It’s been a while since I’ve posted any of Emma’s lunches.  Today we woke up a little earlier than normal and I had more time to prepare a fancy lunch for her.

Rice "flowers"; tofu "flowers"; mandarin orange slices; soy sauce; fig cookies; dried apricots

I tried to use a natural food coloring to color my rice water purple, but it turned more of a brown color.  The problem with natural food coloring is that it takes a lot of it to achieve even a minimal color change and I’m afraid that using so much will alter the flavor of the food (the food coloring that I have is made from beet juice, blueberry juice and turmeric).  Oh well; I probably should have just left well enough alone and gone with plain, white flowers.  The rice is sticky Japanese, sushi-style rice and I used a flower mold to get the flower shape.  These molds, as well as the bento boxes, can be found easily (and cheaply) at places like Daiso or Ichiban Kan.  The inside of the flower is just a circle cut from a fruit leather.