Yummy Totoro Onigiri. I made the Totoro rice grey by mixing in black sesame paste.The features are made from cheese slices and nori. I used pink noodles for the whiskers (I was in a hurry so didn't fry them, but frying the noodle means you can eat it, I had to remove these pink ones before eating).
Lovely served with fresh veggies and salmon!

Sorry I have not posted anything recently. We are moving house so I seem to have very little free time for bento and baking.
But, here's some tasty Totoro pull apart buns!
I used a basic bread dough recipe and added black sesame paste to give them a darker appearance.

Rilakkuma Deco Roll Cake

This is my first attempt at making deco roll cake. Unfortunately the Rilakkuma got a little stuck to the non-stick paper. 
The sponge is so lovely and light! It was a real hit at home.

Please click the post for the full recipe and instructions. 

I should have uploaded this one last week but it got forgotten! Just found it hiding in my photo folder.

Here's a simple recipe for making some cute little puppy buns.

Click the post for full recipe and method : )

We're fully in the Halloween spirit now!
I made this little witch with pink noodle hair and nori hat for the mini bean this week. She really liked the mini pumpkins, these were made from carrot and nori for the features.

On my last trip to London I stumbled upon a wonderful Japanese confectionary shop. I found these adorable rabbit shaped wagashi and purchased a few a gifts. 

The mini bean asked for a burger for her lunch today, so we went with a teddy bear design.
This was a very simple and quick bento to make. I used sliced cheese for the nose and ears and nori for the features. the main part of the ears is bun I cut to shape, and stuck on with a little bit of dried noodle (you could use spaghetti).

As Halloween is on its way, I thought I would get in the spirit with this bento box design.
A little Hello Kitty in fancy dress!
I made the cat hat out of nori and used cheese slices for the cat features. The ears are made from carrot and nori. Hello Kitty's features are made from nori and sliced cheese, and her bow is made from sausage.

Another Ghibli inspired bento box today. Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service.

To make this little kitty I shaped the rice and covered in nori, added cut sausage on the ears (I think chicken or ham would have worked better). Made the eyes from cheese slices and nori. The nose is a tiny bit of sausage, the bow tie is made from tomato.
Meow!

There's nothing cuter than a Totoro! We're big fans in this family.
Excuse the slightly orange tint, I must buy a daylight lamp for taking photo's on gloomy days.

I used crushed black sesame seeds mixed with the rice to make it grey (its best to do this whilst the rice is still warm). Cheese slices cut into little circles for the eyes and nori for the features.
The cucumber has been cut into leaves and the carrot into flowers, both with cutters.
I tried to give the bento box an autumnal theme. The leaves changing colour in the autumn are quite inspiring.

I wanted to make some wagashi, but unfortunately couldn't find any shiro-an paste either online or at the shops, so I decided to make some.

Ingredients;
650g Broad beans (also know as lima beans)
150g granulated sugar

Makes around 350g of paste

My little girl is a big Baymax fan (and so am I, whats not to like about a giant marshmallow man?).
She loved this bento, and helped make it by giving me instructions on what goes where : )

So, this time I experimented with making a ham flower, it looks a little messy unfortunately. I will have to try cutting it differently next time.
I made the stars & flowers out of carrots and broccoli (I used the stem).
The bunnies are made using moulds and I created the features with nori.

I asked the mini bean what she wanted in her bento box this week, her reply "a chick!"
I shaped the rice by hand into the shape of the head. Used nori for the eyes, ham for the cheeks, a little carrot flower for the "hair" at the top of the head and two pieces of sweetcorn for the beak.
The carrot and cucumber have been cut into flowers using a cutter.
I attempted the ham flowers again, more ham seems to be better in this case.

So, this week I made two bento's.
The first being the above.
I made the bear out of a vegetarian burger which I cooked, then cut into 3 circles (one big one for the head, and two little ones for the ears). I made the features with ham and nori.
The rice hearts I shaped with a cutter. Again using ham and nori for the features.
I tried to make little roses by rolling up the ham.....they didn't quite go to plan as the ham I was using was a little bit brittle and fell apart. I think processed ham would stay together better. Think I will try it with that next time round.

I made the cucumber and carrots into flowers. The octopuses are made from frankfurters and the panda is made from rice and nori.

So, here's my first attempt at making a bento box for my daughter's packed lunch.

I used frankfurter sausages to make the octopuses, teddy bear ears and arms.
The teddy bear is made from rice and features nori eyes, nose, mouth and bow tie.
I also included teriyaki veg and some raspberries.

Welcome to my blog & first post.

I've always been a fan of Japanese culture and cuisine. I have been fortunate enough to visit Japan on a few occasions and always come home inspired by the beauty of the country and people.

I'm going to use this blog as a way of sharing my love/obsession for Japanese food...mainly bento, but occasionally I will post about other things.

Thanks for visiting my page and please get in touch, I would love to hear from you!

Lou
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