoy the insightful Indonesia Eats with gorgeous food photography . Hope you all will like it :)

Happy Kripiks Kripiks with Keripik Bayam ;p

I Heart You Bento

2011-06-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

I especially made this bento for someone's b-day some days ago actually. But I just felt so hesitate to post it and felt that the b-day one would not be happy with the bento since the one doesn't like (maybe) something cute hehe. It was so unfortunate that I couldn't give the bento to the b-day one though I really wanted to do so. Through this bento I just wanna say THANK YOU for your love and Happy B-day :D. Yeah, the girl is me, hugging the huge love ^^. Does it sound to you that I'm a huge secret admirer of someone? LOL ^^. And hey, do you love the look of sausage roses? :D

Have a great day all! ^^

Panda - Flower - Heart Bento and Awards (Again)!

2011-06-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

I'm back! I know, it's been too long from my last post. Please... Never be sick if my reason was because of teaching business. Next week is for final test and you can figure out how busy the recent days for both teacher and student are :D. Fortunately, I could still manage to "steal" time in the rush morning to make simple bento; yeah, super charaben is quite impossible for me to do except I wake up at three in the morning LOL. So, at this kind of setting, I really want to bring out the maximum utilization of my bento tools. The tools would come up very handy and time saving certainly.

I'm really happy with my new bento gadgets I got from Mummy Raifan. The tools are really helpful in creating cute yet simple bento for a rush morning. The tools are actually intended as a rice mold, but you surely can use them for another purpose like bread cutting. The rice molds come up in three different shapes: Panda, Flower, and Heart. I made the yellow heart shaped molded rice from Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Fragrant Yellow Rice) with beef floss in the center. While for the pinky flower, the pink was from sakura denbu and Serundeng (Indonesian savory toasted grated coconut) in the center. The rice mold can create a hole in the center of the molded rice as a space for the side dishes. They are also accompanied by a cute little green spoon (or scraper?) for molding the rice. Below I show some pictorials on how to make cute molded rice with the tools.

1. Put some rice into the rice mold. Make sure that you have put the right amount to get a firm molded rice.

2. Put the rice mold lid on top of the rice.

3. Well press the rice to get a firm molded rice.

4, 5, & 6. Take of the removable base, mold, and lid of the rice mold carefully.

It's deadly easy, rite? ^^

Well, as a very sweet part to end this post, I'm extremely happy to get these three awards (again :D) from one of my most supportive friends, Lyn Trinix :D. Bundles of thanks to you Lyn! hug hug hug :D. Lyn is a blogger based in Singapore and she's currently crazy in love too with bento making, please visit her lovely blog. To have Lyn as our friend is a very nice thing since she's nicer than a pie hehe ^^.

Wish you all a great day! ^^

Pretty Red-Veiled Girl Bento & Awards!

2011-05-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ciao bentoing buddies! I hope you are blessed with una splendida giornata (Is my Italian correct? Hehehe :D). Today I come up with a simple bento post and awards! Yeay! :D. Well, I'll babble about my bento first. It's a pretty red-veiled girl made of boiled quail egg wrapped in the red part of boiled imitated crab stick. I made the white ribbon on the girl's neck from white part of the crab stick and pinned it with red heart shaped food pick. Those pink blushing cheeks were added by pscs ;p. The flowers behind the girl were from pink heart shaped food picks and edamame as the leaves. The girl was in the forest of boiled broccoli, dragon fruit, tamagoyaki, and ebi furai. Soooo simple, rite? :D

And as the good news, a sweet friend of mine, CG of Cooking Gallery, has passed me 3 beautiful awards on her super cute Rilakkuma Bento post. Danke schön, CG! ^^. CG is a great cook and now she is truly, deeply, madly, and passionately in love with bento making. She's a newbie to bento, but her bento creations are just awesome (She's a professional bentoist now ;D). I'd love to give these awards to all my friends and especially my friends in our BENTO CLUB in Facebook. They are just fantastic bentoers; they always come up with creative and fresh bento ideas. So ladies, these awards are just for you! For your love and passion in bento making :D.

Auf Wiedersehen! ^^p

Curry Spaghetti Bento

2011-05-25T01:41:00.000-07:00

Do you still remember that I wrote these on my previous post here: I love curry, and I love to curry-ize everything recently - I love to have it in my omelet, fried rice, stir fry, fritters, and steamed rice (oh, steamed curry rice is sooo good :D). Then, on her comment, my dear friend Momon suggested me to make curry spaghetti. I thought it was a brilliant idea; it was a must to be given a go. And that's right, curry spaghetti is just AWESOME! Thanks a lot Momon for the idea :D. First, I sauteed ready-to-use curry spice paste and after that adding some coconut milk. Then, I added in the cooked pasta and shredded tuna, I cooked them for some minutes and let them absorbed the coconut milk. As the last touch on the curry spaghetti, I sprinkled toasted white and black sesame seeds. Besides the curry spaghetti, I also had curry flavored tuna omelet, boiled beef sausage-broccoli-tofu sandwich-chikuwa, and cute cherry tomato :D.

Some friends asked me about these cute food picks that I also used in this bento. Yes, I love these picks. I often used them when I make non-charaben :D. These picks, according to me, are often successful to give the touch of classical Japanese bento in my non-charabens :D.

Adios! ^^

Tempeh Steak & Zoo Buddies Bento

2011-05-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

As always... This week passed way too hectic for me. The weightless head still often hits me when I'm too exhausting from working (sometimes light migraine too T_T). Well, I'm typing this post while 'enjoying' my headache. So, I'm sorry if I don't babble too much in this post. I posted this tempeh steak bento some weeks ago in my FB actually, but just got the chance to post it now. This bento relies so much on the usage of cute food picks. I sometimes do regret and look poor at my neglected cute food picks collection that I seldom use. At many times I wonder myself that I couldn't resist to buy so many cute food picks, but after handing them, I just put them to rest beautifully in my organizer boxes *sigh*. So, it's the time for my cute food picks' revivification ;p. Making cute bento without much effort! That's the soul of food pick shopping, rite? ^^

I enjoyed my tempeh steak with warm steamed rice, red bean curry, and my own creation sauce with Sambal Bangkok hehehe (if you ask me what ingredients I used, I'll answer you: Hehe, I forget *while scratching my head :D*). In another box, I had some grapes, tamagoyaki, boiled broccoli-beef sausage-tofu sandwich, and a cup of extra red bean curry.

See y'all dear friends ^^

2 Kinds of Hello Kitty Sandwich :)

2011-05-16T23:31:00.001-07:00

So glad to be back in blogging again. Blogger was down for maintenance some days ago that I couldn't open my blogger account for two days. When Blogger went back to normal again on the weekend, it was me who went down for I was exhausting from busy teaching activity that I couldn't enjoy my weekend :) - weightless head often hits me in this kind of situation.

Well, for today's post I come across with a quite long tutorial post about how to make 2 types of Hello Kitty (HK) Sandwich with one tool - who doesn't love HK? Anyone of you who raises your hand I'll pinch you hehehe ^^v. Okay, the first sandwich type is the one I show you below here:

The HK tool that I used to make the sandwiches is...

To make that first type of HK sandwich, I only used the HK cutter without the facial stamper. I used the head one and used my pink food pick as the HK's ribbon. To fill the sandwich's layers, you can choose your favorite ingredients. I stuffed my sandwich with beef floss and hot tomato ketchup for the first layer, and chicken floss and mayo for the second layer. Even to make that lace-y nori, you can used egg sheet or your other favorite ingredients :D. No more babbling, let's make HK sandwich buddies! :D

1. Prepare the tools and ingredients to make the sandwich. Tools: scissors (to cut the lace-y nori and HK's whiskers), pointy sharp knife (you can also your x-acto knife), paw puncher to cut the nori eyes, HK cutter, food pick for HK's ribbon, tweezers, and chopping board. Ingredients: cheese to make HK's head, slices of bread, nori for HK's eyes and whiskers and lace-y strip, yellow egg sheet/little corn/yellow cheese for HK's nose, mayo to glue, and your favorite ingredients to stuff your sandwich.

2. Before cutting the HK's head, put the lace-y nori on a slice of bread and "glue" the nori to the bread with mayo as seen on picture number 4. Cut the cheese with HK cutter to make HK's head then put it on top surface of bread with lace-y nori and also glue with mayo (as seen picture number 4 too).

3. Cut the nori with paw puncher to make the eyes. For HK's whiskers, cut them with scissors.

4. Put HK's facial details with tweezers.

5. Stuff and pile up your sandwiches and put them in your bento box. DO be careful in sticking the food pick as the ribbon. If not, you'll get cracking HK's head T_T

6. Voilaaa!!!! HK sandwich type 1 is done! :D

You can use grass baran to fill up the narrow empty space. Lettuce or grass baran are always useful when we run out of fresh lettuce stock. Not to mention, sometimes we only need a small amount of fresh lettuce to decor our bento box, but in fact, at many times we can only buy lettuce in a big bundle package :(. It's always be my big regret when I have to waste the faded leaves. So, green baran now is a must for me - as my rescuer :D.

And now we arrive on the second type of our HK sandwich today. I will only show you how to make the top of the sandwich. While for the filling; it's once again up to you :D. For the second type, I also used a heart shaped cutter from another tool (I'll show you it later on the next post). And for this type, the HK facial stamper is also used :D. Without telling you, I'm sure you have already known about what you will need to make this second type sandwich.

1. Cut a slice of bread with a heart shaped cutter.

2. Make a HK head line by pressing HK cutter slightly. Don't put your big effort to press the bread, otherwise you'll get a real HK head shaped cutout LOL!

3. Now use the HK facial stamper on your bread.

4. Tadaaaa!!! The second type is also done! :D

You can see that this HK cutter set is so handy. Not only you can use it to cut veggies or cookies, you can also use it for other cute purposes. The only thing needed then is your imagination :D. I got these cute HK cutters and stampers from Mummy Raifan. You want to get 'em too? Here's the link of Mummy Raifan...

