Wallace and Gromit Bento

It has been a while since I made a charaben or character bento. So, in honor of the new Flickr group Kyaraben (Charaben) I made this Wallace and Gromit Bento lunch.

This bento contains a cucumber sandwich, a veggie buffalo wing, some veggies, and of course *Cheese!!* If you haven't seen Wallace and Gromit, Wallace really likes cheese. W&G looked a bit washed out brown on white sandwich bread, so I put some sushi grass and some veggie bacon behind them.

If you would like details on how I created the characters, see my post for my Twilight Bella bento which details the process. I did essentially the same thing here. And although I mention it in that post, I want to point out a really handy trick I came across. I first create the characters, then I assemble them on wax paper and stick them in the freezer while I put together the rest of the lunch. This makes it so much easier to put the characters in the actual lunch without messing up the little details. As long as you don't leave them in the freezer too long, they still taste fine.

This was my original drawing on an index card. I knew W&G would be good characters because they are mostly tan and black, which suits cheese and lunchmeat (or in my case, veggie lunchmeat) well. An important thing to remember is that you can't make it perfect. Wallace's shirt is green, not black. His face is more pink than Gromit's, but you have to work with your ingredients, and a little artistic license doesn't detract from the final product (in my opinion).

So, in case you have never seen Wallace and Gromit, here are a few links:

Wallace and Gromit official site

Aardman's YouTube

Wallace and Gromit DVDs on Amazon.com

My favorite episode is The Wrong Trousers, mostly because I love this character Feather's McGraw. He is a fugitive penguin:

Bob the Builder Charaben Bento

It has been a while since I made a Charaben (or Kyaraben) style bento. Charaben is a type of food art in which a bento lunch is designed to look like a character (character + bento = Charaben). The reason I started making bento lunches was because I loved charabens and I figured I would give it a try. Unfortunately, since my lunches are always vegetarian, I have a more limited ingredient selection which makes designing charaben difficult. I have imposed an even greater restriction on myself by not using rice (a staple in bento making, especially character sculpting) in my lunches because it isn't a food that I am particularly fond of. I do occassionally use rice in my lunches, but it certainly isn't often. So, lately I have had charaben writer's block.

Recently I purchased the "Chuck Charles" dress from ModCloth for an upcoming event, and while browsing through the clearance section for some deals, I came across some adorable nail-shaped party picks. I couldn't resist. Of course, my first thought was "Bob the Builder!"

I have never actually seen the Bob the Builder show, but I know it is popular, and he is a pretty cute character. In fact, last summer I made a Bob the Builder birthday cake. I think this bento came out much better. Look at the detail on the nail-shaped picks below, aren't they adorable?!? (note: if you are thinking of ordering these, you should know that the ends are very sharp, and may not be appropriate for kids lunches).

For Bob's face I used Lightlife imitation turkey lunchmeat. As you can see in the picture below (top left corner) I drew a sketch of Bob to work off of in the kitchen. Using a dedicated-to-food xacto blade, I cut the shape of Bob's head freehand (hence the odd looking ears). I then cut his hard hat from a yellow American cheese slice. Lucky for me, Bob's smile is exactly the same as the smile on my Nori-punch, which saved me a lot of trouble. I gobbled up the scraps as I was preparing the rest of the lunch, although I could have included them in the sandwhich he rested on.
The final lunch contained an imitation turkey and swiss sandwich on rye flatbread. Tomato and Peppers on the side, and some grapes for dessert.

Personally, I think this is my best Charaben yet, which is amazing considering the fact that it took me less than 10 minutes to prepare, which is highly unusual. Some charaben take hours. I guess keeping things simple is sometimes best.

Bento Shopping Tips

When I first discovered the art of bento packing, I wanted to give it a try but I didn't have any real bento boxes or accessories. So, I made my lunches in tupperware or the Fit and Fresh boxes that I already had. I used disposable cupcake cups (which I still use in almost every lunch) and regular toothpicks. Soon, I discovered that a lot of regular stores have items that are perfect for bento packing.

