I made this amigurumi Kodama spirit as a request by a friend for our swap back in February. I was really last minute on finishing him up the day of our trade, so I had no time to take pictures of it before I had run to meet up with my friend for the swap over lunch. As a result, I didn't get this photo from him until now, but it's not like I really minded! Although I do kinda missed the little spirit guy after I gave him away...>.<>

"Love isn't about competition, it's wanting to make the other person feel loved that makes it competitive." -me

I realized that when you have someone precious to you, you'd want to do everything you can to make that person feel special and loved. It's amazing what people would do for one another and the devotion they share. Being selfless and doing our best to show our love is one of the most charitable thing we can do for someone.

When I first had the idea of making bento two years ago, I did quite a bit of research online. I came across many websites and blogs of moms making bento for their children and women making bento for their lovers. It was incredible knowing that these women came from backgrounds that were as diverse as the food they placed in their bento boxes. The delicacy and love that each and every one of them poured into their bento was like a carefully wrapped gift, waiting to be opened and admired. I'm sure the smile on the faces of their children and lovers is what makes everything worth it and keeps them motivated. Looking at their work inspired me to start creating my own bentos. Someday, I'd like to make tiny bentos for my own preschool children like those wonderful bento moms. But for now, I'm content with practicing my culinary skills and making bentos for the one person that matters now. They're not perfect, but I hope to become better with each new bento that I make.

The bento boxes above are in chronological order from upper left.

On Valentine's Day, Andrew and I were suppose to go on a picnic to the Golden Gate Park in SF for lunch but it's been so rainy and wet this month that we decided to have an indoor picnic at home instead. Usually, I would have made him some chocolate themed dessert for the special occasion like last year's homemade chocolate truffles. But since he's been cutting for his Taekwondo competition that's coming up in the next month, I tried to make this year's V-day as healthy as possible for him. I hope I succeeded!




What's in it?
top tier:
(box 1) chocolate dipped strawberries, tangerines, and mochi
(box 2) heart-shaped baked salmon in orange and lime juice, edamame
(box 3) spicy shrimp, avocado and cucumber slices
(box 4) salad, heart-shaped deviled egg, and balloon cherry tomatoes

bottom tier:
giant onigiri stuffed with salted shimp and decorated with nori and cheese, reverse california rolls, strawberries, mixed salad, and a wasabi container

I was actually lagging this year on preparing the lunchbox, so it took me a lot longer than it should have to make it. I was pretty much chopping up ingredients and designing the bento box as I went along cooking for it! Note to self: always prepare all ingredients and design the bento box the night before! It will save you so much time! Trust me! >.< I bought this bento box on my last trip to Ichiban Kan in J-town, figuring I'd use it on a picnic occasion like this. I love how the bento box stacks nicely together and the snap on belt/handle really came in handy! I didn't have to wrap it up in a furoshiki or a bag to carry it around. It's a pretty good sized bento box too. Andrew and I were pretty full after eating from it. There was actually a larger bento box of the same style with an extra slot for food in the middle, but I don't think I'd have the need to make that much food. I can't wait til the sun comes out and the weather is a bit warmer. I'd definitely be using this bento box again for other picnicking trips!

Later that night, Andrew's dinner plans didn't work out so we made our V-day spontaneous. Instead of the usual dining in a fancy restaurant for a romantic dinner, the two of us went to Safeway and picked up some ingredients to bake chicken alfredo pizzas! It wasn't the healthiest choice but we couldn't resist when we saw the pizza crusts. Pizza is also Andrew's favorite type of food, so I couldn't possibly say 'no' to him. We decorated our pizza with alfredo sauce, chicken strips, mushrooms, red bell peppers, broccoli, onion, and topped with mozzarella cheese. The pictures below were before we covered the pizzas with cheese and baking it.

