Hanging with the Chinese Peeps for Chinese New Year 2014

Ming Wai and MaMa in their finery.

Ming Wai and Mia, all ready to "baai lihn", or go on official New Years visits. 

We made sure to make a stop at my sister's house. Her girls had dug through their piggy banks and put together little homemade red envelopes for everyone in our family. Totally adorable! 

According to Ying Ying, it is the year of the Viking...

My three kids kind of blend in, right? 

Later that night, we were invited to a Chinese New Year celebration at a friend's house. We love going to the Wong's house. There is always plenty of friends, chatting, and FOOD. 

(Potlucks at the Wong's house are no joke!) 

My offering for the night - homemade pineapple tarts! 

Chinese New Year, 2014 and Ying Ying is 1!

Baby Ying Ying's birthday happened to fall on Chinese New Year's Eve this year. There was so much celebrating, we couldn't even fit it all in! We decided cake was more pressing than presents, so we will just have to stretch her birthday across a few more days. I'm sure she won't mind. 

Today was a really packed day. I got Ming Wai off to school at 8:15, then spent some time making pineapple jam to fill the tarts I want to make for a party tomorrow night. At 9:45, my parents called and we chatted for about 20 minutes. At 10:15, my visiting teachers (two ladies from church, assigned as companions, and assigned to visit me every month to leave goodwill and a lesson with me) showed up. I was still in my PJ's, but they don't care! I think we all prefer our visits to go like that...it makes us feel better about the messy kitchens we left at home! We had a lovely visit while our kids played. When they left, it was time for Ying Ying's nap. Shortly after I put her down, one of the Moms from Ming Wai's class came over so we could work on some furniture we are making for a school auction coming up. (I can't wait to show it to you!) 

We worked until 1, when my in laws came over to watch the kids so I could run to a friend's house for a haircut. Forty-five minutes later, I was back and running between the kitchen (helping Ma), Ying Ying (who missed me), and the garage (still working on that furniture). Phew! 

At 3, someone left to get Ming Wai from school. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some New Years cleaning, helping Ming Wai with her homework, putting together a birthday cake for Baby Ying Ying, and staying out of Ma's way while she put the finishing touches on our feast for tonight. She really outdid herself this year! Six dishes, and all of them were delicious. 

(My New Years display on the dining room table. One of the oranges had her leaves forcibly removed. SJ happened to walk by while I was getting out the table linens. Before I knew what was happening, he plopped his bum in the nearest chair and started trying to get the orange open. Starting by removing the stem. Poor kid - Ma was so disappointed! She only bought two. They aren't for eating - they are special, to display at New Years. Maybe he can eat them in a few days. Ha!)

These trays of treats are common in Chinese homes at New Years. I was told that they should have either 6 or 8 different treats, all of them sweet, to represent a sweet future in the new year. On offer this year (clockwise from bottom center): Candied lotus seed, guava hard candies, candied winter melon, dried cranberries, candied coconut, and candied lotus root. With the oranges ("gat") in the middle, representing luck. (Even if our lucky "gat" weren't very lucky this year!)

The evening's spread! 

In the right column, we have (top to bottom): Broccoli, Lettuce with Shitake Mushrooms, and Pigs Feet with Black Moss. In the left column, we have: boiled lotus root (from the night's soup), Salt Baked Chicken, and steamed fish. 

Pre dinner hamming. 

Post dinner carnage. OM NOM NOM. 

(One of the benefits of eating large feasts at home - tiny ones are free to roam around and play peek a boo after dinner.)

I'm sorry. This poor fish cracked me up. He's all, "Dude. I'm cool. No big. How YOU doin'?" It should be noted that my mother in law was mortified that I took this picture. 

One of the traditions that Lo Gung made sure we followed this year was to make sure that there were a few bites of fish left at the end of the meal. In this way, you make sure that your new year is prosperous (the word for fish sounds like the word for money). I'm sure there were a few bites of fish left somewhere in that bowl. I drained off the sauce, and bagged up the bones. We will throw them away tomorrow, after the New Year is safely underway!

After the dinner was eaten, the dishes were cleaned, the kids were upstairs playing and the adults were draped over any available furniture (attempting to digest the large amounts of food we had just consumed), it was time for...birthday cake! (As a child who was born on a major holiday, I can appreciate the special care that must be taken when a birthday coincides with a day already riddled with traditions! Ying Ying's birthday will certainly not fall on New Years Eve often, but I think chocolate cake may become a new traditional dessert for our family, all the same.)