First, Michael's Crafts, or any craft store that has a baking section. The Michael's near me has an aisle of Wilton cake products which includes mini fondant cookie cutters and decorative picks.

Next is the party store. I have several different party stores near me and they are great for disposable items like wet naps, takeout containers (for days when you want something disposable), silicon baking cups, paper baking cups, and character napkins. I have amassed a silly collection of Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, Happy Bunny... etc. napkins. Plus, they are usually very inexpensive.

But my absolute favorite find is from the outdoors store EMS. I pack a lot of salads for my lunches, even on my non-bento days, and had a hell of a time finding a good salad dressing container. The small tupperwares were too big, the bento sauce bottles too small. Plus, a lot of containers I tried leaked, or I spilled them while popping the top off (I'm really clumsy). When I discovered these mini Nalgene bottles in the camp kitchen section of EMS I nearly cried:
I believe I got the 1/2 oz and 1 oz containers. The 1/2 oz is great for vinegarettes on a bento-sized salad (about one full 500 ml box). The 1 oz container is good for creamy dressings because it has a larger mouth, or other condiments like ketchup, but doesn't fit easily into shallow bento boxes. They cost between $0.75 - $1.50 depending on what size you get.

The other fantastic item I found at EMS are these neat sporks:
Now, these are a little big for small lunches, but I usually pack a pretty large bag with my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for a full day at work. I tuck one of these sporks in, and no matter what I am eating, I know I have the right silverware. It is hard to tell in this photo, but one side of the fork side is a serrated knife. Of course, if I am packing something like sushi, I have to remember to pack the chopsticks, so I keep an extra set at my desk in case I forget. These are just a few examples. EMS, and I am sure your local camping store, have a lot of products designed to make cooking at a campsite, or eating on a hike, easier. This means that they are compact and durable.

I'm not affilated with EMS or Michael's Crafts. I linked the Fit and Fresh boxes to Amazon.com to which I am an "associate." FYI

So I am wondering what other bento gems are hidden away at our regular shopping spots. Any suggestions?

A Very Bento Christmas or What I did on my Holiday

Actually, my Holiday is just beginning since I don't go back to work until next Monday. But I won't be making lunches during my week off. I had a great Christmas this year and received a few gifts that will hopefully get me out of my bento rut. I got some mini cookie cutters, plus large ones, some food dividers, and a book about Japanese Garnishes. I also got a little creative and made some new food pics:


I got the idea for these food pics from this blog. I can't find the original post, and since I don't know Japanese, I can't search for it. I think that they actually sell ribbon or tape that is designed to be used as flags, but I improvised with some $1-bin ribbon from Michael's Crafts, double stick tape, and colorful food pics. I made a bunch of them, so they should feature prominently in my future lunches.

On Sunday my cousins and I ventured to New York to visit the Museum of Art and Design which recently moved to a new (larger) building in Columbus Circle. We also hit Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore located across from Bryant Park (near the NY Public Library). If you are traveling to NY, I highly reccomend this store. Not only are there books in Japanese, but there is nearly an entire floor of Manga, an entire floor of books in English about Japanese things, Magazines, Gifts, Movies.... In other words, so much great stuff!! They are a bit pricey so I couldn't afford the giant plush Totoro that I wanted, but I still walked away with some great finds:

A Miffy Classmates Bento Box. Ordinarily this would be out of my price range ($13) but I couldn't resist.

They had a pretty large selection of cookbooks in Japanese including a few shelves of bento-related books. Obviously it is silly of me to buy a book that I can't read, but I chose one which had a lot of pictures. Just like with the blog I mentioned above, I can get plenty of ideas by just looking at the pictures (although sometimes I have no idea what the ingredients are).

Since I couldn't afford the giant Totoro plush (or any of the great Totoro products they had), I splurged on this little Catbus Magnet.

So I was really pleased with Kinokuniya, and I wonder what other gems are hiding in New York which I have been missing. Any reccomendations?

