Bento Corner

Niko niko bento is what my daughter called it this morning so I am going with that.

Smiling flower onigiri with konbu; cream corn croquette; mini sausage with peas; turnip, cucumber, and radish salad with cream sesame dressing; and finally, strawberries for dessert.

My son and I dropped off my daughter at English school this morning. She will be there for a good 3 hours longer than her Japanese preschool, so it's quite a long day for her.

It's the first day of Spring and the Bay Area is welcoming this day with light showers. It's quite chilly out too. Hope it warms up soon...

Duck bento with fish fillet, harusame salad and fruit.

The ducks are made of fried egg, sesame seed, and nori. The sun is made of boiled quail egg and radish. Clouds are made of takuwan. Bento also includes fried fish fillet, harusame salad, and apples.

Today was my daughter's last day of preschool before spring break. She starred in a play called "The Big Turnip" and acted out the role of the grandchild. It was a very sweet production and enjoyed by all.

Next week she has an "interview" of sorts at an English school. She will attend for 3 days to see if she is the "right fit" for the school. It boggles my mind that academic competition starts at such a young age. The application process and this interview is reminiscent of college...The girl, however, is very excited at the prospect of finally starting kindergarten at an English school.

My daughter is constantly dreaming about little rabbits and she also has a stuffed rabbit she plays with at preschool, so I thought it might be fun to reflect that in the bento. I can't take all the credit for the idea though since I was inspired by Ms. Chibibu who runs this site here www.e-obento.com 

The girl is made of nori, tomatoes, kamaboko, and quail egg. The rabbit is made of kamaboko and nori. Bento also includes nimono (stewed vegetables/meat) of lotus root, shiitake, carrots, konnyaku (yam cake?), and gobou (root vegetable). Strawberries, kiwi, and apple stars for dessert.

My daughter was so excited about this bento. She really wanted a dokin-chan kyaraben, but I was out of carrots and not yet brave enough to attempt another one. Though my husband said something about possibly attempting another kyaraben due to popular demand...

Lamb bento made of chow mein with croquette and fruit.

We had chicken chow mein last night so used that and added a ham face and legs to make a lamb. The face is made of nori. The sesame croquette is from the frozen section of the Japanese market. Oranges and kiwi fruit for dessert.