Our Chinese New Year Lunch

Our 'Gung Hay Fat Choy' cards

According to Little A's books, Chinese New Year is traditionally celebrated with dim sum or little tastes of food. However, as 3 out of 5 (including Phinn) of us in this family are vegetarian, this wasn't going to be a part of our celebration. So, we continue in our own way of making new traditions for our own family, and had our own (very small) lunch party.

We invited our friends Pete ("Uncle Pete") and Ajay (a young Calgarian who has recently transplanted himself here--"two years" he states, "in and out"). Everyone had a good time, including Phinn, who was so happy to be included, instead of being kenneled somewhere upstairs (which we usually have to do for bigger gatherings with lots of children).

I wanted to make green onion cakes. They have always been one of my favourites when going out for Chinese in Edmonton. I had a recipe that I had stashed away from the Edmonton Journal for years. Peter's mom had tried it out (with tasty success I might add) when she came last year for a visit. Her only adjustment was the shape, as she found the green onion bits kept falling out when she tried to flatten and roll out each cake into a circle.

So, I tried it this year (with some 'help' from little A). After getting everything prepped, I began to work on the dough. It was an immense failure, and I found myself very frustrated and dumping 7 cups of runny dough in the garbage (leaving me with a whole bowl of green onion bits and a bad mood). My helper saw my state, and offered to help mix the batter the second time around, as I didn't possess the right amount of upper body strength due to the pregnancy. So, we started again--this time only with a half recipe. Thanks to her stirring and patience, we managed to get it right this time. The green onion cakes turned out beautiful (and round). They could have used a bit more salt--but we'll make sure and remedy that next time around.

We also served salad rolls (Peter's absolute favourite) and he ended up gorging himself (complaining of sleepiness and chills, which abated as his food digested). I contributed a crunchy peanut sauce (at Peter's request--normally we go for smooth) and it tasted great. I need to remember to prepare that sauce in advance though--I am always rushing last minute to do it, because I always forget about it.

For dessert we had the (very traditionally Chinese) Toblerone chocolate fondue with fruit. It was very nice (as it always is) and helped the fruit go down just so much quicker than usual. I was pleasantly surprised that Ajay did his part to help finish the dessert--Pete had to leave a bit earlier, and I was afraid that being a guy, Ajay might not be into dessert. I already knew Peter was not going to be very helpful (he looked like he might be carrying baby 4 for us by that point).

Here are just a few things I will remember:

1. Uncle Pete's first wrap: He was so determined that he would be able to unstick it and get it to lie flat on the plate.

His optimism is one of the reasons we love him!

2. N wants the party to be a smashing success: I bid adieu to my 'family heirloom' salad bowl as N pulls it from the table. My mom likely bought this bowl from Pearson's in Camrose--she'll be thrilled her grandson was the one who helped make sure it didn't end up in a garage sale one day. I didn't use it for salad very much, but Peter thought it was perfect for rice papers, and so it stayed.

Unexpected Clean-up

A asks "we still love him, don't we?"

3. Uncle Pete catches the fly (with his BARE HANDS)--need I say more?

4. Ajay arrives (a little late) from his side-trip to Al Ain. We are still not sure how he managed to head in that direction and it will always remain a mystery. Phinn is thrilled to meet someone who appreciates his charms and need for constant and continuous belly-rubbing. (*sorry, no picture--use your imagination)

5. Little A gives out hugs and hong bao to our guests as they leave. She surprises us all by patting "Mr. Ajay's" leg (the first time I have seen her initiate a hug).

We really enjoyed ourselves. I think that we did well imparting the celebratory spirit of Chinese New Year for our little ones (with a little help from our friends). Next year, we will build on our celebration, to make it bigger and better. Maybe we will be lucky enough to be joined by some of our family from back home (or maybe we can just go to China!!).

Confucius says: "The family who bathes together stays together".