Graduation Bento Box

As graduation season rolls around (and is over for some), I thought I'd try to make that newly graduated 'Hello World!' feeling last that little bit longer, with a graduation related bento box =)

For want of something amusing to say, I found myself googling 'graduation'. Did you know that in China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea Auld Lang Syne is sung at graduation?

No? Well, now you do!

I also found out that:

• Tossing mortarboards can be dangerous — a 1979 high school graduate sustained a retinal injury, and a British university graduate had to be taken to the hospital for stitches.
• Kermit the Frog received an honorary Doctorate of Amphibious Letters from Southampton College.

Yup. It's true. Google says so.

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I received this bento box from the generous people at CasaBento, called the "Cocolon" bento box kit. It comes in what I think is a chiller bag but even if it isn't its quite thick so would keep the temperature in well. And it has a really cute fork too.

Anyway, here are the steps to making your very own mortarboard bento box!

You will need:

- Sushi rice

- Nori seaweed

- Plasticy cheese (like Dairylea slices - don't need good cheddar as it will not slice as well)

- Uncooked spaghetti

- Fruits and vegetables to decorate

1. Boil the rice, and when cooked, but still warm, wrap up in clingfilm and mould into cat head shape. Leave till cool. Unwrap the clingfilm from the rice.

2. Cut nori seaweed into the shapes in the pictures. You can use special nori holepunchers but I don't have any. So stuck with good ol' scissors.

3. Cut a piece of cheese and seaweed about the same size. Place the seaweed on top of the cheese. You can use a bit of water to hold it together.

4. To hold the cheese-seaweed mortarboard onto the head, use a piece of uncooked spaghetti inserted into the rice to prop it up in place.

5. Repeat for more mortarboard cats!