A Whirlwind week and Radish Mice

Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, Dames, and Dollfaces everywhere!

Have you ever had one of those weeks that remind you of the monsters from an old 60’s B-movie horror, along the vein of ‘Evil Space Monsters From Mars Are Here to Eat Your Women!’? If you haven’t you’ve probably never actually held down a job had a blessed life. I envy you.

Like the Blob, work this week just seems to get bigger and more important, and then even bigger and even more important, until it consumes the rest of my life. If you can imagine in your mind for a moment, that the Blob/work in question is also a very persistent serial killer, then what would be imagining is almost exactly how my week has been.

So, in being stalked by the all-consuming beast that is work, I haven’t had all that much time to Bento, as I am wont to do. I made a cute little mini-enchilada bento on tuesday, which I forgot to photograph (sorry!), and I ended up making a gorgeous french-inspired omlette bento with radish mice! (not mice that only eat radishes. that would have been an awkward thing for a vegetarian to explain at the company cafeteria…) Radish mice are radishes cut with a paring knife to resemble mice. And yes, this I took a picture of.

Omlette Bento

•  Spinach and cream cheese omlette made from organic, free range eggs (if you haven’t treated yourself to top quality eggs, honestly honey, you need to. They are incredibly fluffy, golden and delicious!)
• Spinach
• Artisan bread
• Radish mice
• Carrots
• Tomato summer salad
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Raspberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Betty’s guide to building a better radish (mouse).

It sounds difficult to do, but it’s actually pretty simple – first, you need bunch radishes with the tops attached, not the little bagged radishes. Look for ones that have long, trailing roots, because those roots will be your mice tails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prune the leaves with a paring knife, and carve away the red skin around the leaf base (opposite from the root) into a point. This is your mouse’s face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, take the paring knife and cut two tiny wedges out of the red skin above where you’d like to place the mouse’s eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

remove the bits of radish, and using another radish, cut a medallion from it, and cut it in half (these halves will be the mouse ears).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take one half and wedge it (rounded edge up) into one of the tiny wedge cuts you created. Do the same with the other half. Now your mouse has ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, using two sesame seeds, carefully place the eyes onto the main radish, below the ears, and voila! Radish mice!

You learn something new every day.

And, for your viewing pleasure mom, a pun just for you, reader-darlings, a game of Cat and (radish) Mouse!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s like my very own monster movie, featuring my Cat, the devious and delightful Elwood Blues! A monster movie that doesn’t remind me of my extremely stressful work week! dammit. I think I lost the game.

Now, guys and dolls, not only do you have the skills to modify your meal to magnificence, you’ve also got the makings of a pretty decent horror flick. Don’t say I never gave you anything!

XOXO,

Betty.