"It's A Wonderful Life" Bento

On Monday, I posted a picture of one of my all-time favorite Christmas movie, and I challenged you to name that movie.

One guess was "A Christmas Story"; nope, but good guess.

Others guessed "It's A Wonderful Life" - if you were one of those people, you were right!

I tried to use several components to portray the "George Lassoes the Moon" scene.

(1) First, there's the Babybel cheese that I used to depict the moon.

(2) The "person" is made from buffalo chicken bites, and is using a Twizzler Pull-n-Peel rope to lasso the moon. The "person" represents George Bailey, while the buffalo chicken bites are a nod to the song that George and Mary sang in this scene - "Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight? And dance by the light of the moon."

(3) The broccoli florets are placed to illustrate the bushes that Mary hid in once she accidentally lost her robe.

(4) The mini bell pepper is cut into a bell shape, to represent Zuzu's phrase "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings."

(5) The angel-shaped angel food cake represents Clarence, George Bailey's guardian angel, who eventually gets his wings in the end.

Hope you enjoyed my culinary nod to "It's A Wonderful Life". If you have not seen this movie, rent it or borrow it from a friend; it's a heart-warming Christmas classic. If you already love this film, watch it again. I know I will be watching it again soon!

Name That Christmas Movie

Today, let's play a little game. I've made a bento lunch of one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies.

See if you can name that Christmas movie, and some of the hidden components. (Hint: there are at least four.)

I'll reveal the answers on Thursday. Have fun!

Candy Cane Lunch

Wow, Christmastime has snuck up on me once again. How is that even possible? I mean, it happens the same time EVERY YEAR! But here it is again. Although I am prepared with the purchasing of gifts & mailing of packages, I forgot about making a Christmas-themed bento lunch. A few days ago, while I was trying not to panic about coming up with an idea, I glanced over at my kids who were cutting out sugar cookie dough with cookie cutters, and an idea struck me. A simple, red and green themed bento.

The main centerpiece of this festive lunch is the two candy cane-shaped, peanut butter-filled sandwiches. I used a Wilton FoodWriter Edible Color Marker to create the red stripes on the candy canes.

In the middle of the candy canes, I placed a silicone heart cup of shelled edamame. The heart signifies the Love that came at Christmastime, and the green of the edamame adds to the cheer of this seasonal lunch.

To further complement the colors of Christmas, I placed baby spinach around the sandwiches and edamame. The little blue container holds a creamy caesar dressing, in which to dip the spinach leaves.

Rounding out the lunch, I added raisins and apricots, not because it is Christmasy at all. It's because that is what I had in the pantry. :)

I wasn't sure if the small candy cane-shaped sandwiches would fill up my kids' tummies, so I threw in some sesame-and-wheat crackers.

Lastly, what's a Candy Cane Lunch without a cookie to go with it? Hence, the candy cane cookie lovingly decorated by my daughter, LoveBug.