BENTO #100

Today, I made myself some fancy sushi. I simply mixed some sakura denbu into the rice to add some color to compliment the carrot.

I blanched some watercress, spun dry them in a salad spinner and topped them with lots of black and white sesame seeds and rolled them up in a Nori sheet. I learnt this from a Macrobiotic summer camp which I attended years ago in US organized by Michio Kushi.

There was some shiba zuke (pickles) and left over carrot sticks.

In the right side box, was an orange and some miso simmered egg plant.

Since I am the one eating it let me tell you how it tasted. The fancy sushi was quite a bland mouth full but it went very well with the strong flavor of the miso egg plant, in fact it was delicious. I also complimented the fancy sushi with the shiba zuke and it was good.

The Nori rolled watercress is a sure win because it's been my favorite for years. The trick here is, you need to spin it very, very dry and allow to air dry for a while before rolling it up. Don't over cook the watercress or else it'll be mushy, it has to be still crunchy - blanch stalk first and then the leaves.

The carrots obviously tasted like carrots - sweet and crunchy. The orange added a nice tanginess to the end of a delicious bento meal.

I like this and I think I shall embark on making bentos for myself. *nods head in agreement* Yeah! It's a great idea!

BEC Rosary night @ home

No Bento today! #2 is officially on holiday for the next ten days. #1 has her last exam paper today and doesn't have the time nor appetite to eat.

I'm hosting Rosary at my house tonight. Twice a year my BEC has a special devotion to Mary, mother of Jesus Christ by recitation of the Rosary at our BEC member homes.

It's a time for prayers and great fellowship. It happens four days a week for the whole months of May and October.

The Rosary nights are something the children look forward to and you can find the young ones awaiting designation of their portion of 'duty' (their turn to say part of the Rosary). Even small kids as young as 3-4 years old look forward to their 'duty' during these periods. It's also a time for bonding for these kids. My children's best friends whom they grew up with are from our BEC.

Tonight is a special night because my God- daughter (adult) and her family are back on holidays from USA and came tonight especially to spend this time with us.

Incidentally, her son is also my God-son (5 years old) and another one of my God-son (10 months old) from another family also came and so did one more God-daughter (adult).

Hubs and I are God-parents to many and tonight 4 God-children are at my house! I'm very happy and feel so blessed to see not only my good friends but also some of my God-children, especially the ones from USA whom I've not seen for the past year.

They are also fans of my Japanese cooking so I made their favorite sushi. I also introduced Oden and Udon noodles to them and they absolutely loved it!! It was everyone's favorite!








I made Ichigo Daifuku for dessert. It was also a hit. Initially everyone was wary because of it's size but after convincing them to try, they also 'ta pau' home!













I also made the little kids favorite macaroni and cheese. Froze some for my kids Bento.
It's been a long night but an enjoyable one.

I thank God for the wonderful people who has brought so much happiness into my life!

Fancy Sushi

I made fancy sushi for lunch today. Occasionally, I would surprise the children with some fancy sushi. This requires a lot of time and skill.

This one I made is considered simple. My 'sifu' from PJ Hilton 'rolled' a Japanese word - it was awesome!

I used sakura denbu for the color of the peach blossom.

I had to first roll the five 'petals' and then re-roll all the five 'petals' on another nori spread with white rice.



[fancy sushi]