Mothering Corner

Arlene told me about this blog by R mama’s with lots of nice bento collections. The other day, I saw her making some cute gingerbread man cookies on her blog, but knowing myself well, I really don’t have time for baking! Thus, I decided to modify it and make a cute gingerbread man from cheese.

I don’t have a gingerbread man cookie cutter, if you do, it should be easier. I used the teddy bread cutter, like shown, but cut off the ears with a round cutter to form the head.

Cut out the shape with a teddy bear cutter

Cut off the ears with another round cutter. Be very careful not to cut off the other part but only the ears.

So, here’s the end result.

In each lunch box, there are garlic toasts, some Thai oranges, kiwis, mangoes and grapes.

The gingerbread man really sparks up the bento huh? The pink buttons and cheeks are cut from kamaboko. I added in a crab shaped mini wiener as protein source.

Some mothers asked me about how to cut the wieners nicely. I don’t know how the Japanese mothers do it, but personally, I like to freeze the wieners first. I will bring some out to defroze them a night before, or just place the wieners in running water to defroze it. It should be soft, but not as soft as the time we purchase it. I found that when the wiener is too soft, I can’t cut it nicely with a knife or sausage cutter.

If you are using the sausage cutters, make sure that you get the right size of wieners. If you can’t find the exact length, just shorten it.

A mini wiener for crab sausage cutter

After cutting, place the wiener in boiling water for awhile and the shape should be prominent in minutes. I hope that this tip helps.