![Bento Boxes as a Way To Have Fun, and Make Healthy Food Enticing](https://millertonnews.com/media-library/ab-j-on-whole-grain-bread-cut-into-the-shapes-of-hearts-with-a-cookie-cutter-clementine-and-strawberries-trail-mix-of-wal.jpg?id=48206806&width=980&quality=90)
AB&J on whole-grain bread, cut into the shapes of hearts with a cookie cutter; clementine and strawberries; trail mix of walnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Photo by Lia Wolgemuth
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.
AMENIA — A number of projects achieved forward momentum at the regular meeting of the Town Board on Thursday, August 1, whether by unanimous vote of approval or by report and discussion.
The project to construct a new town garage saw unanimous approval of a resolution to use the services of Hudson Cultural Services to complete an archeological and environmental study of the intended Lakeville Road garage site. Eight bids were received. The Town Board agreed to award the contract to Hudson Services, the lowest bidder, at $5,620.
The area to be studied measures 5 acres, but the focus will be on the area to be disturbed by the construction of the town garage and salt storage shed to determine environmental impact. The archeological phase of testing will dig test pits to determine presence of artifacts that if found, will be sent for laboratory testing and dating.
Also important to the town garage project was the opening of the six bids received from engineering firms hoping to be selected to complete the design phase. Copies of the bid packets were distributed to board members for their review and future discussion.
Architect Tracy Salladay presented her plans for renovations to improve the function of the Beekman Park Pavilion, under consideration since December 2023. Finding the present covered seating area to be adequate in size, Salladay suggested improved lighting and perhaps enclosing the seating area.
Options that would affect the cost of changes to the food preparation area are driven by whether the kitchen will prepare food on site or offer prepared foods that are pre-packaged.
To gain kitchen space, Salladay suggested closing one of the two concession windows.
The restrooms and equipment storage room would need significant changes. Plumbing does not meet current code requirements, Salladay said.
For the building’s exterior, Salladay recommended replacing the current vinyl siding on the gables with corrugated metal.
To councilwoman Rosanna Hamm’s question about who would be expected to use the renovated pavilion, Recreation Director Katie Sterk-Grassi replied that it would be used by the soccer and baseball programs, with those programs paying fees for use. She pointed out the importance to the community of vital recreation programs.
Summarizing responses to a recent survey he had created to measure residents’ impressions of the town’s official website, finance director Charlie Miller told the Town Board that comments have been coming in over the past two years.
There were 67 responses to the on-line questionnaire, with 45% of respondents indicating that they visit the town website at least once a week. 76% of those responding said that they use the town’s events calendar. 91% of users said that they experience difficulty in using the current site, with 50% finding it hard to navigate. 82% said that they would be likely to sign up if the town offered an alerts/announcements feature.
In general local people want an easy search function, emergency notices, and a simplified menu. Some asked for summaries of current projects and a more detailed calendar of events.
The next step, Miller said, would be for him to create a “scope of work,” an outline of the skeletal framework and then to obtain quotes from vendors.
Miller said that it will be important to select the vendor in the next 60 days before the present contract with Dutchess County, the current provider, expires.
“If we had a better website, we could reach a wider audience,” Town Supervisor Leo Blackman observed.
Presenting a brief report on options for a new Town of Amenia Town Hall sign, Miller reviewed alternative design options for a new LED electronic sign to be placed close to Route 22 just south of the Town Hall driveway near the southern parking lot.
The sign itself with installation would be estimated to cost between $39,000 and $45,000, depending on the size variables and desired resolution. The LED electronic component would allow for messages to be posted on the sign, including upcoming meetings.
Noting that funding is already in place for the needed engineering study, Miller said that funds for the engineering aspect are already in place in the town’s engineering budget.
The 6th annual Harlem Valley flamenco festival visited Millbrook winery Friday, Aug. 2. Peter Basil, left, Ricardo Sanchez, center, and Hector Marquez, right, performed flamenco music on their guitars and drums while visitors drank wine and ate oysters. Creative Director Anna Librada said the Flamenco Fest’s next event is September in Hyde Park.
AMENIA — Families of any size who are seeking to introduce a bit of fun into their summer memories are invited to attend the annual Family Fun Night to be held at Beekman Park on Thursday, August 15, between 5 and 7 p.m.
The event is sponsored by the Amenia Recreation Department and the Amenia Free Library. Admission, as always, is free.
A variety of activities will include face painting, The Bubble Bus, an ice cream truck, bounce houses, fire trucks and a great chance to visit with friends and neighbors while the children are occupied. Food will be available for purchase from Webutuck Little League volunteers.
For more information, phone 845-373-8273 or go to www.ameniany.myrec.com
AMENIA — By an official unanimous vote, the Town Board passed a resolution formally accepting the historic gift of Wassaic’s restored twin charcoal kilns on Deep Hollow Road at their meeting on Thursday, August 1. The gift preserves an important part of Amenia’s history for the benefit of present and future generations.
The beehive wood-fired kilns, located near the intersection of Route 22 and Deep Hollow Road, were built around 1825 to serve the thriving iron industry. The massive stone kilns have been painstakingly restored to their original condition by Bernie Leighton, and once restored, were offered to the town as a gift from the present owner, Alan Shope.
Situated on a fenced parcel measuring slightly less than one-third of an acre, the kilns stand as monument to the dawn of the industrial revolution, creating charcoal to fire the Reed, Gridley and Co. iron works furnaces in operation until the 1920s.
Information about the kilns, published on the town website, indicates that three weeks of slow burning was essential to create Sulphur-free charcoal, Sulphur being harmful to iron.
For more information about the kilns, go to www.ameniany.gov or contact the Amenia Historical Society.