busy wonderful week and Bento workshop
March 4, 2010
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: makkurokurosuke, mini-totoro, totoro
6 comments
Oh where do I start…
The short version of the story is, I’ve been super busy and so many wonderful things happened!
Here’s the long version.
This past week, I had visitors from Japan at work for the online card game I work for. They were in NYC from Monday through Thursday. I’m the only Japanese English speaker in my team, so that means I was interpreting them from 10 AM to… whenever we finished working/our meeting/business dinner everyday. It wasn’t too bad this time though. When they visited us two years ago, we all stayed at the office until 2:00 AM!
They left on Friday morning as a huge snow storm hit NYC. I usually wouldn’t mind snow, but the problem was I had to get to Boston Friday night to teach a bento workshop at Wellesley college on Saturday. Yes! Me, teaching a workshop! O_O I’m so clumsy and not very skilled (no, really), I would never have done this on my own but this is a very special case. My boyfriend’s sister is a Jewett Gallery Director & Applied Arts Coordinator at Wellesley college, and she encouraged me to do this workshop.
My boyfriend and I headed to Boston on Friday night, and we were worried about the snow situation in Boston. But to our surprise, it didn’t snow at all in Boston on Friday. His sister got most of the food, tools and appliances ready, all we had to do was show up.
We had the workshop in the kitchen in one the dorms on campus, and this kitchen was gigantic! We cleaned the kitchen, laid out some tools and waited. The workshop was from 1:00~4:00, and around 12:50, a couple of people showed up. I was told that 20 people had signed up, but sometimes the students bail out at the last minute, so I was just relieved that at least someone showed up. Then around 12:55, 15~16 people came into the room. By 1:00, 21 students were in the kitchen. We even had an extra person!
The way we did it was I’d demonstrate first and say “Now you do this!” then they’d work on their bento, and when they were about to be done, I’d do another demonstration. I don’t think I explained anything, actually. I just showed them how.
I doodled this before the workshop and gave it to each student. A sketch always helps!
Three hours flew by and everyone started finishing the bento. Between each demonstration, I was too busy getting ready for the next demonstration and didn’t get to see students’ bento too much. (Yes, I’m a horrible workshop teacher. T_T) I was completely speechless when I saw their bento in the end. They were all really well done and absolutely adorable! It was the first kyaraben they made for most of them. Actually, my Totoro had huge rabbit-like ears, and didn’t look very good. If you put mine next to any of the bento they made, you wouldn’t be able to tell which one was mine. I really wish I could’ve talked to everyone more. That’s the only thing I regret.
This was mine. Look at how HUGE his ears are! Oh and I even forgot to put his mouth.
The radishes we got came in various sizes, and I picked the biggest one! Great for a demonstration, but it didn't fit in my bento, so I ate it there.
I can’t describe how awesome their bento looked with my poor vocabulary, I’ll post the amazing creations by the students here.
I’d like to thank Clara for organizing this workshop and everyone who participated! And also my boyfriend for cooking asparagus wrapped with bacon for 21 people!
Oh and the bento workshop wasn’t the only wonderful thing… More wonderful things to be posted, but I think I’m going to do a how-to next, especially since I’ve been very lazy on posting actual food related stuff.
Go check out more pictures of bento on Jewett Gallery’s flickr page.
Also you can read the blog post (written by Clara) about the bento workshop.
bento #61: Summer Totoro
September 11, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: makkurokurosuke, mini-totoro, totoro, watermelon
8 comments
I made kyaraben the day I left for PAX. It had been awhile since the last time I made one… but the weather was getting no so summery, and I wanted to make something before the summer was over.
Bento #61: Summer Totoro
Created and eaten on: 9/3/2009
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bento #58: Sitting Totoro
July 14, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: makkurokurosuke, mini-totoro, studio ghibli, totoro
3 comments
Since my previous bento was a big failure, I needed to make something I’m more comfortable with. And nothing makes me feel better than this guy.
Bento #58: Totoro sitting on a tree
Created and eaten on : 7/14/2009
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bento #56: Moving day Totoro
July 2, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: makkurokurosuke, mini-totoro, mushroom, studio ghibli, totoro
10 comments
Like I mentioned in my previous blog post, my company has been in the process of moving for the past week, and because of this we had July 1st off. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make bento until next week, so I decided to try making a “stay-home” bento. When I decided to make a bento to eat at home, I realized something. “I don’t have to close the lid of the bento box!”
