Yum Yum Lisa!

I love Bento Boxes. They're aesthetically appealing, they're neat and the arrangement just seems to make the food yummy-er! There is something about the arrangement of a Bento box that appeals to my nature, and it probably has a little to do with my years working at The Asia Society where I gained a true appreciation of Asian culture in a way that was unavailable to me before. Although I live in NYC, where every culture is literally at your finger tips, it can still feel foreign. You might be familiar with the foods or even a few important dates (every New Yorker knows what Ramadan is) but you can still feel outside of the culture. Working at The Asia Society was a little like prolonged study in Asian cultures and events. You begin to understand the importance of ceremony and what it has to do with something as simple as drinking a cup of Green Tea and you learn and appreciate the history behind Bento Boxes - from wooden lacquered boxes in the 16th century - to aluminum lunch boxes - to the mass produced Hello Kitty bento boxes available now. I've enjoyed purchasing "To-Go" Bento boxes for lunch and once my daughter began eating solid foods, I started trying my hand at my own bento lunches. That's how I came across Maisie Eats Bento while looking for tips and ideas. It has remained one of my favorite blogs - you'll notice it my blog list to the right of this post. And now! Now Lisa (the mother of Maisie) is having a giveaway for a lovely book called Yum Yum Bento Box! You can enter the giveaway here. If you'd like to try your hand at something new, or get more ideas for your bento boxes/children's lunch boxes, enter the giveaway for this great book by July 18th! And check out her blog while you're there - it's full of great ideas and inspiring lunches that all of us can do!