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After all those read-a-thon updates on Graasland it’s about high time I posted my latest bentos. And what better motivation than to find a mail from Hapa Bento telling me I had won the September B.O.M.B. challenge?!
*blush* I am so honoured!
Bento #116 served as dinner on my train journey to an evening about ‘Foodies, Foodporn & Foodblogs’ in The Hague on Wednesday September 22nd. That day it was mid-autumn and the Chinese were celebrating their Moon Festival. On Thursday the 23rd there would be a full moon — the brightest and most beautiful moon of the year according to Japanese people!
Tsukimi
Watching the full September moon is a special celebration in Japan, called Tsukimi (moon-viewing), tsuki being moon. It’s about honouring the moon and being thankful for the harvest. So, what could be more fun than to take an early Tsukimi Bento to the food event?
That meant I had to use seasonal produce (which is traditionally offered to the moon) and use ‘pampas grass’ for decoration. My organic CSA veggie bag came in handy! I really wanted to bring traditional foods, but no way I was having another attempt at making dango! I tried that on my first Holland Hanami (cherry blossom viewing, the spring counterpart of Tsukimi) and it made us gag! #fail
Thankfully I had recently bought some green tea mochi. But what am I doing, starting with dessert?
Front tier
- Buckwheat soba noodles (traditional) with leftover stir-fry of Swiss chard, silver onions, leek, carrot, corn kernels and chili pepper (all seasonal vegetables), braised in the soaking liquid of dried mushrooms.
- Large shiitake mushroom (‘dark side of the moon’).
- Slice of corn cob (‘full moon’).
- Potato patty (no traditional sweet potato but hey, close enough).
- Red pepper rabbits (tradition).
- Fennel green ‘pampas grass’ for decoration, plastic sushi grass and flat leaf parsley for baran (dividers).
- Slice of braised carrot, mini gherkins and pickled silver onions.
- All on a bed of lettuce.
Background tier (which can be seen more clearly in another picture)
- Edamame (traditional).
- Apple – first local harvest!
- Dried fruit: apricot & mango.
- Green tea mochi (traditional).
- Dollop of ketchup for potato patty.
But there’s more to it…
I didn’t get round to writing this blogpost because I wanted to tell you more of the thoughts behind bento #116.
In the Chinese Moon Fest round forms symbolize unity, completeness, togetherness. It reminds me of the circle of life, autumn being the season in which ‘the fruits’ get harvested. Of course the moon is round too. So I’ve used a lot of round foods in my round tsukimi bento :) Mix & match is what I say! ;) A lot of Chinese heritage became Japanese culture as well. Hey, I’m an European making bento, so what are we talking about anyway?
It’s interesting to know that the box that I used for this train bento is even officially called Tsukimi. The depiction of a moon-watching rabbit can be found in many Japanese decorations. All around the world people see things in the moon; here in Holland it’s a face and we’re calling it the Man of the Moon. Ancient Chinese saw a hare or rabbit pounding herbs for elixir, the Japanese believed it was pounding rice to make mochi. Making mochi is called mochitsuki (餅つき), which sounds similar to the word for full moon: mochitzuki (望月)!
Now do you see the importance of my green tea mochi dessert? First flush (green) sencha tea is supposed to be best when kept till September, so that makes it even more appropriate.
Both moon and rabbit symbolize a long life. That probably originates from the Chinese life elixir myth — and the way rabbits know how to ensure eternal life through their offspring ;)
But there’s also a Buddhist story associated with this all, the story of Jade Rabbit. On a day of Uposatha — Buddhist Sabbath — an old man asked for food from a monkey, an otter, a jackal and a rabbit. The monkey collected fruits and offered them to the old man, the otter brought him a fish and the jackal a lizard. The rabbit didn’t have anything to bring, because the herbs constituting his food weren’t good for humans.
Then the rabbit decided to offer his own body and jumped into fire. Surprisingly his body did not burn, because the old man was the deity Sakra. And for people to remember the rabbit’s sacrifice, the old man drew the rabbit’s image over the moon.
If you look at Google images of ‘tsukimi rabbit‘ you’ll see the cutest rabbit-shaped sweets… I wish I could have had some! Still, I had so much fun making & eating this thematic bento! It’s wonderful it was awarded with a B.O.M.B. badge :)
Home-grown: red hot chilli peppers
Local & organic: Swiss chard, leek, carrots, corn, lettuce, potato, parsley, fennel, apple
Organic: sōmen, shiitake mushroom, egg, paprika, ketchup
I really, really, really am such a lucky grrl. First I received my present from dolce bellezza for admitting quotes from I Am a Cat in the Japanese Literature Challenge November giveaway.
