Finally back in (bento) action...:). I am so glad it's Friday! I actually wanted to make bento dinner yesterday, but on the way home I was too tempted to buy a bento lunch from Maruyasu, a Japanese chain sushi restaurant in Frankfurt, which sells take-away sushi and bento meals. They have a quite big selection of sushi (especially for a German standard) and the taste is really quite good too!

Bento boxes from Maruyasu. The gyoza bento costs € 6.50 and the fried ebi (prawns) bento costs € 7.50. I bought some sushi too, but I was too hungry that I forgot to take some pictures of the sushi. Perhaps another time...;).

Today's bento is again without any cute characters because I wanted to make something simpler and I wanted to use the Farfalle pasta which I just bought yesterday.

The wooden bowl contains: two farfalle onigiri, three pieces of shao mai, two boiled dumplings, three pieces of pan-fried meat patties with nori, two pan-seared mini peppers, one orange mini pepper, one deli meat flower, one cherry tomato, two pieces of pan-fried deli meat/asparagus/mayonnaise 'gyoza', a piece of strawberry and lettuce.

UPDATE - GIVEAWAY
By the way, I've noticed that some comments that people have written in my blog yesterday and two days ago went missing...! I think this is due to an error happening to Blogger today. So, please don't think that I deleted your comments...! I never do! This error is actually not that bad, but unfortunately there were people who commented on my Giveaway post during the last two days and I've noticed that these comments are gone...! Yesterday there were 62 comments but it's only 54 today, so 8 comments went missing...:(. I do apologise for this inconvenience (even though I know it is not my fault, but I know you have given some effort to write in my blog and now it's gone without a trace...!). I remember that Minnieh from Food is Delish and TJ from Bento Log wrote some comments letting me know that they wanted to participate in the giveaway, but I am not sure if there were more people who did. Anyway, Minnieh and TJ, I'll enter both of you again in the giveway :)!

Another simple bento today, Indonesian-style fried rice with shrimps, garnished with a hard-boiled quail egg, three blanched carrot flowers, one cherry tomato, two pan-seared mini peppers and lettuce. I love this type of fried rice very much because it's very flavoursome, do check out the recipe from my previous post here and try it, I absolutely recommend it because it's extremely easy to make (just like most fried rice) but totally delicious...!

I was totally hungry when I arrived home today, it was half past five and I had not eaten anything the whole day. This is a quite bad habit of mine, I don't usually have breakfast in the morning because I always like to stay in bed as long as possible before I rush to go to work ;). I knew I had to starve for a few more hours if I started making a charaben (character bento), that's why I made a quick (but extremely satisfying) dinner instead - Udon noodle soup with Szechuan wontons. I love this type of meal - very homey, comforting and filling. I don't even mind having it everyday...!

I usually always have a stock of frozen homemade dumplings, because I know it can be very practical, especially for such a time like today when I'm starving but I don't really feel like cooking much. You only need to cook the dumplings for a few minutes, add udon noodles, dashi powder, a bit of soy sauce and mirin and voilà....it's ready...! Well, I did add some chopped green onions, Szechuan chili oil, Chinkiang vinegar, fried onions and toasted sesame seeds to make the dumplings a la Szechuan. If you're interested to see the recipes, click the two links above.

The udon noodle soup is garnised with half a semi hard-boiled egg, green onions, blanched carrot flowers, toasted sesame seeds, Shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7-spice powder) and half a strawberry. If you want to bring something like this to work, I do suggest not to include the soup stock with the noodles, because in the end the noodles would get soggy (it might leak too...!). I would simply bring a sachet of dashi powder, then when you want to eat the noodles, you simply have to add boiling water and the dashi powder.

If you are curious where I got the bento boxes, they're from CasaBento. It's a combination of my Hanako Kokeshi bento box and my Urara Bento Box Brown.

That's it for now... Maybe I'll make bento again tomorrow, but I cannot guarantee it...! So, see you (hopefully) tomorrow :).

As promised, here's my husband's non-charaben (character bento) bento lunch: beef steak, toasts and salad. One thing which I like about making this type of bento is that it's absolutely not time-consuming, it's just like normal cooking. The only difference is you simple assemble everything in a bento box instead of a plate. I quite like the look of this bento lunch, it's simple but somehow elegant. I think I will make more bento lunches like this in the future :).

CG's Simple Salad

• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Corn kernels
• Mozzarella cheese
• Black olives
• Sweet peppers
• Olive oil
• Dried majoram
• Ground black pepper

Sammy and sushi bento today...:). This bento was quite easy to assemble, the hardest part was making the cheese/nori tiger. When I was in school I was never good at craft, I somehow never managed to cut out things perfectly, I wasn't even able to draw straight lines with my ruler....;). It's funny how I love making character bento now...!

The sammies are filled with smoked ham, cucumber and tomato slices, mayo and cheese and the sushi rolls with crispy chicken, mayo and lettuce. There are also two mini peppers, two cherry tomatoes, two slices of orange and a strawberry. Next to the bento, you can see a cup of bubble tea, my favourite drink ever :D)!

