Hawai'i's Bento Cookbook Review

Hawai'i's Bento 2 Review...

It's been about 6 years since I was in Hawaii, and I'm looking forward to the recipes and the directions. The book is light and spiral bound with a flimsy cover. I've never cooked from a spiral before, but I don't think it matters much. It may be easier, not that any of the cookbooks I have are bad, but you can turn the pages and lay the book out on a flat surface. I think a hard plastic cover would have been better, but it should be alright. Before the instructions there's a page of brief tips. Considering that this is a second book on bento, you shouldn't need much more than that. The Bento instructions are at the front of the book divided by decoration type. Ex: Sea life, Plants, ect. The recipes are at the back followed by a Glossary and an Index for Bentos and Recipes. The bentos do look cute, and I may not have all the ingredients or tools but it's inspiring and I'm sure that you can find something to take their place. There are some things that I consider "snacks" or cop-outs if you're critical. Like Pretzels and Goldfish; they're not that bad in moderation, but I certainly wouldn't put them in everyday. I use crackers in my bentos, with ham and cheese accompanied by fruits and veggies. The whole idea behind a bento is to fill it. To make sure that there's no space and that it's healthy. They where mainly decorated to get kids to eat them, but I personally think it's an art now. Some of the pictures seem like they could use something else in their boxes. I certainly would have added a few more veggies, or fruit. I will say that some of her ideas in using the cutters are clever. I hadn't thought of some of the ways she's been able to take a cutter and use it in multiple ways. The Bentos say what page to find the recipes, but the recipes don't say where to find the bentos. The recipes give a serving size, but they're lacking nutritional content(mainly calories) Someone who doesn't know a lot about health/nutrition may find it difficult, but being a diabetic I know it all. There are certain things that we don't buy/always buy no exceptions due to nutritional and health issues. Some of the recipes will need to be altered for ingredients that people don't like, are allergic to, or you can't find on the mainland, and certainly not in my little town. I think my favorite part of the whole book is the directions on how to make sea life bentos and bears.

My family, well my dad will love this book. He's a big fan of SPAM. I'm not sure how many people on the mainland know this, or anyone for that matter but SPAM is used a lot in Hawaii. I personally don't like Spam, but there's a Lite version which is ok, and there's a Bacon and Turkey one which I haven't tried. Anyone can make little changes like that. Another thing, I've never heard of a fish sausage, and wouldn't know where to find them so that's one thing I will be changing. All in All I think it's pretty good.