I think Margaret Dorfman may just be my new favorite foodie-friendly artist. She makes beautiful jewelry and decorative bowls out of fruits and vegetables.

You heard me right: fruits and vegetables.

These are the prettiest—and most creative—pieces of functional art I’ve seen in a while.

Dorfman slices her produce paper thin, cures it into parchment, then molds it into the gorgeous, luminous bowls you see below. The whole process takes ten days and doesn’t involve any chemicals. A clear coating helps keep the colors vivid.

If you ask me, stained glass couldn’t be more striking.

VivaTerra, an online shop with a lot of great and stylish eco-friendly goods, sells Dorfman’s work. Order a Veggie Parchment Bowl for $42. Choose from Papaya/Beet or Zucchini. Bowls measure 7.5″ x 4.5″.

With winter coming, VivaTerra has the summer fruit bowls on sale for $29.

There’s also the Star Fruit and Daikon Veggie bowl, for $42.

If you’d rather wear your veggies, Uncommon Goods sells Dorfman’s thick Fruit and Vegetable Parchment Cuff Bracelets—in Beet, Starfruit or Zucchini—for $38.

For these bold pieces, the fruit or veggie parchment is fused to a delicate copper band.

For more of Dorfman’s work, check out her section of the Lois Lambert Gallery of Functional Art.

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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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You heard me. (Sushi pillow!) Now you can have your fish, and cuddle up with it, too.

As someone who counts sushi among her five basic food groups, you can imagine how excited I was to discover these. The Original Sushi Pillow is a product of the brilliantly creative Cindy Tomm and Mel Maghuyop, two actors turned pillow-makers extraordinaires.

They have a 3-minute commercial. I defy you not to dance along, at least a little bit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here are some of my favorite sushi pillows. I’m particularly fond of the nigiri. Like all sushi, each pillow is handmade. Go order yours today.

Ebi Nigiri, $45

Flat California Roll, $40

Tuna Nigiri, $36

Tall Salmon Roll, $36

Edamame Mini Pillow, $40 (also comes in a larger, body pillow size)

Dress up your favorite pillow
Tomm and Maghuyop even make sushi pillowcases so your favorite pillows can get in on the action.

Ebi Pillowcase, $30

Soy Sauce Pillowcase, $20

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Lately, there’s been great interest in bento boxes in my (admittedly small but super fantastic) social circle. My dear friend the Lady Otter has put together some positively breathtaking lunches for herself.

Here’s a quick bento primer.

So, what’s a bento and why do you want one?
A bento box is a traditional Japanese lunchbox. It usually has a few little compartments to separate different parts of your meal. Most are between one and three stacks high.

Bentos are compact. You can stuff them with all manners of different things. They’re nicer to eat out of than a regular old tupperware. They make making your lunch fun.

What goes into one?
If you’re making a bento by the book, you pack it with a protein (meat, chicken, or fish), a starch (usually rice), and some kind of veggie matter. Great care and consideration is usually taken with the shapes of the food—and how they’re arranged. (There are rice molds, different shaped veggie cutters…more on all that some other time. There’s a whole Bento World out there.)

Honestly, though? Fill it with things you like.

This is one of my favorite topics, but I’ll keep it simple for today. Here are some of the neatest bento boxes I’ve seen online. (After all, if you’re going to pack yourself a bento every day, you need to have a proper bento box.)

Note
Most bento boxes will come with a belly band to keep them closed. Many are not microwave safe, or only partially so (as in, you can only nuke the little containers inside the box, not the box itself), so check the details before you order.

The Floral Bento Box is available from the Asian Art Mall for $24.95 and comes with a belly band to keep your bento safely closed while you travel. It’s 2-tier and measures 5.25″x3.25″.

This is a 2-tier Sushi Box, for those of you who want a bento with a handle. Get yours from the Pearl River Mart in New York for $12.50.

Think of it as a bento for two. (Picnic, anyone?) The Pearl Butterfly Three Layer Lacquer Box is much larger than a normal bento, measuring 7 5/8″ long x 7 5/8″ wide x 6 3/4″ high.

It’s beautiful, but doesn’t include a band, so you’ll want to be careful if you’re toting it around. Available from Mrs. Lin’s Kitchen for $28.95, it also comes in the red and black Crane, Fan, and Blossom design. There’s also a very similar Black Fan design available from Buy 4 Asian Life for $13.99.

