shaped eggs

If there is a way to do something in miniature and kawaii “cute,” Japan will find a way.  Growing up in Japan, I loved looking at the adorable obento people carried, and the elaborate food displays in stores.
I was delighted by an article in Parenting magazine on American-style bento lunches.  These lunches were not made of typical Japanese foods, but sandwiches! Following a trail of links I came across the blog Another Lunch, and saw something I just had to make with Elijah!  Shaped eggs.

I ordered some molds from amazon.com (what can you not find on amazon these days?) and we made them today for a fun Friday activity.
Following the tutorial on Another Lunch, I placed the eggs (she recommends older eggs for easy peeling… mine were at least a week old)  in a pot, covered them with cold water, then set the water to boil.  I let them boil for 2 minutes, then turned off the heat and let them sit for 12 minutes.  Then I took them out and dunked them in ice water just until cool enough for me to peel, but still quite hot.

I peeled the eggs (quickly!  They were hot!) Then placed the unpeeled egg into the mold, closed them and Elijah plopped them in a bowl of ice water. Easy.

I let them cool for a while.  Meanwhile, Elijah and I played trains.  His latest is fitting track together himself, which he can manage (clever kid!), he just hasn’t figured out how to make the track shape he wants.  Frustration (and “Calvin moments”) occurs if I am not there to intervene.

Then for lunch, I popped open the mold, and look at what was inside!  An adorable “shaped” egg!
Like me, Elijah enjoyed the egg white (maybe the novelty? Or that I let him shake salt and pepper on them?) but gave the yolk to David who was working at home today.
So maybe I’m going to have to buy the car and fish molds now…

Seriously… are these not CUTE!?