Happy Bentoing everyone! ^^

Yellow Birdies Bento & Kaerenmama's Book

2011-05-08T05:31:00.000-07:00

Finally I can post this Yellow Birdies Bento… Bundles of thank to Bunda Key for sending me this cute animal cutters (I’ll try to make more bentos with these tools Bunda :D). I made this bento in a late afternoon resulting a photo with it’s-not-tata’s-favorite-kind-of-light-source :(. Yeah, I used room’s light since it was already quite dark that I couldn’t get bright natural light. I don’t like to use flash and it was quite frustrating that dozens of my photos of this yellow birdies bento were blur T_T. The one that I come across with for today’s post is the best and sharpest from those dozen trials *crying again….*. I only made a simple bento with two yellow birdies made of quail eggs colored with turmeric powder in boiling water. The eyes were made of cheese and nori and nose from blanched carrot. Those green hats (do they look like bird’s hat? ;p) were made of kyuri cucumber’s peel cut with one of those cute animal cutters. To hold the birdies on the bed of rice, I used my pink heart-shaped food picks. Beside the birdies, I had a pretty flower from blanched carrot and cheese cut with fondant plunger, boiled broccoli, shredded yum yum fried tuna, cherry tomato, and buna shimeji.

Thanks Bunda Key! :D

Oya, I’m also pleased that finally I can come up with a short review of Kaerenmama’s bento book. Frankly speaking, I actually wanted to buy this book initially was because of the freebies that this book offers :D. I was dying to get the puncher since according to me the puncher would come out with great size and precise nori cutouts – and I’m totally right! :D. Not to mention, the additional gadget freebies are totally handy and very useful for bento making. I also got two pink heart and red ribbon picks and five cute cutters (sakura, heart, star, oval, and round that come in various sizes) – very great, rite? :D.

This bento book brings a lot of Japanese cute popular cartoon characters (HK, Rilakkuma, Chibi Maruko-chan, San-X characters, etc.) that are so familiar with us although we are not Japanese or live in Japan. I can’t read Japanese, but the pictorials given say louder to us :D. We are also informed about the tools we need to make the bentos. Another thing that I like from this book is that it offers quite balanced charaben ideas for girls and boys; for adults, the picnic bento ideas are also great to note in mind and then put the ideas on your own bentos :D. I think the charaben ideas of this book are also great for both bento newbie and “experienced” daily bento maker :D. The ideas are not too easy nor too difficult to copy. On some of the last pages, the readers are pampered with many useful tips in bento making such as how to make cute characters in a very simple way, how to make your own cute food picks, how to arrange good charaben, how to make bento decorations, etc. Really love this book. Aren’t you eager to add this book on your book shelves? ;p

I bought this book from Mummy Raifan, an online bento gadget shop on FB based in Singapore. If I look for certain bento gadgets that are still not available in Indonesia, she would always kindly help me to find them. She sent me this book directly from Singapore. But for my Indonesian friends, if you want to shop on Mummy Raifan with low shipping fee, you don’t need to worry about that. When she or her relatives back to Indonesia, they will bring your orders that later will be shipped in local fee from Jakarta. The only thing that you need is then… to be patient to wait little bit longer ;p. But if you want to hand your orders quickly, she surely can send them to you directly from Singapore :D. Happy shopping!

JL Bento (Jorge Lorenzo's Number 1 Bento) - Happy B'Day J-Lo!

2011-05-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Can't believe that it's the third bento I made for Jorge Lorenzo (J-Lo)... Last year, on his 23th b'day, I made him Lorenzo's Land Bento. After winning his first world champion title, I made him The 99 Bento. And now, for his 24th b'day, I come across with his JL or number 1 as the idea for the bento (J and L shape number 1). Still the same with the two previous bentos, I used nori to cover the rice for the black background. I printed out the JL picture, cut it, then used it to trace when I was cutting the nori. I then put the JL letters on cheese and cut it with tooth pick. The red part on the L letter was from the red part of beef sausage, the little star was added with PSCS ;p.

In the box: rice covered with nori, fried shrimp, fried crispy chicken, chikuwa with buna shimeji, broccoli, and cherry tomato, and star from cheese.

These are my Jorge Lorenzo themed bentos so far :D

The photos of J-Lo, Lorenzo's Land, Lorenzo's Number 99 and Number 1 (JL) are taken from Google.

Happy b'day J-Lo! Do your best for your next world champion and watch out with Dani! LOL (wink to Megan ;D). I hope this post won't make my Bie hates me hehehe >.<

Winnie The Pooh Bento

2011-04-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

I delayed to make non-cute themed bentos since one of facebook friends is in urgent that she asked me to make a bento model with Indonesian food for celebrating her son's birthday as the goodiebag. As she is quite new to bento making, I suggest her to use rice mold for the character for saving the time since making character bento (especially for many boxes) can be time consuming and "exhausting" job for a newbie hehehe. She wants to make the bento with Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Yellow Fragrant Rice). Nasi Kuning is often enjoyed with perkedel kentang (potato perkedel), kering tempe, egg sheet, sambal goreng, fried chicken, serundeng, fried vermicelli with vegetable, and cucumber. As I didn't have many time to make all of those side dishes, I only put simple side dishes that I had yesterday for the sample. For Ambu Dedi Rasya, you can put the side dishes as you wish :D. You can put fried chicken for the nugget and jelly for the strawberry :D. Inside the box: Pooh from nasi kuning shaped with Pooh rice mold, boiled broccoli, flower egg sheet, kering tempe, beef sausage, fried chicken nugget, cucumber, and strawberry. I think I'm gonna open a bento catering after this ;p

She also asked me to show her what tools going to be needed. And here is the photo of the tools I used. I love my new Pooh and Piglet food picks, sooo cute! ^^

Happy Monday everyone! :D

Yummy Garden Bento

2011-04-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

No charaben for today's post, instead I give you a yummy garden bento :D. These last few days I received my new bentoing gadgets I ordered from some online bentoshops, am so happy and can't wait to start bentoing again next week. Maybe I'll make some cool-themed bentos like SUPER JUNIOR bento and JL bento (Jorge Lorenzo's new number 1 :D) - oh can't wait ^^. I really miss making bentos with no cute themes hehe. Well, for this bento I put simple nasi goreng kecap manis (sweet soy sauce fried rice) and the others that you can guess :D

Aloha!

Yellow Chicks Bento

2011-04-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Simple yellow chicks bento for today's post. I just don't know, I really love to make chick-themed bento hehehe. FYI, I still have about 5 chick bentos in my laptop to be posted LOL. As you know, I'm a big fan of Maki Ogawa aka Luckysundae and I've been inspired a lot by her bento creations. The beaks of these cute little chicks were also inspired from Maki's creation, thanks Maki!

The chicks were made of boiled quail egg colored in boiling water added with turmeric extract. The beaks were from steamed carrot then the chicks were decorated with nori cutouts and heart shaped food picks. The side dishes were boiled broccoli, water spinach and shrimp stir fry, boiled sweet corn, grilled mackerel, and tempeh steak ball with boiled quail egg inside. The bed of rice was sprinkled by toasted black sesame seeds ^^

Happy Chick Chick my dear buddies ^^

Snoopy Bento

2011-04-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Still have no time to edit my new bento photos... Teaching activities are just going crazier day by day, and the middle test week is just around the corner. Okay, I love to visit Japanese bento blogs and look for many cute ideas, and one of those cute ideas is this quail egg Snoopy :D. I pinched the warm peeled hard-boiled quail egg with my thumb and point finger to shape Snoopy head. As usual, boiled beef sausage and fried oyster mushroom are so loyal filling my bento box. In the other box, grapes and orange slices are so happy to accompany the cute Snoopy ^^

See ya buddies! :D

Pretty Girl Bento for Miss Zee's Birthday

2011-03-30T23:57:00.001-07:00

I made this bento for celebrating my friend's birthday couple of months ago. A day before her birthday, Miss Zee told me that she wanted to have a bento. At first I had no idea about what to make and I was supposed to make her a special bento since it was for her special day; but since she told me only on a single day before, she relieved my thought by saying that I only needed to use what I had in the fridge at that time :D. I made her a simple bento with a pretty girl character representing her pretty look inspired from one of luckysundae charabens and "Zee" word made of egg sheet, cheese, and nori. The bento went with boiled beef sausage and kind of fish cake, carrot flower, boiled broccoli and fried oyster mushroom coated in spicy seasoned flour. She was thrilled with the bento that made me even thrilled to see she was so happy :D. Happy belated b'day, dear! ^^

Have a nice day my friends!
Wish you all lots of laugh, smiles, and joy ^^

Camarones en Salsa and Soto Rice

2011-03-26T23:30:00.001-07:00

Happy weekend everyone! Well, since I've been infected by bento making virus I forgot to post many of my cooking photos and recipes - you know, I've been severely suffering from bento frenzy LOL :D. Do many of you experience the same way recently? ;p.

I love to visit Kevin's Closet Cooking and look for some simple recipes. Since I heart shrimp and spicy, his Camarones en Salsa is something that should be given a try. This TexMex hot and spicy tomato based sauce meal is very quick to make. At the first time I was so curious about what TexMex cuisine is, later I found out that TexMex means Texas Mexican :D. I put the camarones (shrimp) on a bamboo skewer and enjoyed them with Soto rice; yes, Soto rice. Soto is a kind of Indonesian soup. I used the Soto spice paste for Soto Ayam/Chicken Soto (and added bruised lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves) for cooking the rice so that I made steamed rice with Soto flavor :D. So, this dish is when West meets East, and it's a perfect combination since I enjoyed it very much :D

Camarones en Salsa
Recipe from Kevin's Closet Cooking

Ingredients:
1 tsp oil
1 onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 cup tomato sauce (Tata: used combination of tomato ketchup and hot tomato ketchup)
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 tsp brown sugar (optional, to balance out the heat of the chili and the sourness of the lime juice)
1/4 pound shrimp
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (Tata: used less)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and chili powder and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the tomato sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper and mix.
5. Add the shrimp and cook for a few minutes on each side.
6. Add the cilantro and remove from the heat.
7. Arrange the shrimp on a bamboo skewer.