The Simpsons Bento and Recipe for "Indian Blintz"

This bento was created for the LiveJournal Bento Challenge "Under the Sea." Once again I chose to go pretty simple. Using wax paper I cut the fish shape out of a piece of veggie cheese (see Tutorial on using wax paper here). Under the fish is what I call an "Indian Blintz." It is a cross between a blintz and a samosa.

Recipe:
Blintzes are an Easter tradition in my family and consist of a crepe filled with a potato and cheese mixture, folded up square, and fried in butter and onions. Learning to make crepes can be tricky, but once you have the technique down, you can whip them up pretty quickly. In this variation I filled my crepe with mashed potatoes which were seasoned with a generous amount of garam masala (a super yummy Indian spice mix). I folded it up and baked it for a few minutes so it retains it shape. I whipped up a simple spicy sauce (not pictured) out of ketchup, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Usually bento lunches are served room temperature, but I warmed the blintz up because I had access to a microwave.

Adorning this blintz are some Morningstar Farms Chick Nuggets and Mini Corn Dogs, as well as some fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes. Underneath the tomatoes a small Burger King Hot Mustard cup for the nuggets and dogs is hidden.

Twilight - Bella Bento

Since I began making bento boxes, I have scoured the net looking for how-to and tip blogs. I found a few great ones Lunch in a Box, Vegan Lunch Box, Just Bento, to name a few. The one thing that I haven't found a lot of is charaben tutorials or instructions. So, I winged it based on the few that I found. Today, I decided to show the step-by-step process of making my charaben.



First, I decided on a theme. Twilight! I love the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I recently finished reading Breaking Dawn which was fantastic in my opinion. The image for Bella (the main character in the series) is based on the Japanese translation of Twilight which features illustrations. I googled the images and found one I liked.

The key to character bento is planning. I first decided on the food, leftovers! I knew that I was making fake chicken (by quorn), mashed potatoes, corn, and stuffing for dinner. I decided that the mashed potatoes would be a good background because it is similar to rice in that it is white and you can mold it. Whilst I was cooking dinner, I prepared Bella. I first traced the image onto wax paper, cut it out, and cut my media (cheese, tofurkey, nori) around these shapes.




I then assembled the parts on wax paper



The hardest part was Bella's facial features. I decided to again trace her eyes, nose, and mouth onto wax paper and, after laying it on top of nori, used an exacto knife to cut the intricate details. It seemed to work well, although I think I will invest in a pair of tweezers to dedicate to food use. They would have helped in placing the small pieces. I then put Bella in the freezer. I ate dinner, watched Jeopardy and waited for the leftovers to cool. I then filled my bento with the food, and put the frozen (and therefore stuck together) Bella on top.

I decided I needed more, so I added a wolf howling at the moon to represent Jacob. I cut the nori using the same technique described above.



For some finishing touches, I added an Apple cookie decorated with a nori apple, some chocolate, and a Morningstar Farms veggie breakfast sausage. I also added some red flower re-usable ice cubes and a red toothpick to add a bit of color.

So, in conclusion, I LOVE Twilight, I hope my step-by-step helps those who are interested in charaben, and this is longest blog post EVER.



Happy Lunch!

Italian Leftover Yoshi Bento

Yoshi Bento
Originally uploaded by HazelCreevy
Tonight I made some fresh pesto with Lemon basin from our garden (minus the pine nuts b/c I am allergic) for dinner. In addition to the fettuccini, I made tomato, mozzarella, and polenta drenched in balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. I got the idea to use polenta because of the recent post on Lunch in a Box. I had never thought of polenta for my charaben...duh. The only character I could think of that was remotely Italian was Super Mario Brothers (sad considering I am part Italian). Since I felt that Mario himself was too complex, I chose Yoshi. I looked up some images online and drew a few sketches. I then created this bento with our leftovers from dinner. Yoshi and the mushroom guy are made from mozzarella, tomato, and my green "imitation kamaboko" that tastes like dry air. I'm glad that I found something (the polenta) that I can mold and shape other than rice. I am not a big fan of rice, and it is a real staple in bento boxes.

What else can I mold and shape for charaben? Mashed potatoes?