Bento Corner

Whew! I have been on Spring Break and I guess I'm enjoying it a bit too much hence the lack of postings lately...

But fear not! I did not back out of the Kewpie contest!

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who posted some really great suggestions-- I really feel like you understand my husband's sense of humor.

Contestants were:

1. Kelly
2. Andophiroxia
3. Arethusa
4. Tiffany P.
5. amy
6. limulimu
7. Teacher A
8. Cate
9. Myria
10. Roxi
11. jessica
12. Amy
13. Yvo
14. Sheri

I busily wrote down everyone's names who sent suggestions and put them in a pail for my girl to pick out:

 And here is who won:

Wait for it............................................................................................

In case you can't read my horrible penmanship, it's Arethusa! Congratulations! I'll contact you shortly or you can reach me at bento_corner(at)yahoo.com!

Thanks for playing/commenting everyone!

Next up, character tutorial.

And this was my daughter's final bento for kinder.

The red backpack is called a randoseru which most elementary school children in Japan carry. It's made of heavy leather and is quite cumbersome. Also can't carry as much since the material is not flexible and although the newer models are light, they are traditionally quite heavy and nowhere near as light/convenient as the nylon backpacks...so what are the merits? I'm still trying to figure that one out too, so enlighten me if you have any ideas. Anyway, when in Japan, do as everyone else does or else you get left behind and isolation is never a good feeling now is it?

Oooh, so ranty.

The lettuce is there to hold the bento in place to avoid the last bento fiasco.  I really didn't want this one messed up since this was technically the last bento I needed to make for her as a kindergartner. Once in elementary school, she will have lunch provided (kyuushoku). So for sentimental reasons, I wanted to make this last one right.

The girl is made of cheese, imitation crab, nori, and ham. Underneath there are umeboshi onigiri, tamagoyaki with imitation crab, broccoli and apples on the sides.

Reflecting back over the last 3 years, I got a bit sappy about the girl who used to continually dream about rabbits:

Sotsuen omedetou. Sannen kan obentou wo gambatte tabete kurete arigatou. (trans: Congratulations on graduating kinder. Thank you for diligently eating obento for 3 years.)

The girl is growing up so fast...

Now somebody pass me some tissue! *quietly sobs*

Many thanks to all those who've commented on suggestions for "what I can get my husband so I may get out of the doghouse"! I'm here to report that the husband has been busily searching through all the great links and I think he's been quite pleased. I do want to encourage all posters to put your name in because how could you miss out on great things like this:

Beer Kewpie:

OK, OK this one's really cute -- Tamago Kewpie!

Flip it over:

No? OK how 'bout Bee Kewpie

Ultraman Kewpie

How about freaky Kewpie of the Eye (say it like Cate Blanchett in LOTR -- v. dramatic!)

The choices are endless!

You can search for more here.

For the record, Kewpie searching is totally not a waste of time -- just file it under cultural research or some other loophole.

This bento is modeled after this:

Kewpie dressed in Cinnamon. Don't really see it? Humor me, please -- if my daughter can do it, you can too.

The Kewpie/Cinnamon is made of cheese, hanpen (fish cake), nori, and tomatoes.

Bento also includes yakiudon, kiwi, and Anpanman sweet potatoes which look like this:

This bento was a logistical disaster as too many things shifted about in transport and by the time the girl opened up to eat it, there was just a pile of mess. Ooops.

Only one more day of kindergarten to go and then the girl will finally be going into first grade.