Bento #56: Moving day Totoro
Created and eaten on: 7/1/2009
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bento #52: Rainy day Totoro
June 4, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: frog, mini-totoro, snail, studio ghibli, totoro
6 comments
I wasn’t planning on making a bento this morning. I didn’t do any drawing the night before and I woke up late. (the time I usually wake up when I don’t make bento) I looked outside and it was raining. Again. So I decided to make a bento to cheer my boyfriend (and me) up.
Bento #52: Rainy Day Totoro
Created and eaten on: 6/4/2009
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bento #46: Totoro with cherry blossoms
April 30, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: inari, makkurokurosuke, mini-totoro, nekobus, studio ghibli, totoro
6 comments
After making three Castle Crashers related bento in a row, I needed to take a break. I do adore the characters from the game, but every bento is a challenge for me. I struggle, get frustrated and learn (from big mistakes, usually) while making them. Those three bento definitely were not an easy challenge. So, again, it was time for Totoro for me.
Bento #46: Totoro with Cherry Blossoms
Created and eaten on: 4/29/2009
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how to make Totoro cream puffs
April 7, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in how-to (all), how-to - characters (Ghibli, video game, Wall-E) Tags: cream puffs, mini-totoro, totoro
52 comments
I know there are many recipes for cream puffs, and it’s not like you must use this recipe to make Totoro cream puffs. If you’re using your own cream puff recipe, make cream puff dough and jump to Step 5.
A blog post about my very first batch of Totoro cream puffs can be found on “non-bento #12: Totoro cream puffs.”
[How to make Totoro cream puffs] (About 18 3-inch Totoro OR 12 3-inch Totoro and 8 smaller Totoro)
For puffs:
- 80 cc of water ( = 5 TBS and 1 TS of water)
- 4 TBS of unsalted butter OR 4 TBS of vegetable oil (I like butter. It smells a lot nicer when it’s being baked)
- 2 whole eggs (large, beaten) and 1 extra egg on standby to add the dough if it’s too thick
- Two pinches of salt
- 6 TBS of all-purpose flour (sifted if you have a sifter)
For face:
- White icing in a tube OR ANY white chocolate chips
- Any chocolate
- Powder sugar (for Chibi-Totoro and Chu-Totoro)
- Green tea powder (for Chu-Totoro)
Stuff you need:
- Sauce pan
- Spatula
- Baking pan
- Aluminum foil or parchment paper
- ziploc bag or pastry bag
- Sifter or tea strainer
- toothpick
Before you start…
- Have custard cream made and cooled down in the fridge. (See “how to make custard with a microwave” and “how to make custard by stove top”)
- Beat eggs. (Just two. Don’t crack the other egg yet)
- Sifted flour. (not absolutely necessary, but this will definitely help make the puffs puffier)
- Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees F.
- Put aluminum foil or parchment paper on a pan. (you can lightly grease aluminum foil if you’re worried, but don’t put it too much. It may make the puffs deflate)
Click to continue reading "how to make Totoro cream puffs"
bento #42: Totoro parade
April 4, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: acorn, makkurokurosuke, mini-totoro, mushroom, studio ghibli, totoro
8 comments
I had been working on a sketch of a kyaraben for a week, but it just didn’t look like it’d work out, and I was feeling pretty bummed. (I can’t tell you what it is yet! I hope I can make it next week.) You know what always makes me feel better? Totoro!
Bento#41: Totoro parade bento
Created and eaten on: 4/4/2009
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non-bento #12: Totoro cream puffs
March 31, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - non bento Tags: cream puff, mini-totoro, studio ghibli, totoro
11 comments
Today was my friend/co-worker’s last day (for full-time) at work. I’ve known her since art school, and she’s the one who made me the picture book of my bento. She had a baby last year, and recently she decided to work part-time from home and be with her baby. So it’s a good good-bye. I know she loves sweets, but cookies seemed a little boring… so I decided to make cream puffs for her and my co-workers. Not ordinary cream puffs but Totoro cream puffs!
Non-bento#12: Totoro cream puffs
Created and eaten on: 3/31/2009
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bento #31: Totoro snowman
January 29, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - ghibli (totoro, etc...) Tags: mini-totoro, snowflake, snowman, studio ghibli, totoro
7 comments
After I posted “how to make a Wall-E sandwich” on December 21, I started getting a lot of traffic to my blog, my flickr and my boyfriend’s flickr. At the time, I was still writing about my older bento on my blog and using my flickr to post pictures for my blog, so I decided to make a bento for people who were visiting my boyfriend’s flickr blog to see my latest bento. My boyfriend and I were on a vacation this day, but it was a Christmas eve, and I wanted to make something special. Which character did I pick?
Bento #31: Totoro snowman
Created and eaten on: 12/24/2008
