Dong Zhi Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Balls)

Happy Winter Solstice (Dong Zhi 冬至) everybody.


I got up early this morning to make some tang yuan (湯圓) which is enjoyed by many Chinese families, normally celebrated around 22 December.

Together with Hubby and the little one, we made some. To me they all turned out beautifully, does not matter that they are different or odd sizes but made as a family.


This is a simple recipe, made enough for three of us, please double, triple, quadruple...the recipe to fit your family. 

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Santa's Fruitcake

A Christmas fruitcake

I have a 20 year-old recipe shared by an elderly aunt. I've been making this fruitcake for the last 6 years for Christmas and Chinese New Year too.

It's not complicated, not too sweet or oily but flavourful and colourful. Don't worry if you don't have rum, I used brandy here. 

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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Sori, this posting is a little late... :-(

Wishing all a very 

Happy Mid-Autumn and Lantern Festival.

I’ll bet most of you had a wonderful family-friends reunion with lots of good food with mooncakes, water caltrops, baby yams to the accompaniments of softly-lit Chinese lanterns and children chatter-laughters as I did at my Mom’s place.

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Prosperity & Luck knocking on my door?

Is “prosperity & luck” knocking on my door?

I found this beautiful ‘pineapple flower’ or ‘pineapple crown’ in an attractive shade of red amidst thick, long, hard and thorny leaves in my garden on the 1^st day of Chinese New Year. Hehehe! … I think it’s good omen!

I planted this in my garden over a year ago from the leftover crown after my hubby devoured the yellow juicy flesh of this tropical fruit. And, I watered the ‘touchy’ plant (you can’t get too close! ) faithfully for 398 times, (no, actually I didn’t keep count but 398 seems a very auspicious number and it’s more than 365 days a year, lol!)… and treated it some hi-grade organic fertilizer.

Pineapple in Cantonese means “welcoming good luck or glory is coming” and Chinese likes stuff which symbolizes and carries good meaning. Thus, a ‘must-have’ for many Chinese homes here, it’s normally placed on the altar as one of the offerings to their ancestors especially during Chinese New Year. But I don’t have one at home. L

Nevertheless, I hope it’s a sign of forth-coming good luck and prosperity in the year of Tiger …hehehe!

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Going down memory lane...

Hello again! I know I’ve been missing for a while…

(Source : http://www.greetings.ca)

I’ve been busy lazying lol! J, feasting and catching up with friends/relatives, giving out ang-pows and visiting during the 15 days of CNY celebration over here. I always look forward to CNY as it’s a time to catch up with them at least once a year especially if they have moved overseas for work or migrated and only get to come home once a year or every few years.

I’m so happy I got to meet some of my kindergarten, primary, secondary school class-mates and some college-mates as well recently. It’s unbelievable and I can’t imagine meeting them again after all these years.

Most of us haven’t changed much, just a couple of lines more (alright, we’ll call it wrinkles, I’m sure we’re mature enough to accept the term! Lol!), a couple of kilos more (that’s called ‘prosperity’ in Cantonese), if we hold our breath, I’ll bet the spare-tyres would vanish too, but we’ll attribute them to the eating sprees this festive seasons and some even sporting a few silver strands which could be the reflection of lights and some with a dust of white hair which we termed as ‘experience’! Lol!

It’s great fun remembering the time we had in school, our teachers who must be in their 60s or 70s now, the pranks we pulled in school, our mischievous deeds … we’re quite convinced we didn’t study much back then! It’s amazing how we got to where we are now… hahaha! J

Most of us are parents now except for a few who are convinced marriage is not for them… mmm, now I know why their neat jet-black hair has not lost its natural colours. Lol!

For my friends who celebrated CNY, I hope you have had a wonderful time too, just like me. :-)

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CNY Celebrations

As I mentioned in my earlier posting, I took some nice shots and hope to share with you what I saw and feel and hope you’ll enjoy them too.

(Here's hoping Tsai Sen Yeh or God of Prosperity bringing you prosperity & money luck to your home)

Having started Primary 1 in a Chinese school, the kids were encouraged to participate in CNY-theme art work, and here is one of Max's.

Traditional Lou Sang (Yusheng), normally included in CNY Dinner but have since been included at least a fortnight earlier in most Chinese dinners. Many companies hold thank you dinners for their staff or suppliers or valued customers in appreciation for the support the past year with Yusheng. I’ve had my share too…this was one of the dinners.

(This was taken just before another 8 pairs of chopsticks appeared!)

This year, I only went to one shopping mall, just 2 weeks before CNY. The celebration air was lukewarm …there’s no frenzy shopping yet then…moderate scale decorations at mall compared to previous 2 years…things, admittedly are pricier with prices of basics like flour gone up and recently the price of sugar too!

These were taken in Mid-Valley Megamall and the Gardens, an adjacent mall.

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Spring is here and everywhere and I love the colours of new year...

Hah, the labour of love...CNY cookies from my kitchen. ta-da!

Candy tray with sweets and chocolates to sweeten the year J.And, to sweeten the mouth of everyone who visit, may all words be sweet-sweet....hahaha lol!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I made these cute cupcakes for Hubby and my little prince and brought a tray over for my Mom, nieces and nephew.

I saw this in Anncoo’s Hobby and decided to give it a try. I have a previous recipe that a friend gave me, quite similar, with a little more icing sugar and with added almond flakes which I found kinda difficult to mold or cut. This is lovely and melts in your mouth. It's vegan, I like it very much. Thank you my dear friend for sharing a lovely recipe. (Thumbs Up). Anncoo’s Almond Cookies is a definite keeper.