I love these colourful maki-e stickers with gold so much that when I entered the ‘competition’, I vowed that I would go buy that longed for iPhone should I win… And I’m one to keep my promise! Don’t you think my mobile will look great with those gorgeous koi fish? Accessorize, Personalize! Better start making plans for a shopping trip ;)
The lucky cat phone charm is called Maneki Neko, which can be translated in ‘beckoning cat’. It is asking you to come in, because you’re welcome! It is believed to bring good luck. This cat has his left paw raised — some say to bring customers in, while having a raised right paw brings wealth and good fortune. Well, I’m lucky anyway! ;)
Because, as I wrote in yesterday’s Sunday Salon, I also received a whole box of goodies from vvb32 reads. Look at it!
Didn’t I get spoiled? The first thing to notice is Snow Country, by Kawabata Yasunari. I guess velvet noticed I fell in love with the author last year, while reading The Old Capitol in the Japanese Literature Bookgroup. I still need to review it, but I claimed it to be my 2nd best read of 2009! The other two books don’t trigger any memories, except that I know velvet read Gail Carriger’s Soulless, and loved it. I quote:
this is a fabulously fun Victorian romp involving supernatural creatures and others
I’ve decided against rereading her review because I prefer to know as little as possible about books before I begin — as I’ve said before ;) The Christmas Quilt by Thomas J. Davies hasn’t popped up anywhere on my radar yet, but it seems a cosy read for this year’s Holiday season. Let’s just hope there aren’t any zombies in it — can’t get comfy with guests like that, can I? :\ Then again… Why would I need brain flavour zombie mints when not expecting any living deads ?! :-o Boy, they must have bad breath… You think I could scare them away with the Christmas Cracker in the right-hand corner? Because I’m saving that until December as well! It has a cute wooden ‘Nutcracker’ toy on it.
Still, the box is not empty yet. There’s some stuff to get myself organized in the new year: a cool sushi bar calendar (stickers) and a monster heart pencil. I hope velvet doesn’t mean to suggest I need to stop blogging and start writing a personal diary? :P Nooooo, it’s probably to take notes while buddy reading Sei Shonagon’s The Pillowbook with her!
I’m open to suggestions on how to use the calendar stickers btw… The wrapper hints to putting them on my personal computer, but somehow that doesn’t seem such a good idea to me.
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And then I got some more awards. You know by now I don’t pass these along, but I do APPRECIATE THEM very much! So many thanks to velvet for the Superior Scribe Award and to Sherimiya for the Happy 101 Blog Award! They both make me really happy :) But the one I like ‘bestest’ was passed on to me by the ever faithful velvet: the Zombie Chicken Award. (Yesh, velvet likes her zombies ;)
The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words.
I rest my case. Let’s scatter those mints for the chicks and any other zombies Maneki Neko brings in. Then I can wallow in my wealth :)
Usually I don’t win any prizes… But lately I’ve been really lucky!
Velvet from vvb32 reads gave me not one, not two, but four awards!
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Click on the award pics to go to the different blogposts on vvb32 reads. From left to right: I received The B for Beautiful of the The BINGO Award, the Ohh la la! I love your blog Award, The Lemonade Award (a ‘feel good’ trophy that shows great attitude or gratitude), and the Honest Scrap Award for bloggers who write from the heart.
I’m so honored! I have to answer a few questions to actually pick two of them up, so I’ll do that at the end of this post.
But my luck does not end here. I also won the cutest maki-e stickers (shiny things are excellent for a magpie like me) and mobile phone charm in the Japanese Literature Challenge at Dolce Belezza. I’m not linking to the post because I want to show them to you once they’ve arrived ;) Now I definitely need to buy an iPhone so that I can personalize it with my new goodies! ;) In situations like these I’m always thinking of Ren & Stimpy: HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!
Now for those of you who are wondering what that cheese is doing in this blogpost… It was a prize also! We’ve got a fabulous new cheese shop in our shopping center and although we missed out on the first prize, a garden kitchen, we were lucky enough to win the 2nd: real Gouda farmer’s cheese. Yum! We are actually happy to have come second because we wouldn’t have been able to fit the kitchen on our balcony anyway! LOL
Now that we’re feeling lucky we’ve bought a ticket to the New Year’s Lottery..! Keep on dreaming eh? ;)
As promised, here’s my acceptance speech for the awards…
Ohh la la! award
J’adore your blog!
Where is your favorite place to read a book?
Actually… while commuting by train! And in my reading chair at home, cosying up with da kittehs.
Bookmarks or dog ears?
Bookmarks.
What is the best book you have read so far this year?
It’s almost time to compile my top list for 2009… Best read so far is either John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath or Yasunari Kawabata’s The Old Capital. Both classics..!
