Happy Bunny Year!

It's the first day of the Chinese New Year! A bunny bento for the boys, to start off the Lunar New Year! Welcome, Bunny =)

A sketch of what I wanted to pack for their bento! I realise that when there is no sketch, I end up with either too much food, or not enough food to fill the space! A lot of time is wasted in trying to get food here and there, or to arrange and re-arrange the food. The rabbit didn't turn out as round as I wanted it to be ... it was a challenging task shaping the hot rice!

In the bento, we have ... Japanese steamed fishcake, broccoli, "flower" ham, and a strawberry.

在新的一年里，祝大家新年快乐， 大吉大利，心想事成， 好事成双！

When the Blizzard Strikes ....

Can you see the bench, under the tree, half buried in the snow?

It snowed on Monday night through Tuesday, and a second snowstorm was on its way Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning! Warnings were issued, school buildings were closed at 6pm on Tuesday evening, and we expected school to be closed today!

Sure enough, after the sun set yesterday, the wild wind started howling, causing the snow to drift. Snow landed on our window mesh, and some found their way through the window mesh onto the window pane! Through the night, we could hear the wind howling ....

Wednesday morning ... When we woke up, this was what we saw on our bedroom window!

The snow was forced through the window mesh by the crazily blowing wind, and accumulated between the window pane and window mesh! Check out our neighbours' windows ...

A nice dusting of snow on the walls and the windows!

We were dumped 12 inches of snow, with some drifts in the 6-8 foot range! Nice contouring of snow around the fence ... a product of the wildly dancing wind through the night.

Some of our neighbours had to dig their way out of their apartments!

The snow plow came to clear the roads ... Snow piled up high .....

It's time for the kids to go out and play! Let's climb the "snow mountains" and dig tunnels!

On our way out to buy a fish for reunion dinner, a lone turkey, standing on one foot, blocked our path! There used to be three of them ... let's hope he make it through to the next winter!

Tank, the Triceratop!

Meet Tank, the Triceratop from PBS Kids' Dinosaur Train! Ok, he's supposed to be a blue triceratop in the show, but I'm not keen to use food dye, hence the yellow triceratop made with cheese slices =)

Darling son YW is going to the Geology Museum today, to learn about rocks and fossils, and dinosaurs. When I showed him his lunchbox this morning, he said "This is Tank!". In the lunchbox, he gets rice, fried with eggs, carrots and canned mushrooms, plus a little oyster sauce. The extra ingredient which the boys were looking forward to ... Bak Kwa! Bak Kwa is similar to Beef Jerky, but softer in texture.

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, I made a batch of Bak Kwa yesterday and reserved half of it for today's lunch. Frying the rice didn't take up too much time. Cutting and putting together the triceratops took up as much time as frying the rice, if not a little longer! Oh well, as long as the boys bring home an empty lunchbox, I'm happy!

The different stages of making the Bak Kwa.

• Marinade the minced pork and leave it overnight in the fridge.
• Place a sheet of parchment paper on a overturned cookie sheet.
• Spread the meat as thinly as you can on the sheet of parchment paper.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 250F for about 15 minutes, or until the meat is cooked, but not browned. Remove and let cool.

• Cut up the cooled sheet of cooked meat into smaller slices.
• You can pack them into a ziploc bag and store in the freezer for later use. Or you can continue to go on to the next step to broil or bbq them.

• Put the slices on a sheet of parchment paper in a baking tray.
• Spread some honey on the slices if you like it sweet.
• Place the rack on the second or third level from the broiler, depending on your oven.
• Keep an eye on the pork slices, as they browned really fast!
• Turn the slices over.
• Remove when it is sizzling and starts to brown.
• Let cool on a rack. The slices will turn a darker color upon cooling.

Bak Kwa from my kitchen! The little one came running into the kitchen as the slices were sizzling under the broiler and said "I smell something good!" =) They happily "chewed" on a small slice I gave them later, and asked for more when they finished! They were happy and satisfied when I told them that they would be having the Bak Kwa for lunch the next day.

Tare Panda

Oh, I just love Tare Panda! I'm starting to look more like him, since I have been sleep deprived!

Last night, I was surfing the internet when I came across a really cute image of Tare Panda. It would be fun to include him in the boys' bento, I thought. Just half a face, as the Panda seemed to be hiding behind something. It would be good for me as less details to be included amidst the morning rush .....

The product this morning .... seemed like one eye is missing, hahaha!