Tonight I'll post some pictures of my husband's non-cute bento lunch from yesterday :). Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

This was my lunch for today: two bunny-onigiris filled with crispy chicken and spicy mayonnaise, two pan-fried dumplings, two cocktail sausages, half a quail egg, two deli meat flowers, a quarter liver pate sandwich, a slice of tamagoyaki, two pan-seared mini peppers, a few slices of strawberries, two pieces of cherry tomatoes, four pieces of grapes and lettuce. Sounds a lot, doesn't it ;)? Somehow I didn't manage to eat everything, normally I would!

My husband got something different, he's got quite enough of bento lunches I suppose...! Well, I somehow can understand this, because my bento is mostly rice-based, because I love making characters with rice. I myself don't have a problem, because I love rice. I still made him a bento lunch though (*g*), but a non-cute version. When I have the time, I'll post the pictures another time because I know not everyone is fond of kindergarten-themed lunches ;). This I think would be interesting for people who want to make 'adult' bento meals.

By the way, the noses of the bunnies are made out of edamame, in case that you're interested to know, the cheeks and inner-ears of deli meat and eyes and lips of nori.

Another thing I would like to say is, THANK YOU for participating in my Bento Giveaway. There is still plenty of time to participate though (it ends on the 31st May 2011), so if you're not aware of this giveaway, click this link and please join in the fun...:D)!!

However, I am afraid I didn't set out the rules very clearly (apologies, it's my very first giveaway...!). I stated that that you should just do one of the rules (or all to increase the chance to win), unfortunately, I realised that if you didn't leave a comment in my blog or send me an e-mail, I wouldn't know whether you'd like to participate or not. I've made a slight change to the giveaway rules, please check to find out. But please don't worry, it's an extremely minor change, and wouldn't make any difference to the people who have entered the giveaway.

Hi everyone! I would like to 'announce' that my humble blog has managed to get over 100,000 clicks since yesterday :D). For some bloggers 100,000 is not a big number, but considering the fact that I have not been the most active blogger in the world (I've only been rather active since I've started making bento ;)), I am very very happy to reach this number and to know that there are indeed people who are interested to see my creations :). That's why I would like to use this chance to say thank you to everyone who has been reading, commenting and supporting me throughout my journey as a blogger. As a token of appreciation to you all, I've prepared two bento sets to give away. CasaBento, a French-based bento online store, has very kindly offered to sponsor me and has chosen 4 new products from their bento shop: a bento box, a pair of pink chopsticks, a set of animal food picks and an onigiri mold.

There will be two winners, the first winner will get SET A and the second winner will get SET B. Scroll down to find out how to win these.

SET A

• 1 Shokuiko Bento Box (Colour: red, Capacity: 600 ml) plus a matching kinchaku bag
• A pair of pink chopsticks from Yellow Studio
  

SET B

• 15 Animal Food Picks
• 1 Onigiri mold

HOW TO ENTER

• If you own a blog: Leave a comment on this page and simply tell me where you come from and tell me what you like best from my site (or maybe what I should improve as well :)).
• If you don't own a blog: you can e-mail me instead (Cookinggallery@yahoo.de) and state that you want to enter the giveaway (since I am still using an old fashioned comment system, I cannot see your e-mail address in my blog, so if you leave a comment on this page without leaving your e-mail address, I will not be able to contact you, in case that you win...).

You can also do one of the following, or all to increase your chance to win:

• Follow me through Google Friend Connect
  
• Like my Facebook Page
• Like CasaBento Page

The competition is open to EVERYONE and ends at midnight GMT+1 on the 31st May 2011.

Two winners will be selected using Random.org and will be contacted through their blog or via e-mail. CasaBento will send the bento sets and no shipping cost will be charged.


I hope a lot of people can participate. Please spread the love...:D)!!!

This giveaway has ended. The two lucky winners will be announced shortly :).

UPDATE

The two lucky winners are.....*roll drums* ;): Mieke (first winner) from the Netherlands and Lyn Trinix from Singapore (second winner) :D)!

Winners, you'll be contacted shortly, you'll have to provide me with your address so that CasaBento can send you the prize :).

Still in the mood of making Rilakkuma in an animal suit ;)! This time tiger suit :D). He is holding a strawberry instead of a mini pepper. He looks quite sad still, I should give him something different next time to make him smile (but then he wouldn't really look like Rilakkuma anymore, I guess?). Kiiroitori the chick (the yellow quail eggs) is still there for him to scold him whenever he's lazy, there are even two of them - maybe this is the reason why he looks so sad, too much scolding from Kiiroitori ;)! I am sure the people who are not familiar with these two adorable characters from San-X are simply thinking that I am crazy and talking gibberish...;)!

The tiger suit is coloured with turmeric powder the same with the quail eggs. The other bento box is filled with Chicken cordon bleu, chicken nuggets, a strawberry, deli meat flower, 2 slices of orange and lettuce. I bought pre-made chicken cordon blue and chicken nuggets, this saved me plenty of time slaving in the kitchen.

And how do you like my new bento box? The two bunnies flying through the flowery milky way are the sweetest, aren't they :)?

