Chinese New Year 2007, Sat 17th Feb

Gong xi fa cai! Hong bao na lai!

We had the feast of all feasts - 20 people! An entire feast! It was a first, even for me. We jammed the dining table together with the Boy's study desk, and spread a bright red tablecloth (3.50 from Waitrose) over it. Eating surface, done. Hm, things to sit on. All the chairs in the flat were activated, as well as the piano bench (boys are so practical). Done. Now, all that was left was to feed people.

The cooking started on Thursday night. Thursday and Friday could be described quite simply: work, nip out to Chinatown during lunch, lug back loads and loads of groceries with trusty Samsonite trolley bag (one of the best inventions ever), work again, cook, sleep. And then there was the chopping. Chop chop chop throughout the night - cabbage for the zhai (vegetarian), yam for the yam cake, cabbage (again) for the jiaozi (dumplings), and other fun assorted things. Saturday, cooking. Glorious glorious smells of food! Sauce was ladled over the duck lovingly for 3 hours, like bathing a baby. The roast pork came out of the oven smokey and crispy (although the flat and corridors smelled of bacon for days after!). C brought the ngoh hiang, which was delish! J turned up early to help wrap over 100 dumplings, what a star! I giggled like a little girl, because this was the Chinese New Year I knew as a child all over again. And I knew there and then that, wherever I was in the world, I would always celebrate Chinese New Year with a grand feast. My children would, and their children's children would. There's nothing like food to remind you of home.

Recipes coming up soon! Some more pictures:

The feast

J wrapping the dumplings

C making the ngoh hiang,
and cutting up her famous homemade banana cake!

The Boy and Eszet entertaining the guests

Red!

Lovely in mandarin

The Boy talking to Singapore
- gong xi fa cai!

I was eating leftovers for days after...!