Happy Weekend buddies! ^^

Bear & Watermelon Bento

2011-03-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yeayyy!!! Finally I have this type of slim bento box ^^. Many thanks for a sweet friend of mine for this cool box :D. This is actually two tiers box, but in this Bear & Watermelon bento case, a single tier was enough hehehe. I'm totally in love with my maiden bento voyage with this box. On the top of the rice, I put two cute little brown bears with their beloved watermelon :D. The brown bears were made of fried tempeh and cheese. I used my "paw" Carla Craft puncher to punch the nori sheet for the eyes, while for the smile I used "happy face" Carla Craft puncher - I combined them. I love to use my Carla Craft punchers, they are so sharp and precise. Some of my friends like to ask me where I could find my CC punchers. Well, for my Indonesian bento buddies, you can be happy: Carla Craft punchers are now available in Indonesian online bento store. You can get them at Bento E-Shop (it's facebook is more update :D) or if you can't get the one that you want, Malaysia's Bentocraft also provides various CC punchers :D. Both ladies of those both online stores are very nice women that will always help you to get bento tools that you want :D.

Oh well, back on the right bento track. The watermelon was from a half slice of kyuri cucumber and red part of imitated crab stick added with black sesame as the watermelon's seeds. Hey, the pink cheeks were made with Adobe PS CS hehe (lucky me could edit this photo before my PS CS was ruined by viruses T_T). The side dishes were shrimp and bokchoy stir fry, mendol tempe, and boiled beef sausage. This bento also had boiled broccoli and strawberry :D

See you buddies! ^^

Dragonfly Bento

2011-03-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

Pink theme is back! So happy: it's Friday evening - means tomorrow no teaching, yeayyy!!! :D. Having fourteen classes in a week is definitely exhausting and less time for blogging ^o^. Well, this Dragonfly Bento is very simple. I made the dragonfly from carrot and pea pods and eyes from cheese and nori cutouts. I got the dragonfly idea from a Japanese bento blog, but so sorry I forget the name ^^v. Dragonfly's buddies: broccoli, fish cake 'orange', fried mini tuna cake, fried oyster mushroom with seasoned flour, and boiled beef sausage. For this bento photo, I used my craft magazine as the background ^^

Tata Titi Tutu Chicks Bento

2011-03-14T04:20:00.000-07:00

My favorite sentence after neglecting my blog for a long time: I miss blogging :D. Well, maybe all of you have already known about a deadly earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan. This havoc is not only Japaneses’ loss – it’s everyone’s... My deep condolence and pray go to the victims and all of Japanese people. I know it’s a big thing, as we Indonesians felt when we lost our motherland sisters and brothers on tsunami happened in Aceh about 6 years ago. Hope that the victims will be blessed with more strength and optimism to face the life ahead; I’m totally sure they will :D. Ganbareee!!!

Today’s bento post is Tata Titi Tutu chiks bento. I made this bento with my friend Ti. She was really happy with the bento and told me that it was the cutest food she ever eats :D. The chicks were made of Nasi Kuning (Indonesian yellow fragrant rice). When I made this bento (about a year ago), I still did not have many bento tools. I cut the nori eyes and the carrot peaks manually. But for the photo props, this photo has fancier props than the ones I usually have; it’s sooo pink :D. Ti is a big collector of anything pink. I brought some of her pink stuffs and used them as my photo props. I really liked the result, so did Ti :D. The pink boxes was from a sweet friend of mine ;D

I also made some bentos with my new cute food picks about a week ago actually. But again I hate to tell you that my old laptop which has adobe PS CS in it to edit my photos was attacked by virus again T_T. Hate hate hate that bad virus... You ruined my PS CS you ruined my happy mood T_T. I really want to post my new bentos, but by this accident... My old bento collections should take over the duty...

Okay, that’s for today. See you buddies! It’s a really tiring day for me for I have FOUR classes today :D

Walruses Bento

2011-02-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

It’s time for charaben! :D. I’m a huge fan of Maki Ogawa aka Luckysundae of Cuteobento. I have to tell you that I know bento for the first time when I accidentally landed over her blog some years ago. I was so amazed by her bento creations and couldn’t help myself to try making bento soon. Maki is a really nice and sweet friend; although she’s now a very well-known charaben artist, she’s so humble and very supportive to all bento lovers. I remember when she gave her first comment to my bento creation on my flickr, I couldn’t sleep all night (well, that’s merely a comment, but the insight is that when it comes from one that you admire, it can make you feel so ecstatic, rite? :D).

I love Maki’s bentoing style, and many of my bentos (haven’t been posted yet, still in my folder :D) are influenced by her style :D. For today’s post – Walruses Bento, it was inspired by one of Maki’s charabens. I first saw it on Maki’s blog and later I saw it appeared on Megan’s blog inspired from Yum-Yum Bento Box by Maki and another world’s talented bentoist, Pikko :D. Couldn’t help myself to make this Walruses Bento since it’s very cute :D.

The walruses made of rice balls mixed with Kecap Manis (Indonesian sweet soya sauce) to create brownish color, tusks from cheese, brown snouts from buna shimeji caps, and black sesame seeds for the whisker holes. Fresh friends: grapes and Balinese grapes. Yummy friends: Boiled imitated crab stick and beef sausage, tamagoyaki, mixed curry (boneless chicken, potato, wood ear fungus, and buna shimeji), and a single pretty carrot flower.

Happy Thursday, buddies! :D

Mixed Curry Rice Bowl

2011-02-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

It seems that viruses have been very fond of me recently; after they attacked my laptop last week, it's now my turn. I've been suffering from persistent flu and cough over a week (it's the longest one in my flu history suffering hehehe). I'm totally aware that I'm not in a really good shape these past few days and it is worsened by the unfriendly weather.

Food can always be one of the best ways of comforting ourselves from this uncomfortable fettle beside hiding under the cosiness of warm blanket. It's too often for the clear and fresh soup accompanied me for this situation, so I need to look for another alternative comforting food - and my choice went to a bowl dish! I just bought a recipe book of hungry-inducing bowl dishes and I just wanted to try one of them with curry as the topping. I love curry, and I love to curry-ize everything recently - I love to have it in my omelet, fried rice, stir fry, fritters, and steamed rice (oh, steamed curry rice is sooo good :D). My aunt loves to bring me homemade Indonesian curry paste when she visits me; if she doesn't have time to make it, she will buy me from traditional market :D. It's a bundle of fun to have lots cooking experiment with curry paste or powder, yup I think curry paste is one of the best cooking spices ever :D.

The typical main ingredient of Indonesian curry is chicken meat. But for this time, I made a little modification by adding some of my favorite ingredients: potato, wood ear fungus, and buna shimeji :D. Besides, I made the curry a little bit thicker (means more tasty :D). I looooveee it, there's no better way to enjoy it with a bowl of warm rice :D

Semoga harimu menyenangkan kawan! :D

Baby Boy Bento

2011-02-11T00:54:00.000-08:00

Was bitten by lazy blogging bugs since my notebook was attacked by super malicious virus that destroyed all of my search engines and damaged all of the pages that I was opening at that time *sigh*. So, I'm really sorry for not being on board and didn't visit your beautiful posts ^^. Okay, it's a really quick post for today. This bento was specially made to celebrate the birth of my best friends' first baby boy, Baby Raihan :D. Congrats to both of you ^^. The bento has green theme since Baby Raihan's mommy likes green color very much, just like me ;D. This bento was also inspired by a bento work of HippoMum - I really like to see her bento works, she's a very talented bentoist and I'm a big fan of her great photography skill too :D.

In the box: the little baby boy made off rice ball mixed with hot tomato ketchup decorated with nori cutouts and red part of crab stick, the warm blanket was from egg sheet, boiled broccoli-beef sausage-carrot, boneless fried chicken, and slices of kumquat.

Oooh... I'm a really bad bad bad auntie... I ate the little baby, LOL! ;D

Cute Chubby Girl & Polkadot-y Stocking Bento - Get well soon Bie! ^^

2011-01-28T03:27:00.000-08:00

I did a bentoing marathon these past fours days (I made 12 bentos, 3 for each days :D). I made those bentos for my friends and only few for me ^^. But I will keep the photos of the new bentos (I will only post three of them, including this one ^^) and continue to post my old bentos. On the fourth days, I actually only managed to make two bentos for K & N, but when I was in the kitchen suddenly my bf sent me an sms and told me that his leg was still painful. He got a serious sprinkled ankle when he was playing futsal with his friends that made him have to stay home for almost a week (oh my poor striker ^^). I was suddenly inspired to make a bento with a “leg” theme hehehehe. But, to make a bento with a real leg look was not a good idea though, so I tried to look for another idea connected with leg but still came out with cuteness :D. A cute stocking with a little flower and a cheerful girl suddenly popped up in my mind. Just imagine that the cheerful chubby gurl is me hehehehehe (giving support for my bf ^^) and I hope the cute polkadot-y stocking can make his leg feels better magically (it has a love magic, LOL ;p)

Inside the box: Cute chubby girl & polkadot-y stocking made of smoked beef and cheese, those tiny leaves are Marjoram leaves, little flowers from egg sheet, boiled broccoli-beef sausage-sweet corn, and tempeh & sweet corn perkedel.

