gakusei no obento

PBJ rolls monogrammed with cheese, fruit snacks, teddy grahams, carrots with dressing in the elephant.

Fish sticks accented with cheese, ketchup in the orange cup, edamame, grapes, and mini cheez-its in the pink container.

Gakusei no obento basically means "obento student." That is what I am calling myself these days because, adding to my long list of Japanese obsessions, I have fallen in love with obento. Obento literally means lunchbox in Japanese. Lunchbox does not even begin to describe the bento art form. When I think lunchbox, I think PBJ, some fruit snacks, and a juice box in a paper bag. These are obento. This link is a Japanese website devoted solely to showing mothers how to create masterpieces for their children.

Borrowed from another blog....."Traditionally, bento calls for a 4 : 3 : 2 : 1 proportion of rice : fish / meat : vegetables : pickled veggies / fruit. Special care is taken to make sure that the food is prepared in easy to eat portions. Food color and texture is also considered in choosing what goes together in a box, ensuring contrast that’s pleasing not only to the eyes but to the palate as well. And keeping true to the Japanese food aesthetic of making sure everything’s pleasing to the eyes, traditional bento is always attractive. If you think that’s stringent, you haven’t encountered children’s bento yet. Because children’s bento is perceived as an expression of a mother’s love, moms take extra care in preparing their children’s lunches. They make efforts to include a child’s favorite food while adding small portions of food that the children generally avoid. To make sure they finish everything, creativity comes into play as pretty touches, decorations, and even food dioramas mask the said food items. As the mom’s creativity kicks into high gear, bento takes a step from the realm of food into art."

While Ravyn is the apple of my eye, but I find making obento to be fairly difficult. There are plenty of days where she still goes to school with an American-style lunchbox, but I'll admit when I make an obento for her I take pride in the end result and get so excited for her to open it!