Bento box: Little Elves

This is my first post using a CasaBento bento box. It's adorable. Soooo adorable. Look!

Loook! :D

(It's the Little Kokeshi Hanako Bento Box in case you're interested).

It has three compartments that you can split, like I've done in the photo above. In all honesty, I'm surprised at how good quality this box was. Compared to the things my parents bought me from their holiday in China (sorry mum), this box here wasn't about to fall apart any time soon. The decorations on this box are really good. Really really good.

It also has a black strap that you can put across the box when it's closed (like in the photo below), so food doesn't fall out in your bag and make it smell of fish. I mean, unless you like that kind of thing, in which case the strap is optional.

Also, the 'head' is actually meant to be a soup bowl, but I've used it for dessert. Because I like fruit.

So...there.

Actually, if you head over to CasaBento now, you'll see that they have revamped site. I think it's really nifty.

Basically it's now easier to search (and for those of you who are busy bees, it's pretty convenient!) If you only want to find a bento box, you click on "bento boxes" then you select the type of model you want (modern, traditional...). If you really like a bento, you can see all the items (furoshiki, chopsticks, bags, molds...) of its collection in "Collections". I think that the delivery on their site is pretty reasonable too. So go ahead, click it, you know you want to.

Annnnddd you can 'like' it on Facebook (and Twitter too, but that confuses me). But uh, you can also like my blog on Facebook. So um, yeah, go ahead :)

Oh yes, they also have a new 'Modern Bento Boxes' part, which have really shiny new (did I mention shiny?) boxes to choose from. There's also a 'Bento Fashion' category, with boxes in block colours. I would be pretty proud to bring that for lunch in the library. Brightens up my day!

And lastly, CasaBento are hosting a little game: 

HELP: ONIGIRI IN DISTRESS :p

This little Onigiri has lost his way, he's someone on the site and you have to find him. Pronto! There are lots of prizes to be won but you have to hurry because you only have until the 22nd June to find him! So go on, search around the site or read more about it here!

And below you can find a tutorial (sorta) on how to make the rice elf I made. Yes, it's an elf. Not an old man. Not even a young man. It's an elf, okay?

Rice Ball Elf

You will need:

• Sushi nori
• Tofu skin
• Ham
• Sushi or glutinous rice, boiled
• A trip to the Asian supermarket
• Cling film
• Scissors
• A LOT of patience

Directions:

• Spoon the rice (whilst hot) into the cling film, and wrap it up to shape it into a ball. Leave in the fridge until cold.
• Use scissors to cut a fringe, two eyes and a smile out of nori seaweed. There are sushi hole punches you can get, but scissors are cheaper and just as effective :)
• Cut out cheeks from ham.
• Stick these onto the face like I've done If it doesn't stick, add some water as adhesive.
• Soak the tofu skin in hot (but not boiling water), for about 30 seconds. Wrap it around the elf like a hat.
• Et voila! A cute elf thing!

p.s. sorry sorry again for being slow at catching up on your blogs, it's currently May Week in Cambridge University right now (I know, May Week is in June, don't ask me why), it's all pretty hectic, and I'll be blogging about it all soon! There will be May Balls, oysters and champagne punts, so watch this space!