For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.

Today's bento take food art to potentially dangerous heights of cuteness while appearing to retain its essential edibility. The rice kitty reclines contentedly on a bed of seafood and veggies, her whiskers tiger stripes rendered in nori (seaweed), her paws and ears in what appears to be lunch meat. Dig into this with a fork, and PETA will be be at your door faster than you can say "mink coat."

Unless you decide to give out individually wrapped 100-calorie packs to trick or treaters, cookies are not really a good choice in terms of a Halloween treat. On the positive side, this means that you won't have to share any of the cute Halloween cookies that you buy. These crunchy bite-sized bat and cat cookies from Dancing Deer Baking Co. are perfect for snacking on while you pass out the packaged candy to kids. The bats are chocolate and the cats are peanut butter. Both types of cookies are made with all-natural ingredients, with no preservatives or artificial flavors added. The cookies are sold in groups of 28 and they are packaged in a Shaker-style wooden box, which is tied off with a large orange ribbon.

As an alternative to ordering the cookies, you can always try to find some Halloween cookie cutters at one of your local stores (I've had good luck at Target) and bake up some yourself.

It's a common scene in the movies. The family leaves the kitchen or dining room unguarded, distracted by some meaningful event, such as a proposal, death, natural disaster or mental breakdown - whatever constitutes "meaningful" in the movies these days - and returns to find most of dinner missing and Fido licking his chops on the floor.

Unless you have a big dog with quick reflexes, it's more likely that your pup or your cat will snag a bite or two of food than a whole meal. And just about everyone who has owned an animal has caught them red-pawed at one time or another. Now, that's not my kitten in the picture and I probably would have shooed him away before thinking to snap a photo, but that is an extremely cute shot that brings up the question of what "people foods" do your pets tend to go for when they have the chance?

Personally, I've had a cat that would go for macaroni and cheese if I wasn't looking and neighbor whose dog would watch for unguarded egg dishes (making brunch a tricky meal to enjoy).

I'll be keeping a closer eye out the next time I make waffles, just in case.

[image via cute overload]