News my bentos got published in Dutch magazine

Some of you might have known that I got interviewed for a Dutch magazine some time back. Today I walked past a newsstand and saw that the article has been finally published! This article can be found in a pretty interesting Dutch magazine called Jansen, Oktober/November 2011 issue. There was an article written about the whole bento subculture travelling from Japan to the United States and Netherlands and all over the world. Bentocat was featured extensively in the article together with another Dutch bento enthusiast Leukelunch. Today is indeed a lucky Friday for me :)

Tutorial Bento Miffy Sandwich Free Pattern download

Due to popular request on how I made the Miffy sandwich bento (or some say Nijntje Boterham), I have decided to post a step-by-step tutorial here.

First I drew out the shape of Miffy / Nijntje on a piece of paper and then I cut it around the edges with a pair of scissors. Next I place it on a slice of goat cheese as shown in the picture below.

Tutorial Bento Miffy Sandwich

Using a sharp knife (or a toothpick), I go around the outside edge of the Miffy cutout just like the picture below. It looks a little weird at this stage, but don't worry. It's just the outline.

Miffy twins ?

I went back to the paper cutout and I cut away the pieces just like so:

Next I sliced a piece of carrot and fitted Miffy's clothes on it. Now I use my sharp knife to cut out the shape of Miffy's orange dress.

Here is how my Miffy Sandwich / Nijntje Boterham Bento looks like:

Since I ran out of seaweed, I have used black Supercook Writing Icing (which I managed to find in a bakery supplies store) for Miffy's eyes and mouth. Because it is used only in a small quantity, it doesn't taste obviously sweet.

I have drawn up a copy of the Miffy character I made for this bento here so that you can make this Miffy Sandwich bento too. Simply print this out on a regular A4 size paper and you can use it as a template. I hope you like this tutorial and please feel free to come back often for more goodies :)

Bento Making Golden Rules

I was looking back at my old bentos over the weekend and felt rather happy seeing my progress. I realised that I have learnt a few lessons over the course of time. Here are some of the "Golden Rules" I have learnt.

Golden Rules of Bento Making (c)iStockphoto/Ayzek

Golden Rule #1
Always stuff your bento lunch box till it's full. 

When I say full, I really mean full, to the top edge of the box. Usually I make sure it's so full that there is no room for the ingredients in the box to move around.

I remembered the time when I thought I had made a decent bento in the morning and when I opened it for lunch, to my horror, it was a terrible mess. Apparently the contents moved everywhere because I had only filled the base of the box with items and they had moved around in that big space above them as I made my way to school.

Golden Rule #2
Make sure that food is sufficiently cooled before you place them in the box.

This is because condensation may occur and it may spoil the items in the box prematurely.


Golden Rule #3
Try to line the bento box with some kind of leafy vegetable makes cleaning up a lot easier.

Of course, this isn't compulsory, but it really does make a difference when it comes to cleaning up. And besides, the lettuce can always be eaten up so there's hardly any wastage.

Golden Rule #4
Keep salad dressings / sauce dips in a separate tiny container.

This prevents the salad turning into a soggy mess by lunchtime. When the weather is warm, I use a small cooler pack on the vegetables as well.

Golden Rule #5
Pack a small cooler pack with the bento if the weather is warm


This keeps the food fresher and prevents sad looking half melted cheese.


So far these are some of the golden rules I always store at the back of my head whenever I make bentos. More "golden rules" (or I would rather say tips and tricks) of bento making coming up soon, so do keep an eye on the site :)

The Ugly Bento

Since I had made that ugly bento, something random cropped up into my mind. Do photos of ugly bentos ever get published by bentoists? Or do they just get discarded or saved somewhere in the computer, never to be seen and never to be mentioned to anyone else?

What happens to unsuccessful bento attempts? Do bentoists turn into monsters and eat them all up before the recipents even have a chance to take a glimpse at the ugly bento? Ha, I would.

Bento Cat's rules for dealing with ugly bentos:
#1 still take a picture of it.
#2 store the picture somewhere safe in your computer
#3 quickly grab another bento box and start doing a brand new one if your bento recipent is expecting a bento today.
#4 pretend nothing happened.

#5 when nobody's looking, quickly gobble up the ugly bento to save yourself the embarrassment. hahahha!

and if embarrassment is not an issue with you and you still would like to share pictures of your ugly bento, check this out:

 Flickr Group - The Ugly bento

Enjoy!

Adventures of Bento Cat

Welcome to my blog! With Adventures of Bento Cat, I hope to document the daily happenings of my life through pretty and delicious bentos stuffed and filled with TLC (Tender Loving Care) and more!

Years and years ago, when I was still in my mid twenties, I was living in the little sunny island of Singapore. One day one of my friends sent me this funny picture on msn:

It wasn't done by her and she has no idea who was the mysterious original maker of this bento as well. *If you are the original maker of this cute cat bento and reading this, please let me know so that I can credit your work here*

I started doing a search and found a couple of other pictures of too-cute-to-eat bento sets. Because cooked food is so readily and cheaply available in Singapore, it had never dawned to me to make anything like this Bento Cat you see here. It is perfectly normal for people to eat out everyday for lunch and dinner and sometimes supper as well! So it had never really occured to me that this picture is for real. It is so impressive that my friend and I decided that this picture is just a part of a food stylist's portfolio, and ordinary folks like me will certainly never be able to make anything like this.

Now that I'm *slightly* (ahem!) older, married to Mr Bear and going back to school as a full time student and being based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I was literally forced to grow up fast! My school schedule is/has been crazily busy and so is Mr Bear's work schedule. We have no time to eat! and comparatively, the food culture in here is erm... just like the country, really quite flat. Its rather common to see 2-metre tall grown man chomping only one banana and calling that a lunch! During the evening peak hours, you'll also see a fair share of commuters eating french fries drowned in mayonaise. Hopefully those fries aren't supposed to be a dinner.

I have been whining to my university about the school canteen selling tasteless and inedible foods, but nobody seems to care or the replies I usually get are around the lines of, "food is not as important, we have other priorities to take care about." Apparently eating here, is just seen as a means to remove the nasty hungy feeling! Call me a glutton or whatever you want, but this is it! I have to do something about providing myself and Mr Bear some kind of pleasure to look forward to during our lunchtime!

I started googling recipes for quick and easy lunch and for some strange reasons, that Bento Cat creeped up again! ha, being a totally non-logical person, I took it as a sign and since that I have never looked back!

Adventures of Bento Cat is a platform for me to document my Bento adventures. Please feel free to drop me comments and hopefully one day I can be a successful bentoist! I can be contacted at bentokato@gmail.com

xoxo
Shanna the Bento Cat