This weekend was a big one at our house. We had two different Chinese New Year events.
The first was a CNY party at a friend’s house. The majority of the families there were adoptive families, but all but one family had a parent who was Chinese (ok, mostly it was the moms who were chinese except for our family where it was the dad). We had a great time making jiaozi and then we ate a huge Chinese feast. The gluttonous kids snatched up all their hongbao and spent the evening running around like sugar-crazed maniacs (the sugar was mostly from the chocolate money in the hongbao).
On Sunday, I overcame a huge personal hurdle and cooked CNY dinner for Mr. A’s family. In the past, I have refused to ever cook anything Chinese for anyone who is actually Chinese for good reason. That reason being my Chinese cooking sucked. But this year, I have actually learned to cook it much better with the help of two excellent cookbooks.
We made several varieties of jiaozi (steamed & fried / with cabbage and without), Mr. A’s famous long-life noodles, tofu and a veggie dish. Mr. A’s sister brought the homemade mochi and the meat. I also made steamed banana cake (which is not chinese at all. It is vietnamese but oh so yummy, so I made it anyway.) If I must say so myself, it was a pretty decent and edible spread.
Here is Mr. A’s dad making jiaozi for the first time ever. We asked if he ever helped make them in Taiwan and his answer was “No! Boys do not do that!”
Here is a picture of L and M in their new year’s clothes. M didn’t get a “chinese” outfit this year for her dance class so she is wearing a new red shirt and her birth-year gold jewelry (outfit and accessories chosen by M herself). L’s shirt isn’t new, it is a Chinese hoochi mama shirt that MIL gave M a long time ago, but L likes to wear for dress up. She chose it (with a more than a little encouragement from M.)
We also made the girls and their two cousins bow for their hongbao. (I was video taping, so no photos this year.) We threw firecrackers and did our now-traditional lion dance. (This is L shaking her caboose.) We also lit incense and burned ghost money for the ancestors.
All in all, we had a great Chinese New Year this year. Because Mr. A’s family didn’t do much of the this stuff when he was little (cleaning the house, new clothes, etc.), we have been creating our own traditions for the girls. The first couple years we did it, it felt a little weird. Now that we have done it for a few years, it feels comfortable.
Hooray for the Year of the Ox! I hope it is a lucky one!
Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Can you see all four photos? I think wordpress is acting all screwy, so I can’t tell if they are visible or not?
Three out of four ain’t bad, right? No lion dance showing for me. (ALAS!)
I loved reading the post, though. These sound like great family traditions you’re starting/incorporating and the food looks awesome. And not just because I haven’t had lunch yet.
I’m missing the last one, but the others are cute. Happy new year!
Ok, I think I fixed it?
I see them all–cute!
Happy New Year! I can see all of the pictures. I’m Year of the Ox myself…
Great pictures – your girls are lovely and your meal looks delicious! Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Would you mind sharing the long-life noodles recipe?
Would you mind sharing the long-life noodles recipe? Sorry for the duplicate comment, I keep using my old email address out of habit.
I love the caboose-shaking picture!
Xin Nian Kuai Le!! We had a great CNY this year as well. I love the Lion Dance photo!! What a great tradition!! I think I will borrow that one for next year!!
I have been a long time lurker – love your blog. Thoughtful, informative, and very funny!
I am dittoing the request for the long life noodles recipe, if possible…
How fun! Happy Chinese New Year to you, too!
Happy new year! The food looks delicious, and I love the little lion costume. Now I’m going to have to go search for one.
I will never make dumplings that look that good! What a great celebration!
Xin Nian Kuai Le!
I hope I can learn to cook something (anything!) like you sometime in the future. I am pretty hopeless in the kitchen, but I need to fix that. I did make dumplings last year and they turned out really well!
I’m lucky that the kids’ school is doing a lot for Chinese New Year. After Christmas and both kids’ birthdays, I am always a bit burned out by CNY! We did celebrate some, watched lion dancers on YouTube, colored some CNY and ox pictures. I still need to put up the kitchen god. Do you do that? I tried to clean the entire house before CNY, I really did. Candy is a good idea for the red envelopes. My kids got one dollar each, but my son was shaking his hoping that a quarter would fall out as well!
I wish we had family closer to celebrate with! It looked like you had a wonderful time.
Gung Hei Fat Choy as well (cantonese)…wishing you a very happy, prosperous, healthy year of the Ox. Beautiful pictures.
I think I need more help than a cookbook. That looks amazing.