Get well soon Bie... Tinker Bell misses you ^^

Sleepy Doggie Bento

2011-01-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

This "Sleepy Doggie Bento" is the other bento in the green box you saw on the previous "Happy Bunny Bento" :D. The doggie was made of molded steamed rice decorated with nori and red part of imitated crab stick, the ears were from beef sausage and white part of crab stick. The side dishes were steamed broccoli - sweet corn - imitated crab stick, rolled egg sheet with steamed green bean and carrot, fried tempeh cake, and spicy bunny-shaped fried firm tofu :D

See you pals! ;D

Happy Bunny Bento & Creative Blogger Award

2011-01-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

I did make a bunny-themed bento for CNY but I've managed to post it later since I found this Happy Bunny Bento in my jadul (old) bento folder :D. This bunny bento was made when I was still an undergraduate student (almost 2 years ago). I made two charabens at that time and brought them to campus to be enjoyed together with friends (yup, they were sooo happy with the charabens ^^). I tell you a secret: It's so easy to differentiate between my old and recent bentos - how? My old bentos have no cute and fancy food picks, LOL! (and I tended to do carving :D). I made the little oranges from boiled carrot decorated with boiled green bean and tooth pick to replace the use of leaf food pick that I didn't posses at that time hehehe ^^. And what's the character of the other bento in a green box? Was it bunny too? You'll see later ;D.

The bunny was made of steamed firm tofu and tomato. To make the view, I used two slices of fried chicken ball as the stones, boiled broccoli as trees, white steamed rice as the sky, a combination of white rice and black sticky rice for the ground, and those little seeds were basil seeds :D. The side dishes were rolled egg sheet with boiled green bean and carrot (I wished I knew how to make good egg sheet at that time :D), bunny-shaped fried tempeh (Indonesian fermented soy bean cake), carrot oranges, and boiled sweet corn. The fruits were Balinese grapes and peeled orange.

Oya, I have a happy news too. I got a Creative Blogger Award from my sweet friend and my cooking guru, Mbak Deethong of Mlebu Pawon. Thanks a lot kamsiong for the awardonge Guruong ;D. I'm supposed to give this award to five creative bloggers according to me, but let me break the rule for this time hehehehe ^^. I give this award to my creative friends in facebook who are very creative in making bento. I hope this award make them more motivated and supported to make more super creative bento and spread the love for bento :D. And those six (yes six) lucky friends are..

Nely Eka Someilia Niken Pratiwi
Irene Tadius Julia Wingantini
Yohana Salome Ling Sien

CNY is just around the corner and the spirit of red and gold are in the air. The thing that I love is... Mini Mandarin oranges are everywhere!!! Hehehehe Orange is my most favorite fruit, so when there are lots of oranges, I'm HAPPY :D

I DO LOVE to make fun with photography and oranges. Wanna know what I did with these little oranges? Stay tuned! ;D

Eskimo Girl Bento

2011-01-12T04:24:00.000-08:00

Malang, the town where I live in, is now extremely windy. We have been facing a terrible wind (70 km/hour) for two days, and it’s been estimated that the unfriendly wind will remain for a week ahead (hope it won’t come true T_T). The horrible wind has made trees collapse and has made some damages for buildings. It’s so terrible to hear the wind’s rumbling everynight that causes a scary feeling. Not to mention… blackouts, rains, and cold weather have made the situation even worse.

Since I’m a true tropical girl who feels best when the weather is warm and the sky is sunny, this cold season has made me so jealous with people who have great ability to live and survive in a place with extreme cold weather, the Eskimos! I really want to be an Eskimo that lives in a tropical country for right now, I mean it LOL :D – I’m just killed by the cold weather everymorning. So, to realize my wish, I made a cute Eskimo girl with her white warm furry coat and a red ribbon (maybe it’s your first time to see an Eskimo girl with a red ribbon hehehehehe :D). The Eskimo girl is blonde ;D – her blonde hair and white warm furry head coat were made of egg sheet. The yummy section went with smoked beef brown rose, boiled beef cocktails, chicken chunks curry, boiled quail egg with black sesame seeds, some slices of boiled chikuwa, and yummy tamagoyaki mixed with beef floss – yes, this bento is so beef-y and I’m a sort of a girl that tends to choose something meat-y hehehe ^^v.

Oh, here it is… The wind is starting to go mad again outside. It’s so noisy… Wish everything’s just gonna be okay.

Have a wonderful day buddies :D

Dugun Yahnisi - Turkish Wedding Stew (MasBar)

2011-01-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

I haven't participated MasBar event for a long time, sooo miss to join it again, so here I come :D. I thought I was late, but as the good news the event is opened until December 9, 2011 ^^. The theme is CELEBRATION, so we have to submit a cooking that is usually served on a certain celebration. I then looked for food photos in my computer's cooking folder and found this Dugun Yahnisi (Turkish Wedding Stew). According to the magazine which I got the recipe from, this stew is often served on wedding parties in Turkey. It's so easy to make and the taste is really good. I reduced the amount of water suggested by the recipe and added more tomato paste. And... I really love the final result that was saucy and thick, definitely my favorite :D. Pouring it on pasta? Perfect! ^^

Dugun Yahnisi (Turkish Wedding Stew)
Source: Majalah Koki

Ingredients:
500 gram beef or lamb, cut into chunks
2 onions, chopped
1 big tomato, coarsely chopped
1 tsp tomato paste
5 tbsp canola oil
1 ltr cooked water (tata: lessen the amount :D)
100 ml water
2 tbsp all purpose flour
½ tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
½ tsp white pepper powder
½ tsp paprika powder
½ tsp thyme
Salt to taste

Directions:
Sauté beef chunks with canola oil until half done. Pour in cooked water and cook for 30-40 minutes until the beef are tender. Add in chopped onion, chopped tomato, and tomato paste. Stir evenly. Remove from heat. Mix well 100 ml water with all purpose flour. Cook over a low heat until the color turns yellowish. Remove from heat. Reheat the stew and add in the flour mix, stir the stew evenly. Last, add in paprika powder, thyme, salt, and ground white & black pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and serve.

Tadını iyi yemek ve sahip büyük bir gün, dostlarım! ^^

Pucca Bento, Happy New Year 2011 & Announcement of BCBW's 2nd Blogiversary Winner

2011-01-01T04:26:00.000-08:00

Selamat Tahun Baru 2011, semuanya! Happy New Year 2011, everyone! Woohoo, time flies by so fast, eh? Yup, it’s January 1st! Means the time to announce the lucky winner of BCBW’s 2nd blogiversary giveaway :D. But before I go to tell you who the winner is, let me babble first about today’s Pucca Bento. I haven’t made any bentos again since last November that I have no special New Year themed bento to come across with. So, I just looked for the bento pictures in the bento folder in my computer and then picked one of them randomly and edited it as a new year card :D. There’s a time when I have a bad relationship with rice that I don’t have any appetite at all to it. So, bento with bread, fruit, boiled veggies, and hard-boiled egg like this is my favorite :D. I made Pucca from hard-boiled egg and quail eggs (for her dango hair style) wrapped with nori and decorated with the red part of imitated crab stick and a love food pick. Pucca was so happy accompanied by slices of orange, strawberry, snow peas pod, boiled broccoli, and a cup of small enclosed chicken pizza.

Okay, now let’s move to the giveaway business :D. I didn’t reply all of your comments in the giveaway post, so now I want to say to:

Emily Ng, Just a MOM (Lina), Lim, Lil’chan, Bum2 Fam (Mama Kevan), Token (Bento-Lunch-Blog), Lia Chen, Nely Prasongko, Julia, Jenk Niniek, Yani Soegandi, Yohanna Salome, spatula online (Kathy), Erlyna Abidasari, Anita Tresiyana Dewi, Lyndsey, rustka (Lia), Sysyl, Rio, Anncoo, Sonoma Bento (Michelle), Monica Adriana, Mommyoftwogirlz (Stephanie), evilfrozenpeas (Phoebe), bentobird (Jenn), audiodisco (Sam), Kelly Polizzi, Mufarocha Siti, Yulita Arizona, Ting Ling Sien, Nanik Lestari, Ayin Goendarsono (Ayin Gundersen), Lidia Ratnawati, vicuska (Eva), honeysweety (Dita), Widiastuty (Mama Afiq), BungaTanjung, Niken Pratiwi Sumanjaya, Irene Tadius, Rulliantini Marthadiningtyas, Kids Dream Work (Ai Ping), Elaine, Hidden_Relic, slovakiasteph (Steph), Journal Mommy Yenny (Yenny), Sari Widiarti, A. (Anna), Janine, and Tauresia Ancy Leaua, charsiubau (Monee), and Pipaw

I THANK YOU SO MUCH for your kind comments and participations for my blog’s 2nd anniversary, your comments have shown me that you have lots of encouragement, support, and love to me :D. TERIMAKASIH BANYAK (THANK YOU VERY MUCH), I love you all and am terribly blessed to have you all as my friends, hugs! :D.

And here’s the way we got the winner… I typed all the names of you whose comments have indicated that you joined the giveaway. As my previous word, I typed your name twice if you told me you are my follower :D. I cut the names and then rolled them (my friend, S, helped me).

After all of the name cutouts were rolled, I put them in a plastic jar to be shaked by S. S shaked the jar and then picked one of the rolled cutouts (no worry, she closed her eyes :D).

And here’s the winner… The winner is…. (drum roll please….. :D)

Widiastuty aka Mama Afiq from Samarinda, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia!
Woohoo, congrats! Now you own these bentoing goodies ^^

Please e-mail me your mailing address to bcw_blog@yahoo.com so that I can send you the bento goodies right away :D

Once again, Happy New Year everyone! Wish the new 2011 year brings happiness, peace, prosperity, and better life :D

Century Egg - Chinese Black Preserved Egg

2010-12-27T23:20:00.000-08:00

Wasting my time before teaching again at 4 p.m. *hehehe*. Have no idea what to post; unpacking an old folder in my notebook and found this Century Egg aka Chinese Black Preserved Duck Egg. (Wikipedia) Century egg, also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg, and millennium egg (or Pidan in Mandarin), is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing. Through the process, the yolk becomes a dark green, cream-like substance with a strong odor of sulphur and ammonia, while the white becomes a dark brown, transparent jelly with little flavor. The transforming agent in the century egg is its alkaline material, which gradually raises the pH of the egg to around 9, 12, or more. This chemical process breaks down some of the complex, flavorless proteins and fats, which produces a variety of smaller flavorful compounds.

