Somebody in one of these bento box Flickr groups put rice crackers in their box and immediately I was teleported back to my childhood, childhood childhood when Lee and I would visit the Japanese tea room at the Descanso Gardens. A woman dressed in a kimono would serve us a pot of tea and a dish of delicately shaped crackers. We would sit outside by the pond or the bridge under the tall oaks and camellia forest. Peace all around us.
Maybe that is why I equate Japanese culture and food as calming and sublime. Maybe I had been significantly influenced by the nurseries, the architecture, and rice crackers, and that's why I turned out this way. Eh.
I went sort of cracker happy on Tuesday. Along with my rice and meatballs (recipe at
this blog), crackers, grapes, radishes, tomatoes, and yogurt with raspberries et al, the lunch was a success.
Wednesday I woke feeling so inspired by
this video (click on "Bento" near bottom right) that I made a "sunflower." It wasn't perfect, but hey this is my tenth bento box. Ever. It was weird to eat the egg lukewarm too, even though I eat cold hard boiled eggs. Don't know. Just odd.
Yogurt again with three fruits, tri-color bell peppers with mayo and pickled cabbage, and pork cooked with soy sauce and a leftover stuffed jalapeno. Those be pine nuts.
Thursday I was all get outta my way. I'm late! Grilled swordfish with rice and bell peppers and clam chowder were leftovers. So gooooooood! Red bell peppers which I'm really liking with soy and a fruit bowl. Those raspberries were so tiny.
The Mister works in the great outdoors and will eat everything on his plate, everything on my plate, and everything leftover. In other words, the man is hungry! 
This was Thursday's lunch: three plums and two pieces of chicken. I went round and round with the choice of box primarily because I was afraid of using the wood. You see, the box smells very good and I've always associated that smell with toxins the tree puts out to poison wood boring insects. What pray tell would it do to me if my food touched it and then I ate the food?
The various parts of Mr. Bento (and "Mr. Bento" is registered trademark). Four separate containers in a wide mouth thermos-type container that is wrapped with a black bag. The pyramid is my cool charm stone. We'll talk about it later.
I feel like a little squirrel today with my fruits and nuts. That's a peanut butter daisy with crunchy Cheetos in the center. Don't forget the Pocky!
Thursday I was all get outta my way. I'm late! Grilled swordfish with rice and bell peppers and clam chowder were leftovers. So gooooooood! Red bell peppers which I'm really liking with soy and a fruit bowl. Those raspberries were so tiny.
I'm still loving these "Master & Commander" glasses that I purchased from Williams-Sonoma. Today I brewed some Wild Raspberry Tea and poured it over ice. So refreshing!
Usually we both work on Thursdays making it rather hectic to do something nice for each other, although he's pretty good bringing home some nice take-out from Pier 46. 
He wouldn't take one of my bento boxes though. No, he said it would just get wrecked. But I know the truth; the guys at the construction site would call him Hello Kitty for a couple of months.
