studio ghibli

Non-bento #44: Chocolate covered strawberry Totoro

December 25, 2011 bento

After I got my job at the Behemoth, I’ve been traveling back and forth between New York and San Diego. I have a fully functional kitchen at my temporary living space in San Diego but Derek (the person I cook cutesy food for) is in New York, and it just hasn’t been fun making character food for myself. :/ But! I came back to New [...]

Our Japan trip in 10 minutes!

June 23, 2011 Blog

Some of you may know that Derek and I went to Japan in November last year. We met wonderful people, ate delicious food, drank every night, saw amazing stuff, visited incredible places, and oh yeah, Derek proposed to me in front of the Laputa robot statue at the Ghibli Museum. It was the most unforgettable two weeks of our life. On my blog I wrote [...]

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Non-bento #36 & 37: Totoro egg in the blanket & cookies

May 9, 2011 Baking

It’s so much fun to play with the Totoro cookie cutter/food mold I made, I couldn’t stop playing with it. I made two different dishes with the Totoro food cutter/food shaper, but I’m going to post both of them in here. Non-bento #36: Totoro egg in the blanket Created and eaten on 5/5/2011 Whenever I see an egg shaper, I see an “egg in the [...]

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Non-bento #35: Totoro breakfast

May 4, 2011 bento

I posted a sneak preview photo on my twitter and my facebook fan page so some of you might already know what I made with the Totoro metal cutter I made the other day, but I learned some stuff while I was using it, so I decided to write a post. Non-bento #35: Totoro breakfast Created and eaten on: 5/4/2011 My Totoro themed breakfast contains [...]

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How to make Totoro inari-zushi

April 11, 2011 bento

A couple of weeks after it officially became Spring, it’s finally starting to get warm! Cherry blossoms will start blooming soon at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. So I’ll do a how-to on great picnic food for Hanami (Cherry blossom viewing). Character inari-zushi #1: Totoro inari-zushi Inari is fried bean curd cooked in soy sauce, sugar, mirin and water. The skin is juicy and sweet and the [...]

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Non-bento #32: Totoro chocolate 2

February 23, 2011 Baking

The day after I made Non-bento #31: Totoro chocolate I made this for my second bit of practice. Non-bento #32: Totoro chocolate 2 Created on: 2/15/2011 So, after I made Totoro chocolate using two colors (milk chocolate and white chocolate), I decided to put some colors on it and make it more like kyarachoco (short for “character chocolate”, like “kyaraben”) I looked at some images of [...]

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Ghibli feast #4: Kiki’s Delivery Service

May 15, 2010 bento

Day 2 of Ghibli feast Ghibli feast #4: Kiki’s Delivery Service Kiki is a 13 year-old witch in training. Every witch has to leave their town and live on their own for a year to train themselves to become a better witch. With no special talents or skill other than flying on a broom, Kiki starts her delivery business in a city by the ocean. [...]

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non-bento #22: Laputa robot fossil toast

February 9, 2010 bento

Just like any other kyaraben/bento makers, I have some Japanese kyaraben sites bookmarked. I don’t check those sites too often, but I saw a great idea on this one site the other day and I had to try it for myself. Non-bento #22: Laputa robot fossil toast Created and eaten on: 1/24/2010

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Bento #72: Setsubun Totoro

February 3, 2010 bento

Today, February 3rd, is the day of Setsubun in Japan. It’s the day to drive away evil spirits, which means to throw roasted soybeans at Oni (evil creature/ogres from Japanese myths). In almost all kindergartens and schools, students make an Oni mask for Setsubun, so that kids can take the mask home, have someone wear it, and throw soybeans at them. “Roasted soybeans are thrown [...]

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Bento #69: Nekobus #3

January 19, 2010 bento

Hooray! I finally made the first kyaraben of this year! I wanted to make it a lot sooner, but I just couldn’t come up with an idea. I thought of making a different/easier bento but I really wanted the first kyaraben to be “new year themed.” I was worried about not finishing it on time since I was so out of touch, so I made [...]

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non-bento #21: kagami-"onigiri" Totoro

January 7, 2010 bento

For those who have missed my previous post… Kagami-mochi is a decoration for the New Year in Japan. It’s made with 2~3 round rice cakes stacked on top of each other. Traditionally, you break it and eat it on the second Saturday or Sunday of January. I wanted to make some easy non-bento food on January 1st. It was really nothing special but I thought I’d [...]

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Happy Happy New Year!

January 1, 2010 bento

We didn’t go out on New year’s eve. We stayed home and I cooked “toshikoshi soba,” and we just watched the ball drop on TV. “Toshikoshi-soba” means “the end of the year soba noodle.” In Japan, people eat soba at night before the year’s over. Any soba eaten on the night of December 31st is “toshikoshi-soba.” What kind of soba you’ll eat depends on your [...]

