Bento Making Classes

My love affair with bento making is a long and ongoing one. Which I am sure was evident in my previous post about bento shopping. Needless to say I have always been fascinated by the effort and care that goes into Japanese bentos. Now that my oldest daughter is in school I have the wonderful opportunity to make her bento style lunches. I guess I should point out that due to my daughter’s dairy allergy she is unable to eat school lunches. So even though there are days that I would like to take a break from making her lunches I can’t. I will admit that it does get tedious making her lunch everyday and it is easy to get stuck in the continual sandwich rut. Coming up with new ideas and tricks is hard for me as I am the type of person that needs to be shown exactly how to do something. Cute little pictures and suggestions are lost on me. So when I found out that Katy from ‘Obento Lunch 4 Kidz was teaching bento classes I was thrilled. The class sounded like a great opportunity to expand my bento making skills and gain new ideas. Then I noticed that the classes were only offered during the day and all I could think was "What am I going to do with my 18 month old?" As I continued reading about the classes I realized that child care was provided as part of the class! In fact Katy went as far as to set up activities for the kids to do while the adults are making bentos! Two activities for the price of one - does it get better?

Being the bento loving geek that I am I counted down the days to till the class. On Thursday I headed over to Katy’s home looking forward to an afternoon of bento making and I was not disappointed. Upon arriving at Katy’s she greeted me an adorable gift bag containing a new bento box with a matching bag and a small bag of accessories that we would be using to make our bento. Please note that the accesories are not included in the picture as I didn't even think to snap it until after I made my bento!

There were three of us there for the class and I was glad to see that the class was going to be small and personal. Katy said she plans to keep all of the classes small so that she can give everyone the attention and instruction they need. After we ushered the kids into another room to play we all gathered around Katy’s kitchen table to begin bento making.

First of all I have to say that I am amazed by Katy’s bento making talents. I have long admired the adorable bentos she makes on her blog. Well it turns out that she is a wonderful teacher as well. She explained all the details about our bento and showed us all of the tricks. She told us about shortcuts and even gave us great shopping tips. I am positive that without out her wonderful instructions I would have never been able to make this adorable bento. If you really want to know mine is the lopsided one on the top left!

I am happy to say that I was right - it was a wonderful afternoon of bento making full with great conversation and yummy food. My 18 month old was well taken care and didn’t want to leave at the end of the class. I learned many new tips and tricks which should get me through a few more months of lunch making without getting stuck in another sandwich rut. I also walked away with a new bento box packed and ready for my daughter to take to lunch the next day. If you make bentos or would like to start making bentos I would highly recommend taking Katy’s class – it is worth every penny!

For details about the bento making classes please visit 'Obento 4 Kidz Classes

Comments

[Hollie]

I agree, worth every penny. I really enjoyed this class. Super fun and I learned a lot. My two older kids were fighting over the bento box and I didn't make it for either of them, I made it for my youngest one. However, I now am able to make some for all three of them. There is more to making bento then the cuteness factor...portion size, healthy, fun, cheaper, etc.

[Katy]

I am so pleased that you guys had a good time! I did as well! :)

[Snuff]

Very Cool! Thanks for sharing!

[Regina]

Katy's class was awesome. I loved it. My daughter really enjoyed her Piggy Bento. I look forward to going to more of Katy's Bento classes!

[Stephanie]

Does Katy still do bento classes?? They're so cute!!

[Joelle]

Unfortunately, Katy just PCSd to the East Coast!! But if anyone knows of anyone else doing it please let us know!!

[Kandy]

If I weren't leaving in less than 100 days, (I KNOW!!!) I'd love to start one up. There are online bento blogs/ideas to fill in the gaps between creative people living here! The ones below gives me inspiration when I'm out of ideas on a Thursday night: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/bento/index.htm

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/

Man, I'm going to miss living in Japan!!!!!!!