Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Rudolph's Getting Ready!


Rudolph is primping for his big day, putting on his new collar with the huge bow.  He's counting down the days until Christmas and so are we.  A-chan was so inspired by our Advent Calendar this year that she asked Santa to bring her some mittens.  I managed to talk her out of the automatic snowball throwing machine she also wanted, whew!

In the bento: Cheese sandwich with rudolph on top, steamed broccoli, soy sauce tofu, a huge strawberry, two picks with carrot flowers and black olives, a couple of tiny slivers of mango.

Rudolph was cut from soy turkey with my food scissors.  The soy turkey that I like to use for sandwiches comes in very thin slices so I used three layers to make him more substantial.  His eye and antlers were cut from provolone cheese and his beautiful red nose was the end of a strawberry.  The handsome collar was cut from nori and has a pasta bow with a strawberry slice, provolone circle and a nori heart for festive decoration.

Cooking all took place in one pot - first boiling the pasta.  I cooked three pieces of bowtie pasta just in case something untoward happened and I needed backups.  Once the pasta was done I removed them with chopsticks and then cooked the broccoli with the still hot water.  After the broccoli was ready I poured out the water and replaced it with sesame oil to cook the tofu.  It took about 15 minutes total cooking time, during which I was making the sammie and reindeer.  I could have cut down on the cooking time and used two pots (one for veggies, one for tofu) but I was focusing on tidier cooking this morning.

What do you think of the labels, etc. that I've been putting on some bento pictures?  Other bento makers have caught my eye with labels and decor on their bento pictures, like Lia Chen at Bentolicious whose are always gorgeous.  I wanted to give it a try.  It's fun and I've enjoyed doing it but I'm not sure if I should keep it up. I need opinions from you guys!  Is it okay or ickle?

This post is linked up at Today's Creative Blog.

14 comments:

Happy Little Bento said...

Rudolph's looking sharp! Beautiful cutwork!

Unknown said...

Rudolph is so cute. Especially the idea with the noodle on the collar is awesome. I love it * u *
About the labels: I find the labels in the pictures very pretty. I would go on with it. What program did you use for that?

Unknown said...

Wowooo how adorable! Especially the BIG bow tie! And that strawberry nose is a great idea.
I think photoshopping makes pictures look more fun and professional, especially labeling works for anti-plagiarism. I do it once in a while but I still like my pictures natural. :)

The Student @ Food for Dissertating said...

I think if you have fun doing it, then do it! No harm in it.

Unknown said...

Love ur Rodulph, how lovely! :)

Keitha said...

This lunch is absolutely adorable! Love the little details like the strawberry on the bow tie. Yum!

Natakiya said...

Thanks so much, Sheri! :)

Natakiya said...

Thank you, Mokiko! I love his bowtie too :) I used Photoshop for the labels.

Natakiya said...

Awww, thanks Izumi! The bowtie is my favorite part of this bento :) I am finding that I like the pictures both ways, too. Maybe I'll just continue with some being labeled and some being natural.

Natakiya said...

Thanks, Student! I appreciate it :)

Natakiya said...

Thank you, Ming! He was a lot of fun to make. :)

Natakiya said...

Hi Keitha! Thank you, I'm glad that you liked it :D

Food Blog Events said...

very cute

Natakiya said...

Thanks so much!! :)