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Happy Holidays!

December 26, 2009 Blog

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. My boyfriend and I are on a pretty long holiday vacation (we’re off until the beginning of the next year!), so I don’t have to make bento. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop making them! As soon as we finish watching DVDs & blu-rays and playing games we got for Christmas (maybe get some inspiration from [...]

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How to make Ponyo’s sisters

September 28, 2009 characters

When I made the “Ponyo bento” I made bunch of Ponyo’s sisters. It was very easy, and you can make it with only four ingredients, so I thought I’d share it with you! [How to make Ponyo sisters] – Ham! – Grape tomatoes (of course, you can use regular cherry tomato, but where I live, grape tomatoes are a LOT cheaper, and for Ponyo’s sister, [...]

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bento #62: Ponyo

September 16, 2009 bento

We finally watched “Ponyo on the Cliff.” I’m not going to review the movie, but I didn’t feel the same excitement as when I watched Totoro or Laputa or Nausicaa. Since I make a lot of Studio Ghibli themed bento, I actually received a couple of emails requesting me to make Ponyo bento. But I can’t make something that I haven’t watched. So after watching [...]

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non-bento #16: Kaonashi and kodama onigiri

July 16, 2009 bento

My boyfriend and I are on the road again! We’ve been trying to empty the fridge, so I’ve been making regular bento. But I still wanted to make a kyaraben-ish thing, so I decided to make breakfast. Non-bento #16: Kaonashi and Kodama onigiri (rice ball) Created and eaten on: 7/15/2009

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bento #58: Sitting Totoro

July 14, 2009 bento

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 bento

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. [...]

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bento #52: Rainy day Totoro

June 4, 2009 bento

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 #48: Laputa robot with cherry blossoms

May 5, 2009 bento

I still had a couple of Inari-zushi skin left over from Totoro with cherry blossoms and Ano-Niku bento, so I decided to make one more spring themed bento with Inari-zushi skin. I already knew what I was going to make, because I was originally going to put it in Totoro with cherry blossom bento, but he didn’t fit. Besides, he deserves a bento of his [...]

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bento #46: Totoro with cherry blossoms

April 30, 2009 bento

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: [...]

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bento #42: Totoro parade

April 4, 2009 bento

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 Baking

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… [...]

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how to make Totoro peanut butter sandwich

March 15, 2009 characters

My boyfriend loves eating peanut butter sandwiches as a snack. He eats one before he goes to kung fu class on Saturday or late afternoon on Sunday. I was thinking there’s gotta be an easy way to make his plain peanut butter sandwich cuter. Easy and cute = Totoro! So I was looking around the house, thinking what I could use to make a sandwich cutter [...]

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bento #31: Totoro snowman

January 29, 2009 bento

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 [...]

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How to make Totoro with rice

January 18, 2009 characters

Today’s how-to requires basic Asian ingredients, so it may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy cooking & eating sticky rice (Japanese, Chinese, Korean rice), this is a great way to make a main character for your bento! [How to make a Totoro rice ball] (used in “Sleeping Totoro”, “Flying Totoro”) – rice mixed with ground black sesame seed and salt (see “How to [...]

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bento #26: Nekobus part 2

January 13, 2009 bento

Remember my very first attempt to make a Nekobus bento? It was embarrassing and horrifying. It was an utter failure. So I decided to make it again. Bento#26: Nekobus part2 Created and eaten on: 11/21/2008

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bento #25: Flying Totoro

January 10, 2009 bento

After getting my game bento rush out of my system I decided to go back to my all time favorite theme. Totoro! I wrote in my blog before, but I think I’m best at copying things. I like figuring out how to make food into a character or how to recreate a certain scene, but I’m not good at coming up with something original. So [...]

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bento #18: Jjij from Kiki’s Delivery Service

December 18, 2008 bento

This was one of those Ghibli characters I always thought about making but I just never did. The one that looks so easy to make. Maybe it’s even too easy… And that was why I never thought it’d be a challenge. Bento#18: Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service Created and eaten on: 10/30/2008

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bento #17: Laputa robot

December 16, 2008 bento

I’ve mentioned repeatedly in my blog that my boyfriend and I are big fans of Studio Ghibli films. And “Laputa: Castle in the Sky” is of course one of our favorite titles. I’d always wanted to do a Laputa bento, but there aren’t that many “creatures” in Laputa… except… Bento#17: Laputa robot with Fox Squirrel Created and eaten on: 10/27/2008

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bento #16: Sleeping Totoro

December 13, 2008 bento

After my Katamari bento and Super Smash Bros. Brawl bento, some video game sites put the pictures of my bento on their sites. Even though I’m making bento for my boyfriend, any compliments are always encouraging. So, I gathered my courage to revisit “bento #1: Totoro made out of rice”, which was my very first and the most embarrassing kyaraben I’ve ever made. It wouldn’t be interesting [...]

