Tucked away in my recipe box are a few yellowed, typewritten pages from my mother-in-law’s home economics class circa 1960. Knowing that I love food, she thought I might like these notes from a unit on garnishes. As Gen-Xers, my husband and I both had a good laugh at this relic from another time — when women were encouraged to host cocktail parties and serve hors d’oeuvres among displays of pickle fans, fluted mushrooms and beet asters.
While turning fruits and veggies into exquisite works of art might appeal to a caterer, I don’t wish to add such laborious details to my life. But I saved it as an interesting oddity. (And for the record, my mother-in-law hates to cook and never hosts cocktail parties. When we visit her, we usually go to Olive Garden.)
So it was with some surprise that I found myself attracted to the beauty of the bento box. While the word bento comes from China and means “useful thing” and “convenient,” the bento box is a Japanese package that originated 1,000 years ago for farmers, fishermen and soldiers to carry rice.
Over the years, the upper classes developed the bento into elaborately decorated, lacquered boxes for traveling, serving tea or visiting the theater. Today, takeout bento boxes are very popular in Japan, often sold in supermarkets, department stores, restaurants and train stations.
However, a quick online search shows that modern bento boxes have also reached insanely creative heights, with parents (mainly mothers) performing Instagram-worthy feats of gastronomy for their children’s school lunches.
In Japan, making a bento box is seen as an act of love, but its appearance is also a status symbol among families in affluent communities. Many mothers compete to make the most beautiful and nutritious boxes, often spending up to 45 minutes making their child’s lunch — plus hours looking through specialized magazines and shopping for the necessary tools.
Bento boxes typically include rice, meat or fish and pickled vegetables. But picture these dishes formed to look like cute pandas munching on bamboo; baby farm animals nestled in a flowering pasture; or characters like Hello Kitty, Pikachu and Olaf the Snowman. If the idea of making citrus baskets and leek flowers showed me that I would probably fail a 1960 home ec class, then I can’t imagine arranging nori to look like a Sony PlayStation.
But it got me thinking. Today’s bento boxes can be suitable for all ages, and they don’t need to be elaborate or time-consuming. They are actually perfect for encouraging a balanced, nutritious meal and making leftovers a little more appealing. If you’re looking to wash fewer lunch containers, maintain a healthy diet, entice a picky eater or add a smidge of artistry to your day, then a bento box might be for you.
The first step is to find a box. Bento boxes come in many shapes and materials, such as bamboo, stainless steel, wood and plastic. You can often find suitable containers at stores such as T.J. Maxx in Torrington, Conn., and Marshalls in Great Barrington, Mass. The holy grail of bento materials (including ingredients) is Mitsuwa Markeplace in Fort Lee, N.J., just across the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan. The shopping plaza there has not only Mitsuwa but also a Daiso and Little Japan USA; all three have everything from containers to special forms for shaping rice balls.
But any food container will work and it doesn’t even need to have dividers to allow you to separate the different decorative foods.
When you gather the ingredients, make sure to hit all the food groups. Then, start building your box with an eye for color, shape, texture and portion size.
Some Bento tips
• Prep veggies on the weekend so that you can sprinkle a rainbow of bright, vibrant colors here and there.
• Make extra food for dinner so that you can easily pull out leftovers.
• Cut sandwiches with cookie cutters, or make pinwheels with soft tortillas.
• Rather than chopping veggies for a salad, serve meat, grains or legumes on a lettuce leaf wrap.
• Find ways to separate the food so that it doesn’t all mush together. If your box doesn’t have dividers, try using cucumber slices and orange segments to make a natural border. Or, use silicone baking cups to contain yogurt, applesauce, hummus or guacamole.
• Overall, don’t fuss. Simply remember that the original meaning of bento is “useful thing” and “convenient” — both for the container and its contents.
This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete.It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.
Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.
The ride starts and ends at The Farmer’s Wife Café in Ancramdale, a great place for lunch or refreshments after the ride.(The café is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).Parking is usually available between the café and the Ancramdale post office.But be courteous — don’t monopolize parking needed by the café’s guests and staff!
Here are the coordinates for the ride:
Turn left out of the parking lot of the Farmer’s Wife onto County Road 8.
At .5 miles, turn left on Crest Lane
At 1.9 miles, turn left on East Ancram Road
At 6.8 miles, turn left on County Road 3
At 7.0 miles, turn right on Wiltsie Bridge Road
At 7.7 miles, turn right on Empire Road
At 10.7 miles, go straight through the village of Copake onto Main Street.
At 11.1 miles, bear left onto Farm Road
At 11.3 miles, turn left on Mountain View Road
At 12.1 miles turn right on County Road 7A
At 12.3 miles, turn left on Snyder Pond Road
At 13.0 miles turn left to stay on Snyder Pond Road
At 14.2 miles, turn right on County Road 7
At 14.8 miles turn left on County Road 27 (This is where there is short hill.)
At 15.5 miles, make a hairpin turn to the left on County Road 27A.(This can be easy to miss so be on the lookout for it).
At 17.5 miles, go straight across County Road 7 onto Four Corners Road.
At 18.7 miles, turn right on Wiltsie Bridge Road
At 19.0 miles, turn left on Snyder Road
At 20.3 miles, bear left onto Roche Drive
At 20.8 miles, turn right on County Road 3
Follow County Road 3 back to Ancramdale and the Farmer’s Wife.
Jeremy Koch is a Norfolk cyclist.
Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.
MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.
As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.
The digitalization process in North East began in November of 2015, when the program LaserFiche was selected due to a grant shared with the nearby towns of Amenia, Dover Plains and Beekman. The program was shared until 2024 and now each town scans documents separately to their individual clouds.
