This morning, I said to my wife, "Shall I take a picture (of the bento)?" Again, she unwillingly accepted my offer.
今朝、「（お弁当の）写真を撮ろうか？」と言うと、渋々許してくれました。
Four or five cherry tomatoes in a separate container (not shown).
Again, she said it didn't have any greens in it. The main reason is that leafy vegetables are extremely expensive these days because of bad weather.
別の容器にミニトマトが４、５個（写真には写ってません）。
また、緑が入ってないと言ってました。主な理由は、最近、悪天候のため葉野菜は極めて高くなっていることです。
This is going to be the last photo of my wife's bento in my blog, at least for now. I don't want to embarrass her any longer early in the morning.
これで、少なくともしばらくの間、妻の弁当の写真をこのブログに載せるのは最後にします。これ以上、朝早く妻に迷惑を掛けたくないので。
It's sad... I will miss your wife's short series of dishes and I hope she will change her mind soon!
ReplyDelete(As for greens... is it very cold inside your house? If not you can grow some herbs inside! I have put my balcony cases inside and have mitsuba and European parsley, mint and chives (chives and parsley are very resistant). Of course it's not the same as green vegetables... but it's nice to have fresh herbs in the winter.
Sissi: I keep telling my wife that I'm willing to post a photo of her creation if she asks me to.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, she was glad to hear your and Kiki's words!
Thanks for your suggestion for greens. Herbs can be great decorations in bento I have to thinking about growing some on my own.
Yes please, she should think about it. Most of the decorative bentos are not that interesting. It is all about the look and not about economy or taste. For example, found that on the Internet: someone cut a 1 cm thick slice of plain fishcake into the shape of a house and layered the orange skin of a surimi stick as a roof, fixed be dry spaghetti noodles. How nuts is this... more intersting to see everydays tasty leftovers or other ingredients.
ReplyDeleteKiki: Considering the way kyara ben and other decorative bento are made and the time required to make them, I am often concerned about the hygiene of such bento.
ReplyDelete>not that interesting.
My wife's bento are not interesting, either (laugh)! Sissi used the word "magical" to describe bento. There is no magic in bento making. For many, a bento is a combination of rice, furikake or something, leftovers, store-bought frozen food, some kind of joubisai (常備菜), a type of dish that can keep for days in the fridge, such as kinpira, and some dish or other made quickly in the morning.
If there is one thing that is interesting about bento, it's the dialogue between parent and child about what to include and what not to include in the bento and the dialogue between them about the bento when the child gets back home.
Hiroyuki, this is the extraordinary world of cooking blogs: what is magical for me is a staple for you! Bentos are magical really for most Europeans!. When I went to Japan last year I was disappointed I didn't take any long trip by train because I wanted so much to buy an ekiben and have it in the train! ;-) It's so far from the simple sandwiches sold here at train stations (they are edible and/or fresh if we are lucky!).
ReplyDeleteHygienic issues is one thing, I am also concerned about scraps and pieces from all these carving and cutting. What do they do with the peeled surimi stick? I think it is a good idea to use leftovers and freeze small amounts for later use in bentos (and don't care if they are shaped as a panda bear). Yes, children are something - but I never had problems with the eating habits of my son, more that kind of problems as in late night discussion with a 15 year old who pronounced proudly he and only he knows how life works and school skills are extremely overrated...
ReplyDeleteSissi: Ekiben are a totally different matter. I hope I can discuss them some day.
ReplyDeleteKiki: You are a lucky mother (laugh)! In a way, a bento is a result of compromise between parent and child. When I made bento for my daughter, she insisted that they must contain my home-made atsuyaki tamago and store-bought frozen hijiki nimono.
Thank you for sharing your wife's bentos! Please let her know that we've all enjoyed seeing them and hope she'll let you take more photos! They always look delicious (and nutritious!) to me. :)
ReplyDeleteBonnie: Thanks for your comment! I will let her know your kind words!
ReplyDelete