Xin Nian Hao!

A great time was had yesterday as we gathered to prepare for Chinese New Year. I was a little worried when 3 of the young ladies helping prepare the dinner had a sleep over the night before. Given their lack of sleep I was quite thrilled to experience their high level of enthusiasm and attentiveness.

Here we are preparing the Jiaozi (dumplings)

While the ladies prepared the meal my husband and our youngest son, SJ put up the couplets outside our front door. These special couplets were made by an exchange student from Taiwan who lived with us in 2001/02 for 9 months. I can't remember what they say but I recall something about spring...yeah, that's a few weeks away :)
The beautiful lantern below was a gem we found a couple years ago hidden away at the Chinese Lantern Festival in Toronto ~ by the way~ an event well worth taking in.

The hard work was completed and we all had time for tea before the men arrived to this wonderful meal. 7 main course dishes were served along with drinks and some lovely desserts...

SJ certainly enjoyed the punch!
SS, our oldest daughter made Nian Gao and our version of Moon Cakes.

Then there were the silly but fun games... oh what you can do with a blind fold, rice and chop sticks!

The whole evening was a lot of fun. I hope that the children who attended learned a little about the culture that our 3 younger children share. Hopefully the ladies left with some new recipes to try and maybe, just maybe the men left with full bellies.

~Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand.~