Bento Corner

Been wanting to blog about Japanese pizza for quite some time now. In case you don't know the Japanese pizza experience is one that can take you by surprise if you do not know what to look for...and therefore what to avoid.

The pizza ordering process in our house goes something like this:

me: OK I think this one looks good! Look at the picture!

the mister: Don't even show me -- the picture is deceiving. Just read me the toppings.

me: OK, tomato sauce, camembert mix cheese, fried garlic...oh crap. It also has squid.

the mister: Next.

me: Ooooh! This one's good! Fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato, fresh basil, pimento, onion...oh crap. It's got corn...and mayo.

the mister: Next.

And so on until we finally find a more Americanized version of pizza that the husband can tolerate -- no seafood, no mayo, no corn is the rule of thumb.

The mister has been away for some time now and with all the cold snow I thought it the perfect opportunity to order take out pizza that daddy normally would not let us order.

The pizza I prefer is from Pizza-La but the husband insists it already has mayo mixed into the tomato sauce and therefore should totally be avoided. I called and found that they were not delivering anyway due to the snow. So I called Dominos and ordered the Quattro Giant -- chicken-teri (chicken teriyaki with mayo), Domino's deluxe, garlic master, mayo jaga (mayo and potatoes!). The pizza was OK but they were really heavy on the mayo so it was super rich. And I love mayo so you can just imagine just how much there was on top when even I thought it was a bit much.

So yeah, the Japanese pizza experience -- know what to look for and what to avoid before ordering.

Above bento is left over pizza cut into star shapes, strawberries, spinach tamagoyaki with a cheese heart on top.

My parents live about an hour's train ride away in Yokohama, so the kids and I visited them this past weekend. We knew it would be cold but had no idea it would snow like this on Sunday.

The kids walked home in their tennis shoes and me in my broken down Bass clogs -- the heel is broken off in parts. Still totally wearable, but only in good weather. And they look perfectly fine from the top, just are no longer skid proofed on the bottom...what's left of it anyway. It's hard for me to throw stuff away, especially comfortable shoes.

By the time we got home, my feet and legs were completely soaked.

The kicker is, I contemplated wearing my Ugg boots  for the trip, but my dad hates them. Well, he didn't say hate exactly, but when he saw my Dansko boots he immediately said, "Honey, these boots are really nice. I like these much better." So I'm not blaming my dad for this or anything, but somehow I think it's karmically connected and worth mentioning. 

My mom ended up helping me take the kids home part way -- my clogs were no match for the snow and I was sliding around all over the place and I could not handle 2 kids from slipping, let alone myself.

Note to self: must overcome boot insecurities

Nakayoshi (trans: friends) bento with umeboshi onigiri, edamame, meatballs, wakame and chirimen salad.

I meant this bento to be representative of my daughter's classmates. She's only been at this particular kinder for one month but she has managed to make friends and the kids are all super nice in helping her adjust to the new school. Not sure if it's just the cold winters here (cold compared to sunny California), but she has been a bit under the weather and generally lacking in genki-ness. Her teacher has also been telling me that she also likes to be able to speak English with some of the other bilingual kids. Maybe a bit of homesickness as well?

My daughter thought this bento was representative of her, her younger brother, and me. Dad is not included since he's been away for one month on business, but will return home shortly. Hopefully his presence (and presents!) will bring the girls spirits up. Last time the mister returned from a month long business trip, the girl said, "Hi, Daddy! Now where is my surprise!!!!!" Poor, poor, daddy. Completely underappreciated in our household sometimes...

Buta soboro maki with egg, edamame picks and Anpanman sweet potatoes.

Soboro is usually made with ground chicken or egg, but this is made with ground pork. And it came in a jar from my beloved Pal Systems. I just mixed up some rice with soboro and rolled them with  tamagoyaki. Thought it may make it easier for my girl to eat it this way. The flowers on top of the soboro makis are made of ham.

The Anpanman sweet potatoes are also from Pay Systems but they didn't come out in the pictures. I'll try to take a better picture of them next time I add them in the bento. You can kinda cath it from this angle:

Or maybe not. OK, next time I'll get it, promise!

And bottom tier of fruit -- strawberries, kiwi, apples, and oranges.

It is totally snowing in Kanto region today. My kids and I were soaked walking through the snow with our tennis shoes/clogs...Obviously we were not expecting this weather while we visited my parents this weekend. I am so over snow fascination in Tokyo...