At 7:30, we rallied the troops, dimmed the lights, and lit the candle. My baby...is no longer my baby. 

She enjoyed her cake immensely. 

Finally, after cake was done, it was time for the traditional Writing of the Characters. (My husband's aunt sent me a document yesterday that outlined all of the traditions associated with the 15 days of the Chinese New Year celebration. I had a bit too much fun with it, and tried to incorporate as many of the traditions today as I could!) According the document, the oldest educated male in the home ought to write out the character for "blessings", and affix it to the front door. So, with the last two pieces of red construction paper in the house...we proceeded. 

Happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you a very happy year of the Horse. 

Mid-Autumn Festival, LoLo Style

 

For anyone keeping track, Mid-Autumn Festival was…well, it was weeks ago. We had a little celebration at home, with our cousins. A few crafts, a few books, a few snacks, and it was called Good. It wasn’t entirely traditional…but then, I wasn’t born in China. So, there ya go! A sort of an LoLo version of the festival. Without my Mother in Law here to help cook and plan, this was the best we could do!

(Yes, these are the lanterns this year. Yes, Cousin E made hers blue. What can I say – she likes blue!) 

(The babies colored on red paper, and then we cut out lantern shapes for them to carry around.)

(Really, they just liked sticking pipe cleaners in their eyes. Oops!) 

(Noodles are very traditional for festivals. They represent longevity. I’m not positive thin spaghetti is what they had in mind, but the kids all love it, and it’s quick to cook.)

(This is a moon cake. Any questions?)

The kids loved the noodles. MiMi was not impressed with the vegetables hidden inside, though.

Moon Cakes are filled with lotus seed paste, which is super sweet, and a salted preserved egg yolk, which is really salty. It’s also round and yellow like the full moon, which is why it’s kept around. Nobody I know actually enjoys eating the yolks, but my husband insisted that I buy moon cakes with yolks…because it’s what you do.  

After dinner that night, we marched the kids down to the end of our driveway to look at the moon. There was complete cloud cover that night, and Siu Jeun could not figure out why I was making him walk around in the dark. He was not amused.

Ming Wai did enjoy her little lantern, though! We put a little tea light inside, and she was pretty happy with it.

Any questions?

Chinese New Year, LoLo Style

As promised, our New Years!! The celebration stretches over a few days. It starts with a MAD round of grocery shopping to get ready, continues with a series of meals (with various traditional components) and ends with a room full of family members, all happy and a few pounds heavier.
Here are a few of our highlights…..

Bringing in the New Year with tea for the “elders”. Everybody’s laughing because they’re all spewing out as many “New Years Wishes” as they can possibly remember.

New Years Eve dinner, after a long day in NYC – Soy Sauce Chicken, Choy Sum, Broccoli with Garlic and “Siu Yuhk” (pork with crispy skin). These were all purchased in Chinatown. All we had to do when we got home was cook some rice, and cook up the Choy Sum. Oh, and long noodles on Sunday afternoon for Long Life. (Yes, it's top ramen. And yes, my mother in law was a little disappointed that that's all she could find in my pantry to cook for 8 hungry people for lunch. *sigh* It's hard to stock pantries for TWO different cooking styles - American and Chinese. I had plenty of stuff for PB&J!)
Nothing sour on the first day of New Year! A tray of assorted sweets – candies, coconut and sugared Winter Melon. Aren’t those little kitty packages cute?? There are two white lemon jelly balls inside. Oh, and then sesame balls filled with lotus paste. Yum, yum, yum!
 
Aaaand…..my favorite part of any Chinese New Year, the Feast! Ours was on Sunday night. MaMa cooked up some ribs and onions and turned them over to me to finish. BBQ sauce and molasses, y’all. Gotta be true to my roots. MaMa and her sister in law hit the kitchen, and turned out the rest of the dishes – pan fried Yau Baan fish steaks, steamed lettuce with oyster sauce, Braised Pig Tongue, Asparagus with Goji Berries, Pan Steamed chicken (with yummy ginger and scallion dipping sauce) and, of course, RICE.

No meal is complete without…the little boy that can’t wait to start! Poor guy - he saw us cooking for two hours, and was getting a leeeeelte impatient to dig in. Heh. That's my boy!