When I finally agreed, she promptly announced ground rules (yes, there were ground rules) including time limits and separate kitchen stations with no peaking at your competitor's bento. There were no restrictions on theme or ingredients. The winner would be determined based on creative use of ingredients.
It all went down pretty much like an episode of Top Chef, which I guess isn't surprising considering it's kinda required viewing at our house.
So, when this thing started, it was an bento frenzy! My son enjoyed his front row seat to the antics and stealing bites when we weren't looking. When the kitchen timer buzzed, I presented my entry: Under the Sea Bento:
Blue rice served as the backdrop for my ocean-themed bento lunch. This was created by adding just a drop of blue food coloring to white rice. The featured characters here are octopus hotdogs, otherwise known as octodogs. These cute little fellows are easy to make. You simply cut a hotdog in half, then slice the dog six ways halfway up and drop in boiling water. When you do this, the ends curl up, and you have instant tentacles! (It occurs to me that there's probably not any other situation in life in which "instant tentacles" would be a good thing.)
A cheese shrimp accompanies the octodogs and the ocean floor is accented with two yellow stars which came in one of those special themed bags of goldfish crackers.
Your standard issue goldfish also make an appearance swimming amongst a sprout of algae (or maybe coral?) hand cut from a slice of American cheese.
The final element is a fish-shaped bento container filled with fresh pineapple. A tiny bit of broccoli (Why can I never remember whether broccoli has two c's or two l's?!) provides an eye for the little fish.
So, who won? Check out my Broadway Bears Bento post on my daughter's entry to find out!
Happy Bento'ing!
Star
Thanks for the octodogs tutorial! This would definitely be a new feature on my school lunches this Fall.
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