I've always wanted to make sushi just for fun but never had the time or the ingredients to make any. But now that I'm on break and received this wonderful bento box for my birthday, I no longer have an excuse not to try making it. This fancy bento box was given to me by a good friend of mine, and I just love it! It's really nice to have on special occasions and makes your sushi look absolutely exquisite.


I've made a number of bento boxes and japanese food in the past but this is the first time I ever rolled sushi. I didn't have a bamboo mat so I had to improvise with a thick stack of newspaper sealed in a ziplock bag. The sushi came out pretty well with the improvision but I think I should definitely get a bamboo mat next time to make even tighter rolls. I made California rolls because it was easiest to make with little preparation and ingredients required. I also made an inverted California roll with the nori on the outside and the masago on top. hrmm..maybe there's already a name for it that I don't know of?? On the sides, I added two pairs of gyoza and inari. Personally, I usually don't eat a lot of wasabi but I didn't have any ginger and needed to fill up the empty space for picture-taking purposes. =P Also, the bento box is actually a lot bigger than it looks in the picture and was definitely very filling!

For my anniversary with my boyfriend, Andrew, I tried replicating a drawing he drew for me when we first started dating. I wasn't sure how I would make the background at first, but I liked the amigurumi idea so much that I just had to crochet the penguin and pig. I based my pig using this Lionbrand pattern. The penguin pattern I actually made on my own as I went along using this cute penguin picture I found as a reference. I had a hard time getting the head and body proportion right and being the perfectionist that I am, it took me an extremely long time to finish it. The penguin actually turned out looking decent, not as cute as I hoped but I didn't have a lot of time to be picky. At least making the chococat was good practice before I started on making this gift.

As I was making the penguin and pig, I had the idea of putting them in a shadow box. I got this wonderful idea of a DIY shadow box while searching online. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a plain gift box small, deep and sturdy enough to cut out, but I did find a Sephora gift box lying around which turned out to be just as good. Cutting a frame out of the backside of the box was out of the question because the cardboard was too thick.



Instead, I cut the center of the Sephora box out along the curves of the lids and also cut out a rectangle window from one of the sides. I placed yellow plastic wrap over the window before covering the entire box with blue felt. The window was bordered with fabric stickers from my scrapbooking collection.

I was crunched on time for decorating the box, so I just cut out Andrew's name from felt and glued it on the front. So much for creativity, eh? Ohwells..
I also added two buttons and yellow ribbons for closing the box. On the back side, I added a sketched picture of the two of us from Chuckee Cheese's.

For the interior, I found a photograph of a beautiful sunrise online and had it printed and cut for the background. I used light blue felt for the side and top walls and added cotton for clouds. The light brown felt turned out great for mimicking a sandy beach, and I added my own special touch with the heart. As for the quote, I came across it from a wedding invitation verse. I was so happy that it fitted the theme of my gift so well!

"The love we share today
Shines from sunrise to sunrise
Growing brighter, year to year
As we share our lives."

Amigurumi is a Japanese term for knitting or crocheting stuffed animals. Apparently, it has gotten a lot of hype in recent years outside of Japan and there's been several books published in English on how to make amigurumi dolls. I thought they were absolutely adorable and couldn't help but make one myself. So I went and bought some crochet hooks and yarns from Joann's and started learning crocheting from some online tutorials. It took me awhile to get the hang of it but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Making the Chococat amigurumi was pretty spontaneous, and it was mainly because I was already practicing crocheting in black yarn. It took me a very long time to get the proportion right for him. I initially made the body to be much smaller than his head to fit his image, but it would've made him look awkward sitting down and there won't be enough support for his large head. His head also came out to be a lot rounder than it should be too. =\ But overall, I was pretty satisfied with the results and very proud of it as a first attempt at crocheting. I even took him around with me on campus for the day and randomly took a picture of him in a shrub for my phone. Haha. Hopefully, I'll have time to make more amigurumi dolls soon! I'm already planning out what I'll make next. My goal is to make more mascots! =D

Chococat and Mashimaro Rivalry?!?! O.o