I had this black egg on the last February - my aunt brought me this when she visited me :D. First time I saw the package, questions popped up in my mind: "What the heck is this? Alien's egg? Or thousands-year egg? Iiiieeewwwwwww....". My aunt said that it's really good and excellent to be enjoyed with a bowl of warm porridge. Sooo hesitate to give it a try for the very first time *but I really liked to photograph it hehehe ^^*. It smells little bit strange, (yeah Wiki's right, just like sulphur), the texture is just like jelly, and it has beautiful snowflake patterns just like this. Since I had no idea about recipe used this century egg, I executed my aunt's suggestion to enjoy it with porridge; and I made a bowl of shrimp porridge :D. Iiieeeeeewww.... I closed my eyes and pinched my nose when I was munching it. It wasn't bad, it was just sooo strange to eat a little bit smelly, jelly-ish, black egg! I just want the "normal" egg pleaseeee, LOL! You know what: It was my first and last time eating the century egg! Not again, never ever! Hohohoho...

When I cut the boiled preserved egg into halves, the halves looked like alien's eyes, so I made them into that shape :D. The preserved egg's called century even thousand-year-old egg maybe since it looks like a black egg that has been rotten for hundred years hehehe ^^

Have a great day, buddies! ^o^p

Miso Udon Soup

2010-12-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

I heart warm clear soup, especially when the weather is cold where the sun's gloomy and the rain has it's best days. The soup like this is definitely my favorite in a cold and rainy late afternoon or evening, but I recently was craving for Udon ^^. Udon is not my most favorite, my all-time favorite noodle is Indomie hehehehe, but there's a time when I'm craving for Udon :D. For me myself, Udon is a unique kind of noodle - I like to call it "worm noodle" due to it's bigger size than the other types of noodle, LOL! Do you know my best way to enjoy a bowl of this delight? I covered my body with my light warm blanket, sitting cross-legged beautifully in front of the television while watching my favorite tv program, and then enjoying and slurping the soup... What a life! Hohohoho :D

Don't forget to join this Giveaway :D.

Have a great day, my buddies! ^^

Happy Islamic New Year!

2010-12-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Islamic New Year 1432 H

Hopefully we can be better persons for the future, endowed with blessings and true happiness ...

Cheers, Tata ^^

BCBW's 2nd Anniversary and a Giveaway!

2010-12-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hello again! December is the b’day of my blog – yes, BCBW is 2 yo now :D. It actually falls on December 16, but I’m sure everyone will be so busy preparing for the big Xmas holiday, so I celebrate it in advance :D. I had no better idea about what to come for the b’day bento, and this Twin Blonde Girls Bento was the best I could come across with in my limited time in the morning :D. Why twin girls? Twin is always identical with two *and 2 is the number of my blog’s b’day for this year :D*. The bento was SO simple: twin blonde girls, twin boneless fried chicken with spicy coating flour, and twin boiled broccoli – everything was twin except for the orange note pick and little flag hehehe, and the girly theme was brought since I always love a girly and cute atmosphere :D.

This two-year blogging feels so amazing… Got so lots joy and happiness since I got the world’s most wonderful and supportive blogging buddies ever! Sometimes in the night before I fall asleep, I often look at my room’s ceiling and wonder how magical bloggingsphere is... I’m often amazed by the fact that I got so lots of sweet friends from all around the world that always support and encourage me :D. Many thanks dear friends, I’m so honored to be blessed to have you all to cheer up my days, yeayyy!!! XOXO.

To celebrate my blog’s 2nd b’day, I conduct a little giveaway *yeah, maybe many of you have already had these items as your bento gadget collections :D*. It’s very easy and everyone can join this giveaway. Only one person will be lucky to get all of the prizes :D. Here are the rules of the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post and write down your name and where you come from. From example: Hi, it’s Tata from Malang, Indonesia! *very easy, right? :D* I always love to know from where my readers are :D
If you are my blog’s follower, just tell me about it and you’ll have a double chance to win!
If you don’t have a blog, you can send your participation through my e-mail at bcw_blog@yahoo.com *no worry, I won’t let the others know your complete e-mail addresses :D*, or if you are my facebook buddies you can participate through facebook. I will copy paste your participation via e-mail or facebook to this post.
Only one comment for one person :D
You can participate until December 31, 2010. I will announce the lucky winner on January 1, 2011 :D

Halo semuanya! Dalam rangka memeriahkan ultah ke-2 blognya Tata, Tata mau bagi-bagi hadiah :D. Hadiahnya gak heboh sih, mungkin dah banyak yang pada punya, tapi gak ada ruginya dapet lagi kan? Hehehehe. Hanya bakal ada satu pemenang beruntung. Untuk ngikutin acara bagi-bagi hadiah ini caranya guampang banget dan semua orang bisa ikutan *kecuali aye ndiri lah haha*. Nih caranya, guampang deh, mohon disimak dengan seksama hehehe:

Tinggalkan sebuah komen untuk post kali ini trus kasih tau Tata siapa nama dikau-dikau sekalian trus darimana asalnya. Gini contohnya: Disini ada Tata, dari Malang! *super guampang kan? :D*
Kalau temen2 ini adalah pengikut blognya Tata, kasih tau yaaaa… Bakalan dapet 2 kali kesempatan untuk menang, asyeeek kan? ^^
Kalo gak punya blog, bisa berpartisipasi lewat e-mail atau facebook *kalo untuk facebook tentunya yang udah jadi temennya Tata di facebook :D*. Buat yang mau berpartisipasi lewat e-mail, bisa dikirim dimari: bcw_blog@yahoo.com *gak perlu khawatir, Tata gak bakal kasih tau yang lain alamat lengkap e-mail temen2, rahasia dijamin aman :D*. Ntar Tata bakalan memindahkan komen temen2 yang via e-mail atau facebook dimari :D
Satu orang satu komen aja ya :D
Temen2 semuanya bisa berpartisipasi sampai tanggal 31 Desember 2010. Ntar tanggal 1 Januari 2011 bakal Tata umumin sapa pemenang yang beruntung.

And these are the giveaway items that you can get:

Two tiers blue bento box complete with chopsticks, cutlery, and a belt from Arniss. Maybe you still remember about this Sweet Bento? Mine has green lid – if you win you can get with the blue one :D

A cute pink sandwich cutter. This is the cutter that I used to shape rice to make Chococat and Hello Kitty on the previous bento. Isn’t this cutter great? You can use it to make cute sandwich and also to shape steamed rice!

Green froggie folded bag. This is a bag! Curious with how this little froggie turns out to be a cute bag? Win this giveaway first :D

Snoopy cutlery. Who doesn’t love Snoopy? Blue pretty chopsticks, spoon, fork, and a cute case! :D

Cute jungle animals foodpicks. These little jungle guys will help you to make your bento box looks cuter and fun!

Feel free to take a participation and wish you all wonderful days ahead!
Cheers, Tata ^^

Chococat & Hello Kitty Bento

2010-12-02T04:31:00.000-08:00

A very quick post for today, Chococat and Hello Kitty Bento! This jadul (old) bento is the second Chococat Bento I made - I will post the very first one later as a set of jadul bentos (old bentos) with Sanrio Characters as the theme :D. I used my pink sandwich cutter (I'll post about it later too) to shape the rice for the Chococat and Hello Kitty. Choco and Kitty were very happy to share boiled sweet corn and chikuwa with edamame, two layered tamago, fried chicken, asparagus wrapped in imitated crab stick, and a single carrot fish! No worry, they wouldn't fight over the fish. You know what, if you are a good observer, you'll find that both Choco and Kitty don't have a mouth, LOL!

Het 'n groot dag, my vriende! ^^

Bentolicious' Green Doggies and Awards!

2010-11-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

HeiyoOOOO! I’m coming! Limited time – well, let’s go to the core :D. Bento for today’s post is Leaves-eared Green Doggies Bento that is absolutely was a copy cat from Bentolicious :D. My favorite color is green, so I love to see everything green – and no exception for Bentolicious’ Green Doggies; when I saw it, I directly wanted to bring it into my own bento box :D. I used my green rice coloring instead of edamame paste to color the rice for the green doggies. Malang, the place where I live, is not as big as Jakarta, Bandung, or Surabaya cities whose imported food supplies are abundant. If I’m lucky, I can meet a huge kind of imported food ingredients – when I’m not, Asparagus is the only princess among the massive local products :(. And I was unlucky some weeks ago when I was going to make this green doggies bento, I couldn’t find edamame (T_T). So, my green rice coloring was the best choice (and simpler of course :D). Inside the yummy tier: boiled sweet corn-broccoli-imitated crab stick, sunny side up halves, cherry tomato, peas, and wiener and boneless chicken chunks cooked in Sambal Goreng spice paste, yum! Thanks Be ntolicious for sharing great bento ideas! :D

I also bring a happy news for today’s post, I got two awards from dear bento buddies. First is Stylish Blogger Award from Mbak Lina of Just a Mom and Sysyl of Purple Angel's Cooking, and the second is Versatile Blogger Award from Mbak Yenny of Journal Mommy Yenny and Sysyl of Purple Angel’s Cook ing – Yayyyy, thanks a lot ladies for passing me the awards, very appreciate it! :D. Since I come soooo late with the awards that I'm sure many of my blogger friends have received them, I present these two awards for all dear friends :D. But, I still do my obligation to state 7 things about me :D.

