Today is the last day of summer holiday at our daughter’s kindergarten (in Japanese schools, summer holiday usually starts at the end of July and ends at the end of August). I promised her to take her to the jidokan, public play room, in our neighborhood, and she requested to eat our packed lunches there. So here it is, our summer holiday bento.
Menu: Edamame rice, Tomato omelet, Baba ham kyuri
Japanese pear for dessert
Baba hamu kyuri is just sliced ham (hamu) and cucumber (kyuri), sandwiched as shown in the picture. No seasoning at all. My mum (my daughter’s grandmother and she calls her ‘Baba’) used to make this as kids’ appetizer for my and my sister’s birthday parties. She used blocks of ham and cucumber rather than slices, and put them together with a toothpick, making them a nice, bite sized appetizer. I know it’s nothing special, but it still brings my sweet childhood memory to my mind, and wanted to share it with my little girl. I told this story to her once, and ever since then she started calling it ‘Baba hamu kyuri.”
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 
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