CHINESE NEW YEAR
2007 is the Year of the Pig!
Chinese New Year is a great excuse to make good Chinese Food. Since it lasts 15 days, you can really cook up a storm! To find out more about this holiday, check out the following websites:
http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/newyear/newyear.html
http://crayola.com/calendar/detail.cfm?event_id=25&year=2007&extended=true
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/chinesenewyear1.html
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html
http://www.new-year.co.uk/chinese/: Make sure you check out the Virtual Fortune Cookies!
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa011298.htm
Especially for kids: http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/chineseny.html (recipes and crafts); http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/chinesenewyear/ (This one has great crafts for kids). http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/china__dim_sum__spring_fes.html (more crafts)
For more great websites, Webferret or Google "Chinese New Year."
How does my family celebrate Chinese New Year?
In the past, we always celebrated Chinese New Year by going to our favorite Chinese Restaurant or having a few Chinese dishes at home, but this year I'm having a party to celebrate "June Lee's Famous Chinese Banquet." June Lee is my Aunt (and even though her name may sound Chinese, her maiden name is Niederhauser and there are no Chinese in our family); her husband Joseph Lee (we always call him Uncle Lee and no, he isn't Chinese either!) worked for the state department until his retirement, and they traveled and lived many exotic places around the world. It was always a special occasion when Aunt June came to the states to stay with Grandma--June would cook wonderful dishes from the country she happened to be living in. One of these times, (sometime during the 60's, I think) Aunt June had just finished some Chinese cooking lessons and agreed to cook a Chinese banquet for some of Grandma's friends. My Mom was involved in helping my Aunt cook, and the banquet turned out so good everybody talked about it for weeks. Since almost everybody in the family and several friends wanted the recipes from Aunt June's fabulous party (especially me), I offered to type them up. There were lots of typos (I was 12 years old, after all) and mistakes, but I believe they have been corrected in the almost 40 years since this banquet. Now, everyone in our family and lots of friends are familiar with June Lee's Famous Chinese Banquet; it's actually a family legend! This year I'm recreating that banquet for Chinese New Year, and I'm posting the recipes here for you to enjoy! To make your banquet authentic and do it like June did those many years ago, make sure you wear Chinese clothing (my silk bathrobe with a dragon on the back will have to do for me!) and when your guests arrive, bow and apologize profusely for the meager food (11 or more courses) you are offering!
June Lee's Famous Chinese Banquet
Prosperity in the Whole Family
Moo-Shu-Jou Pork with Chinese Pancakes
Shopping Tips for Chinese Ingredients:
If you live in the Salt Lake City Area, the best and cheapest Asian Grocery is: Southeast Market, 422 East 900 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111-4304 801-363-5474
If you live in the West Palm Beach, FL area:The Fortune Cookie, 2700 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL 33401, 561-433-5818
Even though fortune cookies are an American invention (history of the fortune cookie), I love to make them to serve with Chinese food. Sometimes I make them huge and put big messages inside, and sometimes I dip one side in Chocolate or drizzle them with colored white chocolate. These recipes are actually delicious, so you'll want to make lots! These can be made several days ahead and stored in an airtight container; they are very fragile, so store them carefully.
