Tiny Face Onigiri

This is the last candy corn onigiri of the season. I love how the face turned out, it's sooo cute! I finally found a teeny tiny hole punch at Hobby Lobby that was just what I wanted. Last year A-chan and I argued vehemently over who got the last one, but this year I magnanimously allowed her to have it. We'll be eating the last of the actual candy corn soon, only half a bag is left. As the last few pieces disappear we will slip into winter mode.

I've realized recently that a lot of my sentiment regarding the change of seasons is marked by food. This applies not only to purchased foods like candy corn but also the recipes that I pull out tend to change with the seasons. I'm sure that most people do the same but it only came to my attention in the last few weeks.

Falls sees the disappearance of sandwiches, except in A-chan's school bentos. Apples and cheeses become prolific in my fall menus. Winter brings casseroles and stews and heavy pastas. I seem to use more wine in my cooking during winter as well, while I use almost none in the summer.

Our bentos don't seem to reflect these tendencies though. Almost as if they are a menu apart and my brain classifies them as something different and in their own category - thus free from the seasons. They have contradicted some of my long held seasonal food rules, actually. Scottish flat pie used to be totally reserved for fall, but now shows up year round because it works so well in bentos. I would like to explore more of the Japanese idea of seasonal foods, particularly as it pertains to bentos. Do their bentos follow the seasonal pattern?

In the bento: Candy corn onigiri with a tiny face of nori, two raspberries, steamed broccoli, baby corn, fried tofu bites, carrot acorns and a wedge of lemon. A soy sauce bottle takes up extra space in the back.