Autumn always makes me think of Totoro. I'm not exactly sure why since the movie is all about spring and summer, but that's the strange association my mind has made. It's got to be the acorns. This time of year we have beautiful, huge acorns all over the yard. In another week we will be walking on a carpet of acorns to get to the car every morning. Acorns = Totoro!
This cute little guy was not my idea, though. It was inspired by Anna the Red and her Totoro inari zushi tutorial. I am quite a bit jealous of her mad bento skillz! My favorite of her Totoros were the ones with the green ears. Since I didn't have any green beans I improvised with edamame shells instead. Also, I forgot the whiskers but didn't realize it until I put up the link a moment ago, lol.
In the bento: One Totoro inari zushi, a couple of plain inari zushi, carrot leaves, baby corn spears, steamed broccoli, steamed edamame, a cherry tomato, blackberries, a piece of apple and some soot sprites.
A fit of bentoing madness overcame me as I contemplated what to do with the slice of apple. The decision to cut letters into it with my exacto knife was crazy! Those letters took more time than anything else in this bento. I think they turned out pretty well, though, and was very pleased with them. Exacto Knife is good. Good exacto knife.
The soot sprites were made from provolone cheese and nori. The nori was cut into a circle and then randomly trimmed with scissors to get the 'poof' effect. The eyes were smaller cheese circles and smaller nori circles.
