Bento from Yum-Yum Bento Box

Yum-Yum Bento Box by Maki Ogawa is a book devoted to recipes for creating adorable bento boxes. Here's a bit more about the book:

Oh, boy-obento! These cute, yummy, healthy lunches are all the rage in Japan, where mothers think of them as an expression of love for their children. Yum-Yum Bento Box is one of the first cookbooks in English devoted to these healthy and adorable meals–they’re fresh, they’re tasty, and they’re almost too cute to eat!

Each step-by-step recipe in Yum-Yum Bento Box is simple and adaptable. Readers will learn how to form their favorite foods into a variety of shapes-from zebras, panda bears, and monkeys to kitties, piggies, and puppy dogs. Chapters include instructions for classic bento boxes and character-driven bentos (called Kyaraben), plus shopping advice, general tips and tricks, and much more. Stop wasting money on prepackaged lunches-and start making beautiful, healthy bentos!

Bento from The Decorated Cookie

These projects were both new territory for me.  I created the Panda Bear sushi for a contest. The challenge was to tackle a recipe outside of one’s own culture and out of one’s comfort zone. Sushi was my immediate choice, as I’m not a fan, had only eaten sushi on too few occasions to remember, and had certainly never tried to make my own. And since I have to apply art to everything in my kitchen:  panda bears. And given this penchant for combining art and food, I especially love making foods that look like other foods. Hence, the mini marshmallows designed to look like Japanese candies. While I may have an aversion to sushi, I adore the world of Japanese candies. I haven’t extensive knowledge to back this adoration, just total respect for the breadth, the cuteness, the packaging and the cleverness.

You can pick up a copy of Yum-Yum Bento Box from Quirk Books and see more projects from Meaghan on her blog, The Decorated Cookie.