Stylish Blogger Award

The Versatile Blogger Award

So, here are 7 things about me:

1. A good bathroom singer, LOL!
2. Blueberry freak (not only a MotoGP freak ;p). Love every food with Blueberry flavor :D
3. Doraemon is my all time beloved cartoon character hehehe :D
4. My boyfriend says that I’m stubborn, am I???
5. Really want to get an M.Bo title (Master of Bento) – From what university can I get this title? I really want to study about bentoing deeper. So, please let me know if you have any information about a university which offers bento making course, I’ll find a scholarship for it, oki doki?! Hahaha LOL LOL LOL… *tata’s going crazy ;P*
6. Love to use my free or boring time to draw some bento designs (It can lift me to a good mood again :D), do you?
7. A big fan of Pecel (Indonesian Vegetable Salad with Peanut Sauce) and Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) :D

Just feel free to pick up the awards :D

Confession: Tata Bonita is Yunita Rahmasari

2010-11-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry for coming late again and for late comment replies of course… I don’t need to explain the reason, it will be very classic *you know the reason lah, it will make you sick hehehe :D*. There’s no bento or foodie posts for today, it’s my confession :D. Many of you know me by Tata Bonita, the author of Bonita’s Cooking & Bento Wonderland, but only a very little of you who know my real name. YES! Tata Bonita’s real name is YUNITA RAHMASARI, pretty name, isn’t it? :D. I DO love the name “Tata Bonita”, many people and friends *even my teachers* know me by that name. And I’m soooooooo overwhelmed when I check my blog’s visitors through Feedjit come to my blog from Google search by looking for “tata bonita”, “tata bonita bento”, or “bonita bento wonderland” hehehehe LOL! Grazie, grazie ;D. So, it’s a real hard decision not to use “Tata Bonita” as my watermark again, this name has a really special history for me :D. I decided to use my real name as my watermark since the blogging business goes more serious – I’m soooo tired of photo stealing :(. You know, it is really suck when you know your photoworks are stolen and your watermarks are cropped! Chop chop those thieves!

Here’s the history of “Tata Bonita” name: When I was a university student, my friends and I loved to do a kind of narcissism for our nick names. Those who were fast attributed their nick names with cute, manis/maniez (sweet), cantik (beautiful), and other pretty names they could find – for example Tiwi Cute, Farah Maniez, and so on :D. For those who didn’t get the rest of the pretty names, “jelek” (an Indonesian word for “ugly”) was the best choice, LOL! Since I didn’t want to attribute my name with “jelek”, I tried to look for a pretty name in Spanish, and I found “Bonita” :D. Wowww!!! I really love the name, it was so matched with my nick name, Tata, hehehe. So, “Tata Bonita” was the final result :D. Why Spanish? Well, at that time I was crazy in love with Dani Pedrosa (another Spanish MotoGP rider before I’m mad with Jorge Lorenzo hahahaha, LOL! :p). So, I really loved *now is still* to learn about Spanish words :D. Well, that’s a “girl” does – before becoming a MotoGP maniac, I was a big fan of soccer *now is still too* and I like Cristiano Ronaldo before I knew that he was the player of Manchester United. At that time, Cristiano was not as cool and popular as nowadays, but I knew he got something – he looked so cool in his own way in my eyes and I knew he’s so talented :D. And at that time, I loved to write my name: Tata C. Ronaldo, LOL! :D. But when I have already been "clicked" with "Tata Bonita", I even didn't want to change it into "Tata Pedrosa" or "Tata Lorenzo", hahahaha...

As I have told you, I really love the name “Tata Bonita”, so please call me “TATA” :D. I really love you when you call me by that name, hahaha :D. I’m still using “Tata Bonita” followed by my late grandpa’s name in my facebook. So, if you look only for “Tata Bonita” in facebook and you find it, well, that’s not me hehehehe :D. Here are some newest photos *with my new watermark ;D* of Bentar Beach I took on the previous Sunday when I was in Probolinggo to attend my friend’s wedding party. Hope you enjoy them! :D

PS: For Lia Chen, I have made your green doggies with leaf food picks ears bento Mbak, tunggu tanggal mainnya yak! Ahahay :D

Happy Eid Al-Adha!
Makan-makan yuuuuukkk mari, sateeeee, guleeee???
Sayang mimpi dowank buat Tata yang gak mudik T_T
Obama aja pulang kampung ke Indonesia makan sate, lah Tata? Tidaaaakkkk hiks hiks…
Menu Special Idul Adha kali ini: Mie Goreng INDOMIE hahahaha, melazzzz.com arek sithok iki ancene :D

The 99 Bento for Jorge Lorenzo

2010-11-10T04:01:00.000-08:00

Hola mi amigas!!!! I know, I know… It’s my bad to leave my blog without any update over a week. This week is a middle-test week, so I think you can figure it out how busy I am as a teacher hehehehehe – sleeping or taking a rest is the only thing I wanna have after working all day :D. As I told you before, I have managed not to make any bentos ‘til the end of this year. But about two weeks ago, I made four bentos: The 99 Bento for Jorge Lorenzo (my second bento for him :D), a girly-themed bento for my blog’s 2nd anniversary next December, an Xmas bento, and a bunny-themed bento for Chinese New Year – will post the last three on the celebration days, stay tune! :D.

The MotoGP Season 2010 is over and we have Jorge Lorenzo as the champéon del mundo (World Champion), and I’m sooooooooooooo happy with that :D. If you are a fan of MotoGP race, you will totally agree with me that the previous last race of this season is an amazing one – Jorge es muy fantástico! ^^. I’ve already made a Lorenzo’s Land Bento before, but since I have a promise to make another one if Jorge becomes the world champion… So, this is my promise, THE 99 BENTO FOR JORGE :D. Just like the previous Lorenzo’s Land Bento, I use a bed of rice covered with nori as the background of number 99 character. I dropped a lot of red food coloring to result a red egg sheet, but in the end I didn’t eat it ^^. 99 is Jorge’s number, red and white (demon and angel). Since I was in a hurry, I didn’t make an oval hole for the white number nine’s halo (angel’s halo) hehehe ^^v. It seems that Jorge has decided to use number 1 on his motor for the next season – but honestly, I love him with his number 99. 99 is not a perfect score, but it’s almost perfect (no one is perfect :D). But it’s okay, I hope with his new #1, he can do much better for the next season :D. I think the next season MotoGP will be fantastic – we will have Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies in Yamaha, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden in Ducati, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner in Honda, WOW!!!! Can’t wait for the next season!!!! I’m a MotoGP freak! :D

Btw, I looooove my new metal box! I got it with very reasonable price from La Felicita and it looks great! :D. The 99 Bento goes so simple with strawberries, ebi katsu, boiled broccoli and wiener, tamago, and… what is it called? Ehm… it’s a kind of fishcake (I really love it :D).

I hope this 99 bento won’t make my boyfriend feel jealous (I think he won’t, ehm… let me correct it: little, I think ;D). My boyfriend knows that I love to watch MotoGP very much – so, when MotoGP race is performing on TV, he won’t disturb me and let me enjoy watching the race :D. Hohohoho, thank you, I loooove you my hunnnyyyy :D

See the number 99 on his hat? :D

Photo Courtesy: www.motorsport.com and www.motomatters.com

Halloween Bento #4: Baby Jack Skellingtons Bento

2010-10-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! So happy to be back on the blogging track again :D. This baby Jack Skellingtons bento (yes, two skellingtons :D) is the last Halloween-themed bento for this year. This bento was specially made for my pregnant workmate, Mrs. D. She opened my blog everyday and always told me that she was craving for my bento, LOL! She also told me that she was craving for spaghetti, so I made her spaghetti bento with quail egg baby Jack Skellingtons (why baby? Because she is now expecting her first baby :D). As the spaghetti’s buddies, I put boneless fried chicken, tamago with chopped green onion and fried baby anchovies, boiled broccoli, boiled sugar snap peas *and the peas*, cherry tomato, redcurrant, and a blueberry (yes, only a single blueberry ;p).

Oya, I also bring you a funny story for today’s post. I don’t know… I’m supposed to be upset by this thing, but I feel the conversed way instead, I think its funny hehe. My friend, F, just came back from Bali for a short training course before she goes to Aussie for her scholarship. When she had lunch in one of restaurants in Bali, she noticed a big menu picture put on the restaurant’s wall and one of the photos has my name on it (the watermark = copyright sign and the name, Tata Bonita :D). She was very surprised at that time – she told me that she was also confused whether she was supposed to be upset or to be proud and happy since my photo “has a career” in Bali, LOL. She took a picture of my “stolen” photo with her mobile phone and showed it to me after she was back from Bali. Laughing was the first thing that I could do – I just could think that the people who made and used that menu pict were very ridiculous and very stupid indeed. Couldn’t they look for another pict that doesn’t have obvious water mark on it? As you can see from the pict below, the copyright sign and the name “Tata Bonita” are obviously written.

