Lemons in Bentos, Save Them for Sean

Yesterday we picked up lunch at Shirokiya and Paige and Sean shared a chicken katsu bento.  Whenever they share food it always works out because Sean will eat the things that Paige won’t and vice versa.  Remember how I posted once about Sean and his peculiar eating habits?  Well Sean ate the lemon that was in the bento.  We all thought it was so hilarious because he would suck on the lemon, make a sour face, and then go right back to sucking on the lemon again!

Piggies and Chicken & Vegetable Gyoza Bento

Last night I made chicken and vegetable gyoza for our dinner tonight and used a few of them for Paige’s lunch today.  Along with the gyoza, I made her piggies and used heart picks that I got from JstuffSale.com for their ears.  JstuffSale is an eBay store that has a huge assortment of bento boxes, accessories, molds, and cutters too.  I always check out their store first, not only because they have such a great selection, but because they are both fast and reliable.  

PBJ Cow Sandwich

Remember those Cusipro cutters that I posted the other day?  I used the cow cutter for Sean’s PBJ sandwich today.  The cow is decorated with cheddar and swiss cheese, which were the first things Sean ate. He didn’t eat much of the cow, just part of the head.  I’m guessing it’s because I used whole grain bread instead of white.

Student Council Fundraiser Bento

The student council at Paige’s school fundraises by  selling snacks to the children at school a few times a year.  Children, like Paige,  who are part of the student council donate snacks to sell and use the proceeds towards missions work here on Oahu as well as Vietnam and for other student council activities.  Our donations were mini-bentos with SPAM musubi, gyoza, and a slice of hotdog.  We made 15 of them to sell at school this morning for 75 cents each.       

Sheep Bento with Shrimp Tatsutaage

Cookie cutters are so versatile, not only can you use them for their intended purpose, but they are also great tools in bento making.  I bought this Cuisipro farm animal set at the Ward Warehouse Executive Chef.  It’s made of very durable plastic which is dishwasher safe and neatly stacks together to save space.  They have so many different sets from trains to zoo animals too, which are all available online at Amazon.  

Paige’s bento today includes a SPAM sheep with wool made out of cheese, shrimp tatsutaage (Japanese fried shrimp), musubis, and veggies.

Paige Musubi with Strawberry Melona

If you have never eaten a Melona ice cream bar, you have to try one!  It is a creamy piece of heaven on a stick and comes in many flavors like melon, banana, strawberry, mango, and possibly other flavors that I haven’t seen or tried yet.  Our family favorites are the melon and strawberry flavored bars, which unfortunately never last for more than a few days in our house.  Paige’s bento today is a musubi of her holding a strawberry Melona bar (her favorite flavor) made out of fish sausage.  I also made shrimp with chicken sausage, carrots, and packed her a bag of apples as well.

Mother’s Day Breakfast

For Mother’s day, Mark got up really early to make my Mom (who is visiting from Hilo) and I breakfast, as well as for the kids too.   Pictured above was Mom’s omelette which had grated cheddar cheese and a medley of fresh vegetables including broccoli, tomatoes, onions, and green onions, which he made into a smiley face using rice and Portuguese sausage.  I had the same except he put furikake on the rice balls instead of the sausage.  I have to tell you that Mark does not cook, so for him to go through the trouble of cooking this is pretty awesome.  It took him two hours of sweat to put breakfast together for the whole family.  Thanks Mark, for you blog entry and for making Mother’s Day very special!     

2009 Ka Palapala Po`okela Awards written by Mark Yuen

Because Susan was just too modest to discuss this particular subject, I have the honor of writing today’s blog.  Each year, the Hawai`i Book Publishers Association presents awards to the best publications from Hawai`i.  This year, Susan’s book, Hawai`i’s Bento Box Cookbook received one of the seven nominations under the best Cookbooks category.  As a result, last night at the Bishop Museum, we had the privilege of attending the 2009 Ka Palapala Po`okela Awards ceremony honoring the best locally published books from the past year.      

We learned earlier this past week that Susan’s book did not win as Chef Chai Chaowasaree’s “The Island Bistro Cookbook” deservedly achieved the highest honor.  Although I personally was a little disappointed because I know how much work and effort Susan put into this book, I quickly reminded myself as to why Susan wrote her book in the first place.  To explain, when Susan first thought of submitting her bento book idea to the local publishing companies, she told me that she did not care if not one single soul bought the book.  Instead, she just wanted a tangible object that Paige could see one day and hopefully understand how much Susan loved her so much that she would take so much time just to make her a “special lunch”.      

In fact, I remember not too long ago, when Susan started making Paige her special lunches just so that Paige would have an incentive to stay for lunch at preschool, Susan did not have even one cutter or mold.  Believe it or not, Susan initially started by cutting everything by hand!  It was painful just watching her using an exacto knife to cut nori strips one-by-one.  It wasn’t until she discovered all those wonderful cutters on ebay did she realize that bento making did not have to be so difficult.  Of course, little did I know, but even after buying all those cutters and molds (thereby driving me crazy!!), Susan still spends a lot of waking hours thinking of different bento ideas and implementing them so that Paige can have, indeed a special and unique lunch each school day. 

As a result, on this particular special day when we celebrate “Mother’s Day”, in order to honor all the mothers who sacrifice so much of their lives for their children, I want to tell those of you who do read this blog how much of a wonderful mother Susan is.  You see, I watch Susan each morning when she’s hunched over the kitchen counter tirelessly putting small, miniscule pieces of nori to add detail to Paige’s lunch.  Not once do I ever hear her complain.  For it is her love for Paige that Susan devotes so much of her time to make these bentos.  As such, thank you, Susan for being such a great and loving mother to our children and much congratulations on this Mother’s Day!  Love, Mark 

Hello Kitty Saimin with Gyoza

Thank you everyone for all of the thoughtful birthday wishes for Paige!  She was so thrilled to read all of them and felt very special that you all took the time to send them.  Last night Grandma and Grandpa had a small family dinner for her too with pizza and ice cream cupcakes from her Uncle Burt and Aunty MaryAnn.  Before she went to bed, she said that she had a wonderful day and that she felt very special.  Thanks again everyone for making her day!  

  

For lunch today, Paige requested saimin.  I made the saimin with pork and vegetable gyoza, Hello Kitty made from kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), egg, a SPAM flower, and green onions.  I kept the broth separate from the noodles in a thermos, for Paige to add in when she’s ready for lunch. 

Happy Birthday Paige!

Today Paige turns 7 years old!  How time flies, I can still vividly remember the day the God blessed us with her beautiful life.  Paige is a kind, loving, and thoughtful little girl. Mark and I are always amazed by her desire to please others.  Okay, okay… I’ll stop being the bragging mother, but I really can’t help myself.

For her birthday, Paige wanted (more than anything else) to have a birthday party in school with her friends.  Mark took the day off and we brought lunch and cupcakes to school for her class.  It was a good thing that Mark took the day off because I sure needed the help.  I woke up at 5:30am to make bentos for 20 people which included carp sushi, fish SPAM musubis, mochiko chicken, fried noodles, and BBQ beef maki sushi.  It was a lot to cook so I cheated a little and bought the noodles and BBQ beef sushi from Fukuya’s.  

Cupcake cake from Safeway on Kapahulu.