My parents raised us with a great love of this culture, and it was instilled in us at a very young age. They had friends that owned a local grocery store, and their children and we grew up at the same time. Our family took many trips down to Chinatown in NYC, and as I grew older, we would seek out different ones. This passion has been instilled in my children, and even as a woman in the Navy, my daughter now does the same thing. My youngest is no different. He eagerly awaits CNY, wondering what we are making, what china we will be using, what tea we will serve it with...I am blessed to have (most) of my family to share this passion with. We have one hold out. But he's a picky pain in the butt when it comes to food anyway, so we won't hold it against him. Right now. On February 10th we will. After all, who will eat all this food we will prepare?
Since every food has a separate and special meaning, it seems almost silly to not make as many different things as you can so you have a healthy and prosperous new year, doesn't it? Of course you need noodles for a long life, dumplings for money, spring rolls to bring good fortune, but the symbolism could go on and on! It would be fine if we had a huge family but there's 2 1/2 of us! Will have to consider this menu carefully...Thankfully I have many many cookbooks and lots of blogs to search!
Some of my favorite books are The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook by Patricia Tanumihardja and The Dimsum Dumpling Book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, amongst others. In the weeks to come we will be getting ready for the festivities. I will post the shopping list soon, as well as the menu and recipes. Until then!
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