I thought I wouldn't make any bento meals until this weekend, but I just couldn't resist it...! When I got home, it was still sunny, so I thought, why not make a bento dinner, eh ? This is what I like about spring and summer, the sun shines much longer and everything just seems to be more cheery. In June and July, it often doesn't get dark until 10 in the evening. This really lifts up my mood and makes me more motivated to still do something after work.

I came up with the idea of Rilakkuma in a koala suit on the way back home. I thought it would be a really cute idea. I was thinking about making the koala bear brown, because I didn't like the look of my gray Totoro - the sesame seeds look too obvious and rough. But then, I thought, why not grind the toasted sesame seeds with a pestle? How could I have not thought about it earlier?!!

I hope you all can see the koala's face. My husband couldn't tell (again!!), let's just say, he's got no imagination ;)!! I think we just simply think very differently, that's why ;). The koala's nose is made out of black olive and his eyes of nori, the same with Rilakkuma's eyes, nose and lips. I blushed his cheeks with pink edible lustre (usually used to decorate fondant cakes). He's holding a mini sweet pepper, and as usual, he looks very sad, probably because he prefers to have a mini hot pepper instead ;). The other bento box is filled with baked cheese chicken nuggets, two Kiiroitori chicks from quail eggs tinted with turmeric, two pieces of strawberries, a few pieces of grapes, two slices of mandarin and deli meat flower.

BENTO CONTEST

By the way, in case that you are interested, there is a bento contest currently going on in two Italian blogs, which are sponsored by CasaBento. The contest is OPEN TO EVERYONE and you have time to do this until THURSDAY, 2nd JUNE 2011. Basically, you have to make a bento meal, take a picture of your bento and write down the recipe. Please only one picture/recipe per person!

If you have a blog, you should post the picture and recipe there including the logo of this contest (which you can see below). Then you should inform one or both of the Italian bloggers Kitty's Kitchen or Simplicemente Pepe Rosa that you want to participate and give your bento post link to them.

If you don't own a blog: simply e-mail your bento photo plus recipe to elisaceccuzzi(at)fastwebnet(dot)it. You can also publish your photo in Facebook or Flickr, then send the link to the bloggers via e-mail.

CLICK THE LOGO to find more information about the contest!

THE PRIZE

Look at the these gorgeous goodies...!! I want them too ;)! There will be 2 winners and they will either get PRIZE A or PRIZE B. If I could choose, I want to have PRIZE A ;)! Love the Polka-dot motives. CasaBento and the two bloggers are going to be the judges. Let's join in the bento fun...!!

Totoro without whiskers

Totoro bento to end the week... I've seen Totoro-themed merchandise everywhere but I've never watched the film itself. But I like his chubby posture and cheeky grin, so he's definitely a good model for bento :). A reader has suggested to make him too, so here he is... I'd never imagined that making Totoro would be so much work though, it's really hard to make him, the hardest character I've made so far (maybe because until now I've only done round shaped animals, that's why ;)). One day I'll try to make him again, because I don't think my Totoro is very well-made.

Totoro with whiskers

Bento Box 1: Three fried shrimps, three slices of tamagoyaki filled with spring onions and smoked ham, one deli meat flower, a few pieces of grapes, a few pieces of sugar snap peas, a slice of orange and one cheese flower.

Bento Box 2: Totoro onigiri (the rice is mixed with toasted black sesame seeds), one deli meat flower, four pieces of fried shrimps, a few pieces of sugar snap peas and one cheese flower.

The mini colourful containers are filled with mayonnaise, tonkatsu sauce and chili sauce.

This is another bento which I made today. This has not been eaten yet because I made it for my husband's breakfast tomorrow (Well, I had to find some excuse to make more bentos...;)!)

I had to hurry up while making this bento because it's almost sunset, and you know that no sunlight means dark, blurry pictures (at least with my camera - or silly me simply doesn't know how to use all functions of the camera properly!). Luckily making this bento didn't take long, I would say around 15 minutes, because I only had to make the sandwich and the rest are leftovers. I used 2 different-size round cookie cutters to make the bear. If you have a bear cookie cutter, that's even better. And to make a nice colour-contrast, I used rye bread for the bear and white bread for the background. I also filled the bento box with fried radish cake cubes, 2 cheese flowers, 1 deli meat flower, 2 slices of orange and a few pieces of blanched broccoli.

Good night, everyone. I cannot believe tomorrow is already Sunday again...!

I got the idea to make this bento after my husband asked me to make some chicken wraps, he's got enough rice I guess ;). As you can see, I am still fascinated by my fondant flower cutters. I experimented with two different-size flower cutters which resulted into cheese-flowers with a more 3-d look. The little piggies are made out of mozzarella, the snouts of pink deli meat, the eyes of nori and the rosy cheeks of chili sauce.

The chicken wraps are the modest version of my Giant Prawn Tempura Wraps with Spicy Yoghurt Dressing.

Some people are wondering how I can manage to make bento everyday...Well, the secret is, it's because I am on holiday - my Easter break is quite long ;)! Unfortunately it will be different next week, because I have to get back to work again :(. Anyway, that's not the end of the world...