(Anncoo's Almond Cookies)

I started off like this, cute, sweet dainty heart-shaped ones…then, it ended up like this… well, it was 2am in the morning J.

I didn’t make these. Bought them as they are “must-have”…what is CNY without pineapple tarts (rolls), traditional kuih bangkit and addictive arrow-root chips! 

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures. Do visit again as I'll be posting some recipes later on.

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Chinese New Year 2010

We are into the 3^rd day of Chinese New Year…and we are still eating-eating-eating. Hahaha! Don’t you just love Chinese New Year? We do!

(Source : http://laughing1wolf.blogspot.com/2010/01/2010-year-of-tiger.html)

As usual, I’m always in a rush. And, as usual I’m short on time, preparing for CNY and having fun. I have managed to get some nice pictures to share with you. Largely on food, of course! J Please do excuse the picture quality, as the photographer was too busy, the fill-in photographers may not know exactly what is wanted J.

This year made history…hehehe…we hosted the Annual Family Reunion Dinner which is normally prepared by my mother-in-law (MIL) in their own family home. As MIL has not been well, I offered to cook this year’s Dinner. A true challenge considering my level of expertise, but I took on the task with much gusto, preparing the menu 2 weeks ahead. Getting the stuff and raw ingredients…and beautify myself (I forgot to put on lipstick and varnish my toe-nails!...eeeeeekkk)…to feed 18 (including kids).

We had Sushi Platter in place of the normal CNY Lou Sang (Yusheng). So thoughtful of my brother-in-law to get this ‘Take-Away’ to be included as Starter. Something different!

What I cooked and made, ... an 8-course dinner...including a cold dessert. (Unbelievable!)

Oyster “Fatt-choy” with Chinese Cabbage Soup. I think everybody likes this very much. Warm and brings good meaning. Oyster, means good things and Black Moss (a type of black hair-like algae) which means “getting rich” J.

The soup was finished before the photographer remembered to take some nice pictures.

BBQ Pork or Char Siu. Pork belly marinated 2 days ahead, grilled in the oven…sweet and finger-licking good!

  

Bacon Roll, this is a Western and Asian fusion, everybody’s favourite!

Stir-fry Colourful Vege. I love this colourful stir-fry but not all’s favourite! …these guys are probably taking a break from vege! Lol!

 Chicken stew with mushroom. Something for the kids. Goes well with rice.

Fragrant “Laughing” prawns. A must have for all Chinese Reunion Dinner, means HA, “Haha…laughters”.

Steamed Fish. Another must have, which means abundance. I couldn’t get pomfret which was terribly pricey but settled for Golden Snapper.

Pineapple Jelly. A sweet dessert to round up the Dinner which also brings good meaning…welcoming good luck.

Hahaha…Year of Tiger should be a good year…I’ve included so many stuff with good meanings J.

I’ll be posting some of the recipes later on when I get some time to set it out. Thanks for visiting and I hope my friends you have had a wonderful time celebrating CNY with your family and friends. I hope you had a restful weekend too.

Just thinking : As I reflect back, this is a good opportunity to right wrongs, to forgive, to do good deeds, to foster better ties, to catch up on family news, to meet up with old friends. The past year has not been particularly good, with so many acquaintances, family and friends sick, hospitalised, passing on... I will try to do my part and my best.... I'll do better in the kitchen too, family too...ok, garden too! Hahahah, lol!

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Spring…

It’s the season of mini tangerine, or “Emperor Mandarin”… small, golden orange in color, just like kumquats, 2-3cm in diameter. These sweet, tangy fruits remind me of Chinese New Year and “Kam” (mandarin orange)…

Carton cases of mandarin oranges can be seen stacked in some supermarkets and hypermarkets since Boxing Day. I remember when I was small, mandarin oranges are sold quite close to the actual CNY festival. We’ll bring a bag of 6 or 8 oranges when visiting relatives or friends together with some sweet candies or treats.

I caught a lion dance performance yesterday as I was out for my monthly grocery shopping. 

There’ll be many more around beginning now till the 15^th day of CNY, or Chap Goh Mei which is 28 Feb. As this coming Lunar new year is the year of Tiger, it’s Tiger Dance rather than the traditionally Lion Dance. 

The arrival of CNY also signals the arrival of spring though in many countries you’ll still see winter and snow… I’ll start decorating our home as soon as I finish my spring-cleaning. Many Chinese like to decorate their home with flowers during CNY welcoming spring and Chinese also believe that when plants bloom during CNY, the home will be blessed with prosperity throughout the year. Fondly used in many homes and business establishments is the pink plum blossom (in Malaysia, we use plastic ones, :-( unfortunately). Chrysanthemums and orchids are popular here too. The local plant nurseries will enjoy brisk business these few weeks selling flowers and some lucky bamboo, well, lots of plants have been given names bearing good & positive meanings. But I hope my hibiscus will bloom beautifully in this festival.

This year Chinese New Year will fall on 14^th February 2010…a double celebration with Valentine’s Day. How nice! 


There’s less than 3 weeks. I hope I can have some time to do some baking, cookies, cakes and stuff besides spring-cleaning.


As this is my first CNY since I started blogging, perhaps giving me an opportunity to share some cookies recipes with you very soon.

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