Cole, Alex, & Anna Grace

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Year of the Dragon

Tonight we celebrated Chinese New Year with family and friends. Both sets of grandparents were able to come tonight along with Anna Grace's beloved babysitter, "Meggie" and her boyfriend. Mike and I planned our menu to include some traditional Chinese New Years dishes and some family favorites. We had homemade dumplings so symbolize reunion of family, spareribs, fried rice, Chinese noodles with chicken to symbolize long life, and Mongolian beef. We also had Asian pears and oranges to symbolize good fortune. Anna Grace was excited to wear one of her dresses that we bought her in China.
Alex and I spent the afternoon making the homemade dumplings. As we sat together folding the dumplings one by one, he talked to me about how much he enjoys cooking new foods and learning about new holidays. I was reminded of how much my dad loved to cook big Chinese meals with my mom on a Sunday afternoon when I was a kid. He loved to be creative in the kitchen and I know if he was still with us, he would have embraced his little Chinese granddaughter and all of the Chinese customs that we are trying to learn.
So, it was with great pride and love for my parents that I set the table with some of the dishware that my parents used for their big Chinese feasts when I was a child. I really love having the chance to embrace Anna Grace's heritage and intertwine it with our own family traditions.
One of the most exciting parts of the evening was the cake that my mom brought.
She and her friend, Maggie, spent the evening last night icing and decorating a dragon cake!
The scales of the dragon were made of m & m's and orange candies. Alex colored the head of the dragon and we attached spiral candles to the dragon's mouth so that it could have real flames!
We had a great time tonight celebrating the Year of the Dragon!

1 comment:

  1. Yay for a wonderful grandmother! She did a great job! AND, she even splurged on the M&Ms (unlike me who is way too cheap!) Bravo, grandma and grandma's friend! And, happy new year!

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