I put my watermark on the center of the food, so if anyone wants to crop the pict it will result a strange pict since the food will be looked incomplete and cut on its middle part. F had a big LOL when I showed her the complete picture from my blog. It is the picture of Tempe Bakar Bumbu Rujak (grilled spiced tempeh) that was cooked by my best friend, Tiwi, from our boardinghouse’s closet kitchen when we were still university students. Tiwi told me that she wanted her food appeared on my blog. So when she cooked Ayam dan Tempe Bakar Bumbu Rujak (grilled spiced chicken and tempeh) for her boyfriend, she asked me to food-stylize and photograph her food – and I lend the camera from my friend, Cebbie *I didn’t have a pocket camera at that time, I used camera from my mobile phone :D*. This is the complete picture that they *the photo thieves* cropped:

Happy Halloween! Have a great weekend! :D

Halloween Bento #3: Jack O’Lantern, Jack Skellington, & Black Cat Bento… Announcement & Decision :)

2010-10-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

Whatta long post title, so lots I wanna share this time :D. But let’s start it with my bento first. This bento was a special request from Kokoh K (he has also requested me for X’mas and Chinese New Year Bentos :P). He told me that Jack O’Lantern was a must for his bento, while the rest was up to me :D. I made him a Quail egg Jack O’Lantern colored with turmeric powder – you can see the coloring process here. Both Jack Skellington and the black cat were made of rice balls. To make the black cat, I covered the rice ball with nori then made the eyes and ears from cheese. The side dishes were the same with my previous one’s. Kokoh K was sooo thrilled with this bento – he quickly took a photo with the bento and directly uploaded the photo to his facebook and set it as his profile picture, LOL! Talking about Halloween-themed bento, I just saw a very cool one on Sysyl’s blog. She made a wonderful Halloween bento with a great idea, Emily. Oh, I just LOVE her neat work in cutting the nori into super cool characters, fantastic job girl! d(^__^)b

If you read my previous Smiley Witch Bento, may be you still remember that I mentioned some berry buddies: Blueberry, Redcurrant, and Strawberries. Yes!!!! FINALLY, for the very first time in my life: I can find Blueberry and Redcurrant in the town! Yeayyy….. Hahaha, I know I know, it’s ridiculous to be such exaggerating. I’m a Blueberry freak that loves everything with Blueberry flavor, but unfortunately I don’t live in big cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya – hello…. I live in Malang :D, hundred times I’ve visited supermarkets but have never encountered with them. So, when I first saw the Blueberry, Redcurrant, and Raspberry, I wanted to cry – YES: wanted to cry (T_T) because I was sooo happy, “Is it real?” LOL! Didn’t need to think twice, I directly grabbed them fast :D. I wish Blueberry can be planted in Indonesia, is it possible? Haha…

Okay, now here we come to the more serious business. Some of you may be now that I work from Monday to Saturday, but now? From Monday to SUNDAY!! Hahaha… I think my life is going to be crazier ;p. My former professor asked me a favor to supervise a Sunday class where some students practicing teaching. She does need a favor since she handles six classes and I think this is a good opportunity for me to have an invaluable experience, so I take it :D. And I’ll be very busy in a whole week for the next ten weeks *sigh*. As I also had told you before that I got ten extra credits to teach in this semester, a week ago I was given another “present” to teach an acceleration class – hehehehe let me joke myself ;p. I’m also busy writing for teaching material book and some articles for campus magazine. And as the consequence? I can’t do bentoing T_T, really have no time for that. So, I’M REALLY SORRY for not to be able to visit your blogs and read your lovely posts. So Momon, if you can’t regularly update your blog since your study is getting serious, you’re not alone – you got friend here hehehe. I don’t know, really don’t know… May be I will update my blog twice, three times, or four times in a month? We’ll see… But, one clear thing is that I’ll definitely miss your posts, very much T_T

And what about the “decision”? Oh well, it goes like this… You never have an idea that my live has been being haunted by my dream to have a DSLR. I always think about a DSLR, DSLR, DSLR, and DSLR… LOL! Do you still remember that I really want Nikon D90 in this post? Now, I have changed my mind :D. I don’t know *it can be changed later*, but I think I’ve decided to be a Pentaxian. I feel D90 costs me hands and arms, I need to save my money not only for a DSLR but also for a reason that is: I want to pursue my Master :D. Pentax is super great and it has more reasonable price for me. I’ve “investigated” about it for dozens of time :D. My determination is round and I’ll fight for it! Haha :D. For my friend, Lily Riani, let’s get our Pentax K-7! Hehehehe :D

My last bento projects for this year will be for celebration bentos: 1). The 99 Bento for celebrating Jorge’s victory as the MotoGP World Champion ;D, 2). An X’mas Bento, 3). My Blog’s 2nd Anniversary Bento – yeayy my blog turns 2 in December haha, and 4). Chinese New Year Bento. I will “execute” these all four bentos next week and will post them at the celebration days :D. I don’t need to worry about what to post later – I have checked my folder and I found 77 bento post stocks and more than 100 stocks for non-bento posts. Yeah, I think they are enough for one-year posting LOL. I have to focus with my DSLR dream, hahaha. Okay buddies, see you on October 31 with my last series of Halloween-themed bentos for this year. I will come with baby Jack Skellington *yes, again :D*

See ya all! Hugs >3

Pink Ribbons Bento

2010-10-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

I heard the idea about making pink-themed bento as contribution for Breast Cancer Awareness since few days ago actually. But, I couldn't promise myself to join the pink bento frenzy since I'm very busy teaching. Lucky me, as this morning my class was started after nine (not seven :D), I could still manage to make a simple sandwich bento with pink ribbons matched with the theme :D. I actually have some pink-themed bentos, but they don't have any pink ribbon - for me: no pink ribbon means doesn't have the "feel" hehehe. I'm interested to make this pink bento as one of my aunts suffers from breast cancer - but thanks God, she's a survivor and she's doing well today :D. I know I'm late for the event but I've convinced myself that it's never late to share the awareness about this dangerous cancer to all dear friends :D. As I read the bentoist friends' pink bento posts, I'm so surprised to know that some of my dear friends also have aunt(s) who suffers or even gives up for the cancer. I hope that this fact makes us to be more aware with the danger of this cancer and always try to have a healthy live :D.

Simple and quick sandwich with peanut butter (or chocolate jam) and a combination of margarine and white sugar layer is always my favorite :D. I always love to have it for breakfast in a rush morning hehe. The longest process to make this bento was only to boil then color the quail eggs with turmeric powder. The flowers were made from boiled wiener, leaves from boiled snow peas, and pink ribbons from pink-colored egg sheet. As my bento is simple, I tried to make the pict looks merrier by touching it up with Adobe PS CS :D.

Oya, I'm also crazily happy today... A very sweet friend, Miruneena, wrote a very sweet post about my blog on her site. This is the very first time for my blog and it's absolutely a hit for me hehehe, you've made my fly so high because of happiness dear :D. Thanks a lot for what you did and I really appreciate it SOOOO much! It's one of the sweetest things :D. Miruneena posts a lot cuteness in her blog - take a look on her site, hope you'll find some cute inspirations to make bento :D

Note: Halloween Bentos are still in queue! Are you ready for Jack Skellington? :D

Have a wonderful day, my dear pals :D

Halloween Bento #2: Smiley Witch

2010-10-10T03:27:00.000-07:00

Friday has always been the busiest day in my life nowadays. On the last Friday, I forced myself to keep teaching though my body didn’t feel well, as the result? I fell sick on the following day :D. I got terrible flu, cough, and fever - but now, I’m feeling much better :D. YES! SOOOOOO MUCH BETTER! Since….

The 99, JORGE LORENZO
is the 2010 MotoGP World Champion

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (So excited just like there were so many ants in my pants :D). I wish I were in Sepang Malaysia right now, I want to give my biggest hug and congratulate my sweet-heart rider for his victory ;D. Beside his talent, I think you can draw a conclusion why I loooooove this man, tee hee! :D

Photo Source: Google

Okay, back to bento business… As I have been promised before, I post the Halloween-themed bento that I made on the previous Thursday for today’s post. Yes, it’s a witch-themed bento again! Heeheehee, please don’t be sick with that :D. From the three Halloween-themed bentos I made, this Smiley Witch bento was for me. The witch girl was made from rice ball whose hair made from egg sheet and hat from cheese and wiener (I cut the wiener into a cone) wrapped with nori and touched up with crab stick for the red strip. Take a look on this B entolicious’ egg sheet making tutorials and you’ll get a perfect and good-looking egg sheet :D. Oya, the witch girl also has a companion, a cute ghost made from quail egg :D. The witch brings magic delights in this bento box: Berries buddies (Strawberry, Red Currant, and Blueberry), Super yum-yum Udang Tahu Balado (Hot and Spicy Shrimp and Tofu), Tamago with Chopped Spring Onion and Fried Baby Anchovies, and Peas. Apart from the delights she brings, the witch girl’s happy pretty smile is the strongest power that she has. It is the happiest magic on earth that can bring you to the Halloween magic world full of cuteness :D.

Happy Halloween, everyone!
Let’s create the happy magic for Halloween :D

Halloween Bento #1: A Little Witch Chick Bento

2010-10-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

We don't celebrate Halloween here in Indonesia, but since I saw lots of Halloween-themed bento posts recently, that had made me want to post my own :D. I made four bentos this morning that I woke up soooo early hehehe. Three of the bentos had Halloween theme while the rest had a girly theme. The three buddies that were lucky to get the Halloween-themed bentos were Kokoh Kian, Miss D., and me myself :D. As my best friend, A, who helped me to make the bentos didn’t want the Halloween-themed one, I made her one with a girly theme.

I will post the bentos that I made this morning for the next posts *so, stay tune! ;D*. For today’s post, this Little Witch Chick bento actually was made loooong time ago. The witch chick was inspired by a Japanese bento blog *so sorry to forget the blog’s name and the link ^^v*. The bento brought Balinese Grapes and cherry tomato for the fruit; and all of the side dishes *except the boneless fried chicken with white and black sesame seeds* were boiled. I enjoyed the boiled stuffs with barbecue sauce which was put in another container.

See ya! :D

Daisies Spaghetti Bento

2010-10-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

Eek??? Has not been updated for two weeks? Finally, finally… So happy to be able to update my blog that is starting to be dusty for I have abandoned it for a long time *what a pity :D*. I got ten extra credits to teach this semester where most of my teaching schedules accumulate on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday that make me stay in the class and office from seven to seven (very bad schedule!). Not to mention, I teach from Monday to Saturday, hohohoho. Now I know when some people say “I hate Monday!” – yes, me too! I hate Monday, Tuesday, and Friday (in my case :P). Due to my tight teaching schedules, I only have limited time to do bentoing in the morning nowadays. When I back from work? Not much energy left to do blogging heeheehee. Sunday is for washing the clothes but I sometimes still spend my time for cooking and watching movie :D. It’s funny sometimes when I tell myself: “Now you’re an ant – a big ant!”.

