Yum-Yum Bento Box ~ inspired butterfly bento

Yes, it's been awhile since I've posted and I am trying to keep up with all my bento blog friends out there. I feel especially bad because it took me so long to post about the book that I won from Lia on her blog Bentolicious. She was one of the first ones to post a comment when I first started doing bentos on my The Tiny Skillet blog. She was so kind and encouraging as so many bento bloggers are. I was absolutely thrilled that I won this bento cookbook it was my first one.

Written by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa. I knew Crystal or Pikko as she in known on her blog, from her blog Adventures in Bentomaking. I was excited to find out she was writing this book. (my first bento book) She is a whizz with the nori, I have never seen anyone that can cut nori like she can. I was flipping though the book for the umpteenth time, and thought...I could do this.

I had some bamboo rice and some cooked ground pork well seasoned with soysauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic and all the good flavors of Asian foods, that would work perfect for this. So I used a butterfly cookie cutter and celery for the body and I could use a lot of help for the antennae.

... a little tomato bits for decoration in the wings. Carrots, celery, and grapes! I sent along some dipping sauce for the veggies.

Thanks Lia and all you bento friends out there!

Fun Shapes ~Bento~

I found some templates that you use with a fancy cutter, they were on Clarence so I thought I could use them for a bento. It is made out of a very thick plastic so I think it will work well. I let Maranda choose the shape. Sure she wanted the spiral-curly-Q! My first attempt so it's a little messy. I first tried to cut the lunch meat with a tiny paring knife I had but it slipped too easy, so then I use a toothpick. The smaller hearts were on the same stencil. The Havarti cheese wasn't the best choice as it has little holes in it and makes it a little sloppy looking!
A very simple bento:
The right side: Bamboo Jade rice, lunch meat shapes - Havarti cheese heart with a tiny nori punched out heart.
The left side: diced tomatoes and cheese in the yellow silicone flower cup, basil tucked in around it. Sliced orange sweet peppers on a fun, blue, square, spiral pick. Sliced kiwi. I also had some olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the tomato-mozzarella-basil, it didn't make it in the photo!

Just a few yard pictures!
My pineapple is in a pot, they will fruit quicker than when planted in the ground.

Pink plumeria

Yellow plumeria

Pink bougainvillea with a butterfly.

Our friend Neji!

Red passion flower! Have a happy Wednesday!