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bento #13: God Warrior vs Ohmu

December 4, 2008 bento

When I was making bento #9 Mini-moose bento, it was difficult to work with the hamburg (Japanese style) with sauce, because I had to be really careful not to let the sauce get the food around it. But then, I realized that I’ve seen the “meat with sauce dripping” mess somewhere before. Bento#13: Nausicaa God Warrior vs Ohmu Created and eaten on: 10/16/2008

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bento #12: Spirited Away

December 2, 2008 bento

My boyfriend has the “Ootori-sama” (Duck God?) plush keychain from Spirited Away on his bag, so I always wanted to make a bento with Ootori-sama. I looked around my boyfriend’s room, trying to find anything that would go with Ootori-sama, and I noticed that hippo looking thing (Bou-nezumi) and the black bird (Hae-dori) from Spirited Away on his desk… that was enough for me to [...]

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bento #10: The Path to Totoro’s Forest

November 29, 2008 bento

When I made my first Totoro bento, I used bonito flakes for his gray body color, but it didn’t look quite right.　So I thought, “What food is gray?” The first food that came to my mind was konnyaku. I searched the web for “Totoro made out of konnyaku”, but to my surprise I couldn’t find anyone using konnyaku for Totoro… so of course, I had [...]

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non-bento#1 Laputa toast

November 27, 2008 bento

This isn’t a bento, but since it’s anime-inspired food, I’ll post it along with my usual bento blog anyway. If you’re a fan of Laputa: Castle in the Sky by Studio Ghibli, you’re probably drooling now. Non-bento character food#1: Laputa toast Created and eaten on: 10/5/2008

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bento #8: Ohmu

November 25, 2008 bento

I’ve been wanting to use renkon for a background, but Bento#6 Kaonashi bento didn’t work out too well. One day, after eating lots of renkon, I finally realized what it reminded me of… the trees in the Sea of Decay from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind! Since I’m not really into making human characters for bento, I picked Ohmu – the gigantic, armored, [...]

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How to make mini-totoro

November 23, 2008 characters

Now you can make your own mini-Totoro! I’m using quail eggs because they sell quail eggs at local supermarkets by where I live. They cost about the same as normal eggs, so some people might find them expensive. Quail eggs are very good for bento, and I always have them in my fridge. If you can’t find it, you can use a normal sized egg. [...]

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How to make makkurokurosuke

November 23, 2008 characters

Makkurokurosuke and mini-Totoro can come in super handy when you’re making a Miyazaki film themed bento. They are so easy to make and small enough to fill the space in a bento. They may be too easy to do how-to on, but I thought I’d just do it anyway. [Makkurokurosuke ver.1] – rice – seaweed (1/4 sheet) – kamaboko (fish cake) or cheese if you don’t [...]

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bento #6: Kaonashi

November 20, 2008 bento

After my sad attempt at making a Nekobus bento, I was looking for something very easy & foolproof to make. I was going through images of characters from Ghibli films, and came across the picture of a tall black figure with black eyes and mouth on a white mask called Kaonashi (“No Face” in English version) from Spirited Away. Bento# 6: Kaonashi, Kodama and Makkurokurosuke bento [...]

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bento #5: Nekobus

November 18, 2008 bento

When I was cooking croquettes before, I thought the color was perfect for Nekobus (a.k.a Catbus) from “My Neighbor Totoro.” I thought, “I’ll just shape mashed potato like Nekobus and fry it like a croquette!!” Bento #5: Nekobus (My Neighbor Totoro) Created and eaten on: 9/29/2008

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bento #2: Makkurokurosuke

November 13, 2008 bento

This is my second kyaraben. That’s right. After my failure, I didn’t give up, but decided to make something different and easier. So, I looked around the internet, and found how to make Makkurokurosuke and mini-Totoro. Bento #2: Makkurokurosuke and mini-Totoro (from My Neighbor Totoro) Created and eaten on: 9/17/2008

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bento #1: Totoro

November 11, 2008 bento

Today (11/11) is apparently International Pocky day! Yay, Pocky! Well, I’ve been meaning to do this blog for the past 3 months, but then my day job has gotten in the way,,, Anyway, better late than never, so I’ll start blogging today. I’ve been into making bento (“lunch box” in Japanese) recently, and I’m actually having a lot of fun with it. Here is my [...]

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