Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree Bento

Christmas Tree Side Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yeah, okay, maybe it's just a broccoli tree like all the other broccoli trees. But this one has a star on top! And star ornaments on the branches! Can we just call it a Christmas tree bento? I hope she'll go for it! Besides the festive "Christmas tree" there is my ever-present, favorite satsuma mandarin, a few blackberries, a lone grape tomato, and the dwindling cup of home-pickled cucumbers. I have another six pickles to go, so this exact same cup will be present in several more upcoming bento boxes. Just to warn you. There isn't anything in the thermal food jar yet, which is why I'm not showing you the interior, but I am planning to pack the kale-white bean-chicken sausage-vegetable soup that we had for dinner. It's a typical winter warming bento, which is so nice when the weather is cold, isn't it?

Christmas Tree Salmon Bento

Christmas Tree Salmon Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

So here it is, two more weeks left of school (and school bento), and I'm running out of new ideas for Christmas themed bento. Luckily, my friend karaimame posted a Christmas bento that is so cute, it begs to be stolen imitated. It's a broccoli Christmas tree. I remember I made one a couple years ago (see this bento), and now that I peek at that one I see that last time I used the tree trunk pick and made the ornaments look like strings of lights (much cuter). Sigh. Maybe I used up all my festive idea brain cells on Halloween this year. Anyway, this bento contains crispy butter shoyu salmon, which means I pan-fried it with butter, then drizzled shoyu after I turned the heat off. Super good. Besides the tree with colorful pepper ornament cutouts, I've got baby grape tomatoes, Okinawan sweet potato stars, carrots, crabapple, strawberry, orange and grapes.

Today I met with TinySprite's preschool teachers to go over her first semester progress. Everything was as I expected until I asked whether she was well-behaved and polite. Well.... perhaps sometimes during circle time when they are asked to share, she'll burst into song... and sing a verse or two, and on, and on, and on. Maybe she could sing a little less. (Sheepish looks from teachers). What?! I guess I should be happy she's not busting out the dance moves too. Wait, I forgot to ask about that...

Mac, Cheese and Christmas Tree Bento

Mac, Cheese and Christmas Tree Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I love mac and cheese. I love making it, I love eating it, and I love the way it's always an instant hit with everyone in the family. It's also a one-dish meal, which is my specialty (quick, easy, minimal thinking involved)! The great thing about mac and cheese is that it's a forgiving dish. You can make it pretty much any way you want, and it still turns out okay, to me anyway. I don't even really measure the cheese and milk and flour. Just put in what you have and keep adding until it looks good to you. Then, bake until everything meshes together and finish under the broiler for a crunchy top. Today I used mini penne pasta, two kinds of cheese, plus I chopped and added ham, spinach, some whole wheat bread slices and even... my favorite squash du jour: kabocha! I steamed it lightly, then grated it coarsely right into the mix. You could also puree it, but I like to see the little bits of kabocha. I don't remember if I even told the kids everything I put in it. It wouldn't matter anyway. They could eat the whole casserole quite happily. Good thing I reserved some for their bento. I don't show TinySprite's bento, but I made one for her too. Along with the mac and cheese, I squeezed in some carrots and peapods, a bunch of grapes, a satsuma mandarin, and a steamed broccoli Christmas tree with radish ornaments. I have a feeling I made this exact same tree last year, which I didn't realize until after I took the picture. Well, except for the star skewer, which completes the effect nicely, right?

Christmas Tree Jook and Rudolph Bento

Christmas Tree Jook Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Since tomorrow is December first, I decided to make a first Christmas-themed bento set. I made two, in fact! MisterMan gets turkey jook, made using the Thanksgiving turkey carcass to make turkey stock. I tossed the thigh bones in as well, and at the end of the hour of simmering, the meat had all fallen off the bones and the broth was nice and flavorful. I used only half the carcass, so there's one more batch to go. I have to admit I love turkey jook -- much more so than the actual turkey it began with. Personally I like to throw in ginger, scallion and garlic chili paste to give it a tasty kick. For the kids I keep it more mild. I did sprinkle on some chopped green onion before I realized it landed in kind of a tree formation. Okay, I rearranged a little, and added a kabocha star, but I'm calling it a Christmas tree bento.

The fruit and veggie side dish is the top tier of this thermal bento. I gave him a satsuma mandarin, some pan-fried kabocha, broccoli and a grape. It's kind of a small box.

For TinySprite, I turned a char siu bao into Rudolph with carved carrot antler, grape eyes and a radish nose. She also got some pan-fried kabocha, steamed broccoli and sliced kiwi. Happy December, and welcome to the Christmas season!

A Tree Grows In Jook Bento

A Tree Grows In Jook Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Super duper easy bento again; woo! Today I made brown rice jook, which entails all of cooking some rice in a bunch of water for a really long time. I actually tried using the "porridge" setting on my Zojirushi, but it wasn't nearly long enough. Maybe because I used brown rice instead of white. I was afraid the brown rice just wouldn't get mushy at all, but after transferring the half-cooked jook to the stovetop and cooking for another hour or so, it really did get nice and creamy. I added Chinese sausage (lup cheong) and shiitake to mine, which added lots of flavor. You can also add fish, chicken, turkey, duck, or pretty much whatever you desire; and instead of water you could also use chicken or other stock. After ladling it into the green thermal container which I am really liking a lot these days, it looked pretty blah. So I added some shiitake mushrooms and chopped green onions in a tree design. The top tier bowl contains the fruits and veggies: grapes, strawberry, raspberries, tomatoes, broccoli and pink carrot flower. The bowl sits just under the lid, which screws on to secure both sections tightly. You don't even need a lunch tote since the lid has a built-in handle. How great is that?

Christmas Tree Bento

Christmas Tree Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Sticky rice, the sequel. When you make a big batch, it lasts a couple days! I formed a bowl of rice, putting the "fillings" underneath so I would have a plain rice top to decorate. I made a steamed broccoli Christmas tree, decorated with tiny carrot disc cutout ornaments. They aren't stuck on, so they'll probably scatter all over by lunchtime :) Tofu circles and halved tomatoes surround. Fruit bowl has kiwi and raspberry "holly" atop satsuma mandarins.

Merry Christmas, it's coming!