Bento School Lunches : Chinese New Year Rooster Bento 2017

Chinese New Year is around the corner, Saturday, January 28th. The Chinese zodiac is a cycle of twelve years with each represented by an animal sign, and the sign for the Lunar New Year 2017 is Rooster. Chinese New Year is for many families a joyful time for getting together. I remember and love all of our reunion dinners which fell one day before Chinese New Year and we always gather at grandma's house to celebrate. My mom's side of the family is HUGE and the house would fill with aunties, uncles and cousins. Grandma, my mom and aunts will have been busy in the kitchen cooking for all of us, more than 30 people for sure! So many of us that everyone has to share rooms. Of course we did not sleep much, we play with fire works, watch Chinese drama (the older Jackie Chan movies - it's a tradition), chit chat, play cards, eat lots of cookies, etc.

On Chinese New Year day, we all wake up super early, dress in our new clothing (in my case it's always something in red ), wish the elders "Kung Hei Fat Choy" and those who are not married will get "ang pows" (red packets filled with money), a little later the dragon dance will come to grandma's house and after that we will go visiting more family and friends and fill ourselves with more food at each stop, lol.

The nice thing about Chinese New Year is that it starts with the New moon on the first day of the first lunar month and ends on the Full moon 15 days later. So, I usually have and will wear new clothing for at least 7 days. It's not a tradition but that's how my family rolls. The visiting of family and friends will also run for the 15 days, and that involves a lot of eating!

For this bento to celebrate ´The year of the Rooster´ I have included a three layer sandwich shaped with an oval cutter and decorated with fruit leather, cheddar cheese, and bits or raisin for eyes. Also beneath the rooster is some granola bar. In the other section I have sugar snap peas, some red grapes in my favorite square silicone cup, and a cute sauce container of ranch. This lunch was packed in a Lunch Bots Duo.