After DragonCon Bento

It was the morning after DragonCon and few groceries were in the house.  The worst bento transgression was about to occur for we had no fruit!  It pained me greatly but still I labored to put one together, swearing to shop just as soon as I could.   Instead of lettuce to line and to cushion I cut apart muffin cups and used them where needed.  What a wonderful time we had at that pinnacle of Conventions, meeting lots of great people hither and yon.  Much thanks to all those who attended my classes, I had a fantastic time and I hope that you did as well!

In the bento:  Peanut butter and sugar sprinkle sandwiches, steamed broccoli, baby tomatoes on Kappa picks, baby carrots, cheddar cheese chunks and the tiny chick container of frozen blueberries which was all the fruit I could find.

It was a fantastic convention and we loved every minute and we can't wait for next year!  We dressed up in several different costumes.  Here are a couple of pics of our matching Victorian outfits.

 It's always a difficult transition to come home after an amazing event and I made the mistake of forgetting to stop for groceries.  Luckily we had enough food on hand to make a bento but I was a little nervous for a while this morning.  In the background is A-chan's snack container filled with the last few Cheetos that we had left over from our junk food stash in the hotel room.

Curry with Chickens

Wow, it's already Friday!  I can't believe that the first week of school is over already.  Here are some cute chicks to usher in the weekend with my fav recipe - Curry rice.  It no longer phases A-chan when I add things to the basic curry recipe.  This time I went back to spinach, chopping it very fine in an attempt to get it past the 7 year old radar.  When we ate the first meal of the batch (one batch will usually make 3-4 meals for us) she took a few bites before challenging me on the green stuff.  "It's spinach," I said.  She proceeded to eat the rest with no comments.  Can I consider that a spinach victory?

In the bento: Vegetarian curry with two onigiri on top, egg sheet chicks, grapes, plum, steamed green beans and a carrot butterfly.

The egg sheet ovals for the chicks were cut with scissors and placed onto the onigiri with a little bit of curry gravy to hold them in place.  Their beaks were cut from carrots and the cheeks were sriracha dabbed on with the end of a toothpick.  The little flowers are egg sheet with red sugar dots in the center and they have leaves of fresh parsley.

Where is the Sun?

A children's book inspired today's bento.  'How the Sun was Brought Back to the Sky' by Mirra Ginsburg was published in 1975, the year I was born.  We found our copy at Mr. Reed's Odds and Ends Antique store.  It's pretty much out in the middle of nowhere and filled with all kinds of things.  I like to describe it as a giant treasure trove.  In this sweet book some intrepid chicks decide that the sun has been gone for too long and go on an adventure to find it.  My thoughts on getting out of bed this morning mirrored theirs.  It's been raining for days and days - I need some sunshine!

In the bento: Tofu kaarage, blueberries, a tiny tomato, steamed broccoli, navel orange slices, rice with furikake, eggsheet chicks and flowers.

The tofu kaarage is adapted from a recipe for Chicken Kaarage on Just Hungry. My camera seemed to love the tofu as much as I do - every shot that I took this morning was focused on the tofu instead of the chicks! The furikake is one that I made from toasted sesame seeds, sea salt and tarragon.  And I even managed to have enough space for one of the new soy sauce bottles that I got at Christmas!

This post is my 400th bento post!  That is a lot of bentos :D   A while back I noticed that this big number was coming up and gave a lot of thought to a way to celebrate.  What I want is to start doing a link-up that focuses on our favorite things about bentos.  There are a lot of other bento peeps out there that I would love to know more about - what are your bento treasures?  Unfortunately I'm not feeling very good today so I'm going to start this whole new adventure tomorrow when I'm certain that I can be more coherent.