Bento Corner

Bunny bento onigiri with tamagoyaki, sausages, and fruit.

The bunny bento has chopped shibazuke inside which is one of my daughter's favorites (her favorite is umeboshi). I haven't used it in a while but when we were visiting Japan, my mom put out umeboshi for her and I was reminded of how much she likes umeboshi/shibazuke. The tamagoyaki has kanikama (imitation crab) in the middle. Bento also includes broccoli and fruit. I finally found CA grapes at my local grocery store! Woohoo! My kids love grapes but I always wait until CA grapes are in the stores so they have to do without all winter long (at least in my house).

It started raining again in the Bay Area. So strange that this week has been feeling a lot like summer and then suddenly rain. Wondering what is to become of the birthday party at the park this weekend. Hope it clears up by Sunday...

Hello Kitty bento with tamagoyaki, stir fry, and fruit.

The Hello Kitty is an umeboshi onigiri. My daughter was thrilled about this bento, as were her teachers from what she tells me. The bento also includes edamame, tamagoyaki, stir fried vegetables and chicken, and strawberries for dessert.

My days are so busy these days accompanying my daughter for  playdates, birthdays, and various summer outings... We brought out the kiddie pool in the backyard already. It's nice to be able to enjoy this great weather before it gets too hot...

Flower onigiri bento with chicken, salad, and fruit.

The chicken is actually from Hawaiian Drive Inn from yesterday's lunch. The salad is more a sunomono of cucumber and wakame. The onigiri is made of salmon maze gohan that was left over in the freezer.

Took some time off to visit family in Japan -- that's why there were no updates for a few weeks. Ate fabulous food, visited with long time friends and family, and bought a lot of cute bento goodies. I'll post some pictures later.

My daughter is already asking when we will go back to visit again. I just gave my daughter a very blank stare in disbelief that she would say this right after we get into SF after the 9 hour flight from Tokyo. Obviously international travel is much harder on the parents than it is on the kids...

Giraffe bento -- the banana is the neck...does it sort of resemble one?

This bento was requested by my daughter a long time ago, as she has been drawing giraffes for some time now. I'll have to scan one of her drawings soon. I showed this bento to my daughter and she stared at this bento for awhile until my husband just told her what it was. Since she couldn't tell what it was, I will have to give it another try sometime soon for a better looking giraffe. The face is made of rice mixed with hard boiled egg yolk and mayonnaise with a dash of salt to form the onigiri. The horns are made of cucumbers, the neck is a banana and used nori for the eyes and a tomato for the mouth.

Bento also includes sesame and cream corn croquette and brocolli.

The weather is so warm it almost feels like spring!