The organization and scanning process is a daunting one because the Town Hall keeps historic, business, judicial and assessors records. Town Clerk Elizabeth “Tilly” Strauss explained that it is a learning process to go through the records, organize and keep or destroy based on retention schedules of certain items.
There are two forms of scanning and storing documents that the town has utilized. The Town Clerk’s office uses the system BAS for scanning vital records, minutes, invoices and resolutions. This system is updated constantly as new information comes in, but Wheatley, along with other offices in the Town Hall, has been working backwards to digitize all of the old files as well. Wheatley scans documents for about an hour every afternoon. “That’s what it takes to keep up to date,” she said. There are currently 3324 files in the system.
The other mode of scanning and storing documents is through the IPS system, which gets records from planning, zoning, building and assessors. Chris Virtuoso, who started as a tax collector in 2021, stepped up to lead this half of the process beginning in 2022.
“He had a big task. He had boxes all over the place. He was spread out, he was intense and focused,” Wheatley said of Virtuoso. According to Wheatley and Strauss, the project did not only include scanning and reordering, but a complete reorganization.
“What happened was, a lot of files were under the names of farmers, but they then either got sold or were subdivided,” said Strauss. “Chris has been scanning and organizing into and by parcel number instead of name.”
Virtuoso first began this project by finding parcel locations on the assessors map and looking through files of names and addresses. He then sorted through boxes to find the parcel numbers, organizing them into new boxes based on zone and ordered by parcel number.
“If somebody buys a parcel now and they want to know the history, they can go down there with the number for the parcel and those folders are in there,” stated Virtuoso. “That was the end goal, to get everything from alphabetical order into parcel number order.”
Virtuoso had also found a log tracking all cases by number, which went back until 2005, and added blank pages for all of the newly-scanned files dating back to 1968. This book is now up to date, and current cases and pages are added every year.
“You become like Sherlock Holmes,” said Virtuoso. “What I always kept in mind was, when I’m not here anymore, will someone be able to figure this out?”
From his start in 2022 to March 2023 when both planning and zoning were completely up to date, Virtuoso would come to the Town Hall every morning to scan for two or three hours, five days a week, while still maintaining his career as a realtor.
As of March 2023, when Virtuoso wrote a report on his progress, 361 case files were scanned for the Zoning Board of Appeals. He had also deleted and destroyed any duplicates, removed any metal that may damage the documents, resecured the folders, and organized everything by parcel number with room for additional files.
“He went above and beyond,” Wheatley stated.
Virtuoso — and the Town Clerks — are eager to move to the new Town Hall property. “Look, this is an old home, it’s charming, but we need room for all those files, we need more space and offices,” said Virtuoso.
“I can’t wait,” Strauss stated. “We’re going to have new shelves and everything organized by departments. It’s going to be beautiful.” After condensing, destroying duplicates and scanning, all records will be brought to the new location, however, the digitized copies will serve as backup and for convenience.
Although the process is viewed as an overall success, there are still a few remaining hopes for the future. Virtuoso hopes for collaboration with other towns to buy or lease a large-format scanner for large-scale maps, blueprints, and other important documents that have yet to be scanned.
Virtuoso also hopes to make the Historical Society aware of the rich and unique history that he found within the basement boxes, opening the possibility for deeper understanding of the local area. “The files are important because they do have a certain chunk of history.”
The Thorne Building on Franklin Avenue in the village of Millbrook.
MILLBROOK — Summer fun is just around the corner, thanks to the fire department and the return of the Fire Department Carnival scheduled to open on Wednesday, July 9, and continue through Saturday, July 12, on the Thorne Building grounds on Franklin Avenue.
Opening night activities will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9. The Carnival will open each night at 7 p.m., remaining open until 11 p.m.
There will be fun for everyone. All activities are free. Visitors can enjoy Bingo, games of chance, rides and games, and a 50/50 raffle drawing each night. Food will be available.
Music will be a feature on Thursday through Saturday. From 8 to 11 p.m. enjoy the sounds of DJ Gourmet on Thursday, Heavy Gauge on Friday, and Rhythm and Blues on Saturday.
Also on Saturday plan to be on hand for one of the largest parades in Dutchess County, starting at 6 p.m., proceeding along Franklin Avenue.
The Smithfield Valley Church on Smithfield Road in Amenia.
AMENIA — As an alternative to three tenors, The Smithfield Church invites music fans to a concert that will feature three cellists in a program called “Three Cello Fellows” to be held on Sunday, July 13, at 3 p.m.
Part of the Bang Family Concert series, three acclaimed New York City orchestral/chamber musicians will play a varied program of all-cello works by Luigi Boccherini, David Popper’s Requiem for three cellos, Bela Bartok duos and selections from the cello suites by J.S. Bach.
Arthur Fiacco, Robert Burkhart and Alberto Parrini have been individually in demand for years, playing in New York City’s most illustrious venues, and with distinguished regional orchestras and ensembles. Their personal career experiences include performances with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Ballet, and Orchestra of St. Lukes, as well as appearances with Sting, Barbara Streisand, Metallica and others.
Arthur Fiacco is well known to Smithfield audiences as occasionally performing over the past 14 years with noted conductor and organist Kent Tritle at the popular annual Tritle organ recitals.
A meet-the-artists reception will follow the concert. All are welcome. A donation of $20 per attendee is suggested; children are admitted free.
The Bang Family Concert Series presents performances by gifted musicians from the region to Tri-Corner area residents, inviting a warm community of music lovers to gather at the Smithfield Church’s landmark Greek Revival building.
The Smithfield Church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road (Route 83), Amenia, New York. The church is air conditioned and fully accessible. For more information: thesmithfieldchurch.org or thesmithfieldchurch@gmail.com.
