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Interesting new bento blog by Anna the Red


Wall-E Bento by Anna the Red

I came across an interesting new bento blog that gives step-by-step directions for creating elaborate kyaraben food art lunches. Anna the Red’s Bento Factory website is the new creation of Flickr user Anna the Red, who makes fantastic lunches for her boyfriend kickintheheadcomic. She’s partial to Studio Ghibli and Disney Pixar (think Totoro and Wall-E, like the bentos shown here).

Keep in mind that these are far from speed bentos, and are more in line with time-consuming oekakiben decorative art bento lunches. Have a look for inspiration for that rare food art bento you might make for a special occasion!


Nekobus Bento #2 by Anna the Red

On Bento Factory, Anna mixes write-ups of complete bentos with detailed how-to posts such as How to make mini Totoro, How to make Thanksgiving turkey bentos,  How to make vegetable flowers, and How to make a sunflower with sausages and a thin egg sheet (see also my tutorial for making thin egg sheets in the microwave, or the master list of all Decorative Food recipes on Lunch in a Box).

(Read on for more info, an additional source for kyaraben inspiration, and information on a new Daiso store in Cupertino.)

You can also see Anna the Red’s work on her Flickr photostream, her how-to bento photosets, and kickintheheadcomic’s bento photoset on Flickr. I’ve updated my Lunch Links page with Bento Factory information; be sure to drop me a line if you have a packed lunch blog you’d like me to add. (Thanks to Keiko and Ken, parents at Bug’s preschool who work at Pixar, for the heads up on the cool Wall-E bento!)

Sesame Street : ErnieIf you’re into elaborate bento lunches, be sure to check out hippoPAPA+mum’s bento photos on Flickr. This mom and dad team living in Japan make cute character-themed bento lunches for their kindergartener, and take some gorgeous photos. The Sesame Street bento to the right is one example. Very pretty!

SHOPPING:

In other news, reader Freecia points out that Daiso, the big Japanese discount store chain where I get a lot of cheap bento and household gear, has opened a new store in Cupertino, CA. Freecia reports that it’s smaller than the Mountain View store, which in turn is smaller than the Daly City store. Thanks for the heads up, Freecia!

Daiso Cupertino
19750 Stevens Creek Blvd
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 973-0331

FURTHER READING:

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December 7th, 2008 | Categories: decorative, shopping | Print This Post Print This Post | Email this post Email this post
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11 Responses to “Interesting new bento blog by Anna the Red”

  1. Kym Says:
    December 7th, 2008 at 1:59 am

    What a pretty blog!

    I love the fact that you’ve dedicated an entire post to Anna the Red. I mean, it’s the complete opposite of a paid advertorial. :)

  2. Katey B Says:
    December 7th, 2008 at 2:04 am

    Those are awesome bento.

    I wonder if anyone has done a decorative bento similar to teenage girls’ ‘keitai’ (=cell) phones. I think something could be done.

    Take up the challenge anyone?

    KB

  3. NoL Says:
    December 7th, 2008 at 5:12 am

    Those are beautiful! And makes me appreciate the speed of speed-bentoing all the more :-) I will save this in my links for special occasion lunches.

  4. Laura Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 1:37 am

    I just found this site a few weeks ago by searching for kyaraben on google (it led me to her boyfriend’s flickr account). She uses Totoro a lot. I love the little ones she makes out of quail eggs, which you linked to.

  5. Mimi Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 7:20 am

    This just took her from noob blogger to super blog. Nice work!

  6. bonbon Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 11:16 am

    That Totoro bento is so cute, it just made my day!

  7. Dan Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    Hi Biggie, i realised that you have been posting lesser and lesser real bento entries by the day. I come here everyday to check out what new bentos that you have made and to my disappointment, there wasn’t. Keep up the great job alright?

  8. GoAngel Says:
    December 9th, 2008 at 5:16 am

    Geez she’s probably busy, don’t post stuff like that…it’s not her duty to make bentos to make your day better. It probably takes her heaps of time and effort to make these bentos and the posts regarding them, bear that in mind.

  9. Biggie Says:
    December 9th, 2008 at 5:35 am

    @7 from Dan: Yeah, I need to pick up the regular bento posting. This last month was a bit of a perfect storm what with my surgery and the bulk of Bug’s school tours. December 16th is the last school tour, so at least there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

  10. BaschaW Says:
    December 9th, 2008 at 11:59 am

    Good luck w/ the bentos, surgeries, schooling, etc. etc…
    I’ve been coming here for several months, and while I’m not bento-ing, yet… little things have been changing about my snacks and lunches.
    We had not much to eat in the house, and my daughter was feeling very picky. To tempt her, I cut a sausage in half, lengthwise, and then set it on the upper half of a hamburger bun. I creatively put on mustard, ketchup, mayo and relish and then I proclaimed it a bento butterfly.
    She loved it.
    Thank so much for sharing. Some day I’ll get my full act together and start “real” (speed) bentos. lol
    - Bascha

  11. Kerensa Says:
    December 23rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    WALL-E! That looks so beautiful! If that was my lunch I don’t know if I could eat it haha.

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