Okay, let me use my lunch time to update my blog before I teach again for evening class. Well, little bit get bored to post my Jadul Bentos (my old bentos), so for today’s post I decide to come across with my yummy non-charaben for my lunch about two weeks ago. I really love these round metal boxes, but they’re not mine – they belong to my friend, A, but I often “steal” them from her :P. This Daisies Spaghetti bento was inspired by Pikko’s. The first box: spaghetti with hot sarden sauce and cute daisies flowers made from cheese whose yellow round centers I made from Adobe PS CS (yes, they’re fake! I didn’t have yellow cheese ;D). The second box: red tomato, boiled broccoli, sweet corn, and carrot, and spicy lemon chicken and shrimp. The third box: orange slices, grapes, and lychees.

That’s my short post for today. Have a happy Monday, dear friends! :D

A Piece of Story from the Previous Eid

2010-09-19T03:04:00.000-07:00

I’m back! Back from the shortest Eid holiday in my life :D. Hey, life is so miserable without the internet, right? Heeheehee, I did experience it! A week without blogging. Just opened my room’s door and directly open my laptop, take a breath first, Ta. Well, I have no idea with Indonesia’s current weather status, it seems that this year we only have rainy season – where are you dry season? I miss your scorcher :)). I hate to say that the sky becomes so whine this year – what’s going on with you? Wanna some lollipops? LOL. It’s almost everyday when the morning day steps its feet to the afternoon, the sky suddenly turns out to be gloomy then unreasonably pouring down its heavy cries. But thanks God, the heavy cries fell down just in time I already got in my boardinghouse :D.

Okay, let’s start blogging. How’s life buddies? Miss you all badly :D. I’m so happy when I logged in then read so many happy posts from dear blogger pals. As the highlights, I’m happy since Gamene aka Megan and Babykins are on board again, so proud to read Bentolicious’ guest post introducing bento at a fabulous blog - pigpig’s corner, happy to wait Angeleyes’ #200 bento celebration, and happy to see Bentobird’s bento featured on Just Bento’s post. And the one that makes me even happier, all of your very good jobs *all of you ladies :D* have introduced bento worldwide that bento communities nowadays are blooming “wildly” heeheehee :D *all of you get a standing applause from me for your passion and determination spreading the love to the world through bento :D*. All of you are bento ambassadors that come with love and joy! Thanks to make bento viruses become uncured and unstoppable, LOL!

Well, now goes to Eid holiday business. As I told you in the previous post, I spent my first Lebaran day in Yogyakarta with family and relatives from my father’s side. Only one day was spent there and that single day was totally a tiring one – we spent two nights sleeping in the running hotel, in the car! Ha ha ha :p. Late night before the Eid day we went to Yogyakarta and arrived there in the very early morning. The rest of the day was spent to visit all of the relatives, but luckily we had few hours visiting Yogyakarta’s famous beach, Parangtritis Beach. On this first Lebaran day, we did have Ketupat (rice cake), Opor Ayam (braised chicken in coconut milk), and well-known Yogyakarta’s dish: Gudeg. But I didn’t have a chance to take the photos since my dad would always show me his bulged out eyes everytime I held my camera. Don’t get him wrong, he wanted me to have a quality time with the whole family as we had a very limited time and was not busy with my camera :D. On our way to Parangtritis Beach, I noticed that the area lied along the way to the spot was pretty much different from the one I used to know - now the area has so many new buildings. May be you remember about a devastating earthquake that struck Yogyakarta few years ago. All of my relatives’ houses suffered from the earthquake but fortunately all of them were safe, no one was injured. Here are some photos I took from Parangtritis. Since that day was the first Lebaran day, the beach was not as crowded as the normal day, and I loved it! :D

Have finished the trip in Yogyakarta, we went back to our beloved home, Malang! :D. As we spent the first Lebaran day in Yogya, we didn’t get the opportunity to enjoy Grandma’s legendary Soto Ayam *legendary only among our family ;p*. In my family, the first Lebaran day’s menu is different from the next days’ menus. Talking about Lebaran cookies, there will be pages to talk about them. So, I only share you my most favorite ones: Lamington, Orange Truffles, and my all time favorite, Nastar! :D

And here’s my fave newcomer: Kacang Thailand aka Thai Spicy Peanut. It is very tasty and spicy; I love the generous addition of seared Kaffir Lime leaves to this treat!

Grandma also cooked black sticky rice that I made it into Ketan Kelapa (Black Sticky Rice with Grated Coconut Flesh, note: the grated coconut is mixed with a pinch of salt). That round shape with the grated coconut on top was my own style. This treat is deadly easy to make and everyone loved it :D.

Being unlucky not to be able to enjoy Grandma’s Soto Ayam, these Lebaran dishes are also darling. On the second day, we were spoiled by the delicacy of Rawon. I love Rawon very much and Grandma never fails to make delicious Rawon for us.

If Grandma is popular for her Soto Ayam, my aunt is more even popular for her Bakso (beef balls soup). She got so many fans for her bakso :D. Lots of relatives will happily come in the morning and patiently waiting until the bakso is ready to be served. From all her loyal fans, Lil’ Sophia aka Pia aka Bakpia is her biggest fan. Bakpia will cry hysterically if she comes to house but can’t get my aunt’s bakso :D.

Here are the photos of Pia with Little Ico. Pia attends a modeling class and she loved it a lot when I photographed her :D. I love her curly hair very much, she’s so pretty :D. For Ico, this little guy has made my nights so miserable since I often miss him. He loves to approach his face on mine and kisses my nose. I really like to see him when he’s smiling and trying to show us his growing teeth. Ico oh Ico… I miss you, I miss you, I miss you…. (^3^)

I think these all I can tell you for today’s post. Tomorrow the new academic year classes will be started. So excited and can’t wait to see new faces of new students! Wish me luck with the new classes! Oh little bit nervous :D

Have a great Monday everyone!

Happy Eid!

2010-09-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

Eid Mubarak! Eid Ul-Fitr is just around the corner, in less than two days it will mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid Ul-Fitr, locally known as Idul Fitri or more informally as Lebaran/Hari Raya (Celebration Day), is Indonesia’s biggest holiday. Days ahead of Eid, people crowd shopping malls and bazaars (especially for new clothes :D) causing a distinctive festive atmosphere and… traffic! :D. It is common during Eid celebration that many people engage in "mudik /pulang kampung" activity - an annual tradition that people in big cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, or elsewhere, travel to their home town to celebrate Eid with the whole family. If you know the activity of pulang kampung in Indonesia, uuuugghh… millions of cars and motorcycles jam the roads and highways, causing kilometers of traffic jams.

Idul Fitri is a very joyous day for everyone especially for children as they wear new clothes and the adults give them money. They also celebrate by lighting traditional bamboo cannon firecrackers. Lots of special dishes like ketupat (rice cake), opor ayam (braised chicken in coconut gravy), soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup), and rawon (eastern java beef chunks in black soup) and other Eid delicacies like kue lebaran (Lebaran Cookies) are served during this day. Apart from the all-sounded-festive-celebrations, Idul Fitri is also a time for atonement: to ask for forgiveness for sins which we may have committed. So in this wonderful moment, for all my friends from all over the world who celebrate Eid, with all my humbleness let me say:

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1431 H
Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Bathin
Happy Eid!
Have a Joyful and Sparkling Eid Mubarak!
Wish you a prosperous Eid that brings a promise of happiness and blessings!

Btw, I’ll have pulang kampung activity too, I’m going to spend my first Lebaran day in Yogyakarta, spending my time with family and relatives from my father’s side then will be back to Malang, my beloved lovely city, again for the rest of the holiday. So, will be off from blogging activity during the holiday. Really hope that the tremendous traffic jam won’t kill me because of high level of boredom :D.

Have a wonderful day, will miss you all dearly, my pals! :D

Jadul Bentos Parade #4: I'm a Noodle Girl!

2010-09-05T02:36:00.000-07:00

Really sorry for really late replies ^^v, can’t wait for a new internet modem for easier and faster internet activities (Have to be patient, after Raya \(^o^)/). I actually do love to set my comment system to be without prior author’s approval, but it seems that spam comments can’t compromise with that. It’s my great pleasure to receive and reply all the encouraging comments you’ve written in my comment box, but for spam comments? I really hate them! Hate, hate, hate, and more hates! Not to mention for spam comment of porn sites – aaaarrrgghhh!!!! Don’t they know the right places to promote their sites? Have some respect, please! I’m really sick of deleting spam comments so that I deleted my shout mix box on the right bar and set my comment system with my prior approval. Thanks Blogger for featuring a new spam detector and filter, you have helped me deleting more than 50 spam comments in a single click, BYE! *sigh*

Okay, it’s the #4 round of my Jadul Bentos (old bentos) Parades that brings “Noodle” as the theme. I’m a Noodle Girl, I have to satisfy my noodle craving at least once in a week :D – are you a noodle girl too? Can’t live without N-O-O-D-L-E? Tell me that you are in! Hehehe ^^. These noodle bentos are dedicated especially to bento beginners with *may be* still limited bento tools *just like I was when I made these bentos as a beginner :D). So here we go…

#1 Spaghetti Bento
It was actually not really Spaghetti. I used egg noodle instead of pasta and then spice it up with Bolognese sauce ^^. The two little cuties were made from hard-boiled egg slices decorated with beef sausage and facial expression from Nori cut by scissor and paper puncher.

#2 Carrot Flower Garden Bento
Just an ordinary veggie fried noodle with rolled egg omelet. I didn’t have flower cutter at that time, so I “carved” the carrot flowers by knife :D

#3 Sweet Seafood Fried Noodle Bento
A yummy tasty fried noodle bento instead of a cute charaben ^^. This fried noodle employed a perfect combination of western and eastern prominent seasonings - outside the other spices used, it has Oregano flakes and Ngo Hiong powder (Chinese Five Spices) in it! As for the steamed tofu, I really loved to have it when I had a bad mood with steamed rice :D

Have a wonderful day, buddies!