Before & After Bento Project

The Before and After Bento Project came about when my fellow bentomakers and I were sharing photos of our bento from days long past. Debra (Hapabento), Megan (Bento Zen), Susan (Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook) and I had a laugh over how much our styles have changed over the months and years. After all, we can't help but learn and grow from experience -- what tastes good, what holds up well, what looks good. Debra had the idea for us to each take our first posted bento and "remake" it, using the same ingredients and the same box, to see how it might turn out today. What an interesting project it turned out to be.
First of all, I had been making bento for my son for many years, although it never occurred to me to make them "look good". The first time I posted a bento on flickr was just out of curiosity. I had been reading Just Bento and happened upon the flickr group there. So here goes; my first "published" bento, from February 16, 2009:

As it happens, I still have this box, and use it from time to time, but I have since come to realize that it's pretty large for my kid's appetite. As you can see, I don't come near to filling it up. One thing I've learned over the years is that a tightly packed smaller size bento box forces you to think about the type of calories you choose to fill it with. As a bonus, the foods are less likely to move around in a tightly packed box. However, I wanted to see if I could use this box and the same foods, and arrange it in a more pleasing manner. I was happy to discover that basically all these foods are ones that I still make and pack. So I didn't have to compromise in terms of nutrition. My main objective was to "rearrange". Here's what I did:

So what do you think? I'll admit that my 2009 bento was probably packed in a couple of minutes max, while the re-do version bento took time for me to cut nori and carve cucumbers and carrots. I also took some liberties with the kind of rice (I used a red/brown mix). But, overall I think the extra effort was not unreasonable.

It was fun to do this. Perhaps you might get a kick out of looking back through your old bento archives and reminisce about your changing tastes and techniques as well. If I do it again in another year, I bet I'll come up with something completely different again :)

Don't forget to check out my fellow bento-makers' takes on the Before and After Project. We all have differing bento backgrounds and our "first" bento comes from varying timeframes. You may be surprised!

Debra at Hapabento

Megan at Bento Zen

Susan at Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook

Finally, thanks to Debra, Megan and Susan for collaborating with me on a fun post! We've all learned a lot; I know I have from all of you!