Updates, Bentos, and Snowpocalypse 2011

Why hello there!  It's been a while, hasn't it?  In fact, it was a whole month ago when I posted last... and a crazy month indeed.  But don't worry, I'm still here, and I'll do a little explaining, give a few updates, and even post a backlog of February bentos.

The Blizzard

Before all that, I'd like to take a moment to mention the other thing that happened on February 2, the day of my last post.  Here in Chicago, we've named it "Snowpocalypse 2011."  The weather-people were talking about it for days, but since I've lived here all my life, I was of the "Yeah, yeah.. I'll believe it when I see it" attitude.  Well, I saw it, alright.  It turned out to be the third worst blizzard in Chicago history.  We got almost 2 feet of snow, winds up to 70 mph, and this thing they called "thundersnow."  What's that, you ask?  It's thunder and lighting.. in a snow storm!  I'd never seen, or even heard of anything like that in my life!  It was epic I tell you, epic!  Hundreds of people were stuck on Lake Shore Drive and had to abandon their cars, Chicago Public Schools closed down for the first time since 1999, and I even got a snow day from work!  It was a good thing too, since I couldn't get out of my house anyway.  Did the Snowpocalypse contribute to my blogging hiatis?  Well, no, but it was just too incredible not to share! ^_^

Ailments Galore

Okay, so why the absence?  First, my hand, which has had problems for years due to my job, had a particularly bad flare-up.  It was seizing up at times and hurting me more that usual, so I decided I needed to keep away from the blog for at least a week.  It was difficult to stay away, but I did it for my health (I couldn't really cook much, anyway).  I even took a week off bento-making, which was really weird for me.  

Then, over the last two weeks, I've been hella sick.  Apparently the bounty of citrus fruits you'll see in the bentos below didn't ward off whatever it was I caught. In a short amount of time I managed to run the gamut of symptoms, going from high fever to severe sore throat to ear infection to bronchitis...really, I had a little bit of everything. It was like a tasting menu of horribleness.  I'm still dealing with coughing fits here and there, but luckily, I'm otherwise feeling pretty normal again.  

But in between my unfortunate maladies I've also been busy setting up my bento site.  Remember me going on about that before, and acting like I was always days away from launching it? Sigh.. I thought I was.  Then I realized starting a second blog was way harder than starting a first.  It sounds backwards, but as I'm finding out, it's the truth.  I think it's because now I know what I want, and I want to start out strong.  When I started PopArtichoke, I didn't really know what I was doing, so I could just do anything.  But rest assured, it's coming along, and now that I'm feeling better I'll be able to devote more time to getting it set up.  In the meantime, I'll stop teasing you with release dates until I'm really sure it'll be ready! 

Some PopArtichoke updates: You may notice at the top of the right sidebar that I've become a Foodbuzz featured publisher!  I'm incredibly excited about it, and really look forward to the opportunities and fun Foodbuzz provides.

I'm also super excited about my first PopArtichoke employee.. my boyfriend Steve!  He's been oh-so helpful from the start, but this weekend we talked about him officially coming on-board to help out with the surprisingly exhausting task of being a food blogger.  He'll probably be doing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff for PopArtichoke, but I'm hoping I'll get a couple guest posts out of him!

The Bentos

Lastly, I thought I'd quickly share the bentos I made in February, or the ones I photographed, that is.  There's not as many as usual, but frankly I'm amazed I managed to make anything during this crazy month!

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 

1.  Bulgogi Beef, Rice with Kimchi, Baby Broccoli, Cara Cara Orange Wedges
2. Steak Slices, Double Baked Potato, Vegetable Medley, Cara Cara Orange Wedges, Prunes
3. Mini Cheeseburger with Grilled Red Pepper & Giardinara, Sweet Potato Fries, Vegetable Medley, Raisins
4. Wine-Braised Lamb Shank, Root Vegetable Mash with Charred Leeks, Greek Salad, Blood Orange Wedges
5. Mediterranean-style Cod, Greek Salad, Pearl Couscous with Veggies, Blood Orange Wedges, Prunes, Almonds
6. Tom Yum Soup, Thai Red Curry with Tofu, Spicy Spinach, Blood Orange Wedges
7. Grilled Greek-style Chicken, Pearl Couscous, Greek Salad, Cherry Tomatoes, Navel Orange

Phew!  It's good to be back; sorry for the long-winded return to blogging (just be thankful it was only one month! ^_^)  I look forward to getting back into the swing of things, cooking up some tasty grub, and sharing it with you all!  Thanks for hanging in there with me; it really means a lot! 

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!