Do you like to snack while reading and if so, what is your favorite snack?
Not especially, just when I feel like snacking. I have a taste for salty — but potato chips & reading do not go well together… (no grease spots in my books please ;)
Book borrower or book collector?
In 2009 I was mostly a book collector.
For the Honest Scrap award I need to disclose 10 honest things about myself…
- I still prefer a nickname when socializing on the web.
- I’m keeping my blog separated from my professional life as a museum employee.
- I’m a vegetarian but I sometimes crave meat.
- Thankfully my lust for meat vanishes when I recall why I’m a veggie.
- I wish I was strong enough to stop eating dairy as well — but I’m not.
- I feel I’m the slowest book blogger on the planet when it comes to writing reviews.
- Making bento’s usually takes more time than it should too :\
- I can’t decide on a favourite book of all-times, nor a fav author.
- I lied. I think David Mitchell is the best writer ever ;)
- I’m not very good at passing awards along.
Well, that’s pretty honest, isn’t it?! And because of confession #10 I’ll just round up with a big THANK YOU!
December, the last month of the year has arrived! Only 25 days left to finish up all 2009 challenges… Got to hurry! Actually, I think I am going to stretch my personal 2008-2009 challenge into 2010 ;)
A more difficult problem to tackle will be reviewing the books I’ve read :\ At the end of this Sunday Salon you’ll find a list of all books I still need to post about…
But first: something wonderful happened this week! Natakiya from Bentoanarchy has given me the Kreativ Blogger Award! Unfortunately I am not too good at the memes which seem to accompany awards, nor very good at passing them along. So instead of really picking it up I will just announce my extreme gratitude here!
In my last November Sunday Salon I already talked about another happy event: the Cloud Atlas music cd I got from Elsje. I feel I am a very lucky grrl!
Book reviews written in November
- Coraline, ‘my first graphic novel‘. What do you consider to be a graphic novel?
- I Am a Cat (part 1) for the Japanese Literature Read-a-Long. I seem to be more interested in the cat part than the human satire.
Right now I am reading the second part of I Am a Cat. Waiting for me on the shelf is The Gargoyle, this month’s Boekgrrls read — and I’ve been looking forward to it for a year now!
Books read in November
- In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
- The Old Capital, by Yasunari Kawabata
- Persuasion (audio), by Jane Austen
Books waiting to be reviewed
In order of priority.
- The Old Capital ~ Yasunari Kawabata
Japanese Literature Book Group, JapLit Challenge, Classics Challenge - In Cold Blood ~ Truman Capote
Classics Challenge, What’s in a Name Challenge, Boekgrrls - The Grapes of Wrath ~ John Steinbeck
Classics Challenge, Bookcrossing book, personal 2008-2009 challenge - Brideshead Revisited ~ Evelyn Waugh
Classics, What’s in a Name Challenge, Boekgrrls - Revolutionary Road ~ Richard Yates
Classics Challenge, Boekgrrls - The Remains of the Day ~ Kazuo Ishiguro
What’s in a Name Challenge, personal 2008-2009 challenge - Be With You ~ Takuji Ichikawa
JapLit Challenge
The Sunday Salon is a virtual gathering of booklovers on the web, where they blog about bookish things of the past week, visit each others weblogs, oh — and read ;)
How wonderful: velvet from vvb32 reads gave me this Let’s Be Friends Award! Good thing I don’t have a webcam because I’m sitting here awfully red-faced ;) Thank you SO much velvet! And I’m looking forward to reading The Pillowbook with you for our Japanese Literature Challenge :)
The award is for:
Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.
What an amzing way to end the Book Bloggers Appreciation Week :)
The hard part is that I can select only 8 blogs of all those great reader-writers out there..! Let’s do it Oscar-style:
AND THE AWARD GOES TO…
Suzanne of Chick with books (I haven’t known her long but her kind en generous remarks stand out)
Mee of Books of Mee (always extremely interested in the thoughts of commentators on her posts)
Belezza of Dolce Belezza (generous host of the Japanese Literature Challenge)
tanabata of In Spring it is the Dawn (sharing her Japan experiences on what is probably the blog with the most poetic name ;)
Literary Feline of Musings of a Bookish Kitty (giveaways, giveaways, giveaways :) And you have to love anyone adoring cats!)
Claire of Kiss a Cloud (great taste in books, especially cherishing classics — and what can I say: have you seen today’s giveaway?)
Chris of Book-a-rama (I can’t believe the amount of reviews she’s sharing! And I love the idea of ‘This old thing?‘!)
gautami tripathy of Everything Distills into Reading (very active in the blogging community!)
It is great having so many virtual friends!
Graasland 