This is the Hakoya Black & Red Bento from VeryAsia.com for $19.95.

The Jyubako Lunch/Hors d’oeuvres 2-Tiered box is slightly larger than most bento at  8 1/2″ long x 8 1/2″ wide x 4 1/2″ high. Buy yours from Ichiban Kan for $20.

VeryAsia.com also sells this rather manly Hakoya Grey Silver Zen Bento Box for $13.95.

For a different shape, try the 2-tier Plum Blossom bento sold by From Japan with Love. It’s 7.9″ long x 3″ wide x 3″ high and costs $39.50.

Bentos for kids (whether you’re actually 8-years-old, or just like to pretend sometimes)

This 2-tier Totoro bento is available online from JBox for $24.95. It measures 6.5″ long x 3″ wide x 3.25″ high. (Warning: JBox has a lot of great Japanese goods, including some more adult stuff.) If you’re not sure what Totoro is, he’s a giant Japanese forest spirit and star of Hayao Miyazaki’s wonderful movie My Neighbor Totoro.

The 2-tier Shinzi Katoh Happy Good Luck Onigiri Bento Lunch Box says “Happy” on one side and “Good Luck” on the other. It’s 4.5″ long x 3.5″W wide x 4″ high and is available from Heliotrope Home for $18. Like this bento? Heliotrope Home sells a bunch of boxes with Shinzi Katoh’s designs.

The Animals in the Forest bento also comes from the happy folks at With Love from Japan. It’s only $5.95. I can’t find dimensions for this one, but wanted to list it because I liked it so much. I’m guessing it’s on the small size, since it’s so inexpensive.

Happy munching!
That’s it for now. Much more on bentos and all the strange and wonderful things you can do with your food soon.

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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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This is a 2-gallon Heritage Hill Jar, made by Anchor Hocking. You can find them all over, including at places like Target, for about $15. Now, these jars aren’t super airtight, since they don’t close with a rubber gasket. Nonetheless, they seem to keep things fresh—especially stuff you use a lot.

(I do admit that, more often than not, I keep my cookies in gallon-sized zip-top bags. It’s not sexy, but it seems to keep them completely airtight for the relatively short time they’re around.)

If you want a fancier or more decorative cookie jar, you certainly won’t want for options. Google “cookie jar,” and you’ll be met with the likes of everything from Marilyn Monroe to swaggering sea captains and everything in between.

For example, there’s the John Deere cookie jar for tractor fans. And the sea captain (I wasn’t kidding). And the collection of designer hand bags from Neiman Marcus. The list goes on and on. The Noah’s Ark Cookie Jar is mighty in its design—and price (a hefty $780).

Here are some I’ve seen lately that I’ve liked.

This jar has a blackboard panel on the front and is available at Target for about $15.

Whitney Smith is selling this Green Apple Cookie Jar for $30 on Etsy.com. There’s also a matching cake plate with the same charming little bird..

I am in love with this little creation, the Porcelain Ginger Jar in Gunmetal. I just wish it was bigger. At 5 1/2″ tall x 6″ wide, it’s a little on the small side for a cookie jar. It’s also found on Etsy by Clay Lab Detroit.

Here’s another plain, classic crock, available from Williams-Sonoma for $42.

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I have a pretty big collection of vintage aprons from Duckie, my grandmother. (And by vintage, I mean the aprons that she used to use.)

There are a bunch of pretty hostess-y aprons, that look like you would never, ever want to get them dirty in the kitchen. Some are lacy, some have little frills, many have pockets. There are a few with little embroidered birds on them. When I can, I’ll take some pictures and post them.

In the meantime, I’m happy to see the resurgence of vintage (or at least vintage-style) aprons in the last few years. They seem to be everywhere. I can imagine my grandmother screeching at the thought of paying a lot for an apron, but here are some of the nicer ones I’ve seen lately.

Artgoodies has a bunch of lovely aprons and tea towels for sale at Etsy. Here’s her Block Print Nest Apron ($38).

Cupcakes anyone? Jessie Steele makes a fantastic collection of vintage hostess aprons. The Bib Audrey Cupcakes apron sells for $32.95. They also sell a bunch of kids’ aprons, and heavier-duty ones that you’d feel safer cooking in. Not to mention, they have a line of matching tea towels and pot holders.

I also kind of like this one (also $32.95 by Jessie Steele), which is made of heavy cotton and covered in a nice (and oh-so-informative) butchering diagram.

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