I need to improve on my rice shaping skills, as well as paying more attention to the details. The original plan was to have the panda peeking out from behind the baby corn. Oh well, my first attempt ... didn't quite make it. More room for improvement =)

In the bento ... Baked baby corn, pan-fried "Hanbagu", some florets of broccoli and few slices of carrots. The extra meat balls were packed into Hubby Dear's lunchbox.

I managed to squeeze in some time to do a hard-boiled egg for him to include in the lunchbox. How about the vegetables? He likes long beans but not the kids, so I quickly stir fry some beans with minced garlic in a little oyster sauce.

There you go ... the beans in the middle of the rice! He can mix it up and the rice will be more tasty then! Time to think about what to pack for tomorrow's lunch! Hmm ... maybe a Dinosaur, since Darling son YW is going on a field trip to the Geology Museum tomorrow ....

Bunnies and The Magician's Hat

I'm the Magician's rabbit, and I'm happy to be with my friends again!

Don't tell the Magician that I'm here! I stole his hat so that I could visit my friends. Can you see the Magician's Hat?

When I showed Hubby dear the caption and the photo, he asked "Where is the hat?". Erh ... ok, it's camouflaged by the lettuce leaves. So, I uploaded another photo. Can you see the Hat now?

I was exhausted and sleep deprived, after having stayed up the night, looking after Darling son KW who was down with a fever and stayed home yesterday. After a day of rest at home, he could finally go back to school. But he was still coughing badly. I wanted to prepare something light for school lunch, and so settled on Japanese fishcake. Since I had no time to do my "homework", I recycled old ideas, and gave it a different look.

Don't you think the rabbits look very festive? I'm sure the kids will be happy to have it as a side dish for reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's eve =)

Where are you, Totoro?

Are you looking for me? I'm not quite the perfect Totoro. My ears are too long, and my body ... too short. The proportions are not quite right. But like my friends, the Makkuro Kurosuke, I'm edible =)

Someone stole my whiskers ... I feel strange without them ....

Here's the full view of the lunchbox. It's a 45oml Lock&Lock box.

The boys don't eat that much rice for lunch, since they have only 30 minutes for lunch in school. It was kind of challenging to make this mini Totoro, using about 3 tablepsoon of rice.

I had wanted to do a rice Totoro, after making the Makkuro Kurosuke yesterday. I was toying with the idea of using nori mixing with rice, instead of grounded black sesame seeds. The nori had to be cut to very tiny pieces, so that the rice would look like it had been "dusted". Being sleep-deprived, and needing something exciting to fuel my energy for the day, I decided to make Totoro! Why not, since it was only ONE Totoro that I was going to make. Why only one? Because it was Darling son KW's turn to be down with a fever last night. He would be staying home today, and having his "special" lunch.

Lesson learnt ... I'm a rookie in making bentos, and I need to do my homework. The proportions will be right, and I will definitely remember to put in those whiskers the next time! No wonder the rice Totoro looked kind of strange =p Check out AnnaTheRed Bento Factory's "How To" make a rice Totoro!

This toy was brought home by Darling son KW. His artwork from school. They watched "My Neighbor Totoro", and made this toy. He had fun stitching, after stuffing the toy with polyfill.

This green fellow even has a Birth Certificate.

His name is ... BOB!

Isn't it cool?!

And that's lunch for hubby dear! Eat more vegetables, they are good for you!

Meet the Makkuro Kurosuke!

Meet the Makkuro Kurosuke! I'm in love with these sooty little fellows!

I love the way they disappear in a flash in My Neighbor Totoro, and the way they work in the boiler room in Spirited Away =) And those big blinking eyes ... No wonder Satsuki and Mei shouted "Makkuro Kurosuke, come out! Or we'll poke your eyeballs out!".

In the lunchbox ... Rice balls, seasoned with a little sushi vinegar and covered with lots of shredded nori, chicken karagge, cauliflower and carrots. The blinking eyes were made from cheese and nori. I will definitely make them BIGGER the next time!

Preparing the chicken karagge didn't take up too much time. It was covering the rice balls with shredded nori that took up a bit more time than expected. It was kind of messy, but the boys were happy to see these sooty fellows in their lunch box. Thanks Anna, from AnnaTheRed, once again, for showing the "How To" in your very informative and creative blog! I'm in love your Totoro Bentos!

The first thing Darling son KW asked when he saw these sooty fellows was "Are they from Totoro?". And his next question was ...... "Are we getting Totoro tomorrow?". Hmm, will have to think about that while the boys are at school ....