Chinese New Year 2009

I remember Chinese New Year as a little girl growing up in my family home.

There would be hustle and bustle in every nook and corner of the house. The house would have been spic and span from the cleaning the days prior and we'd ALWAYS put on new pyjamas on the eve of CNY. We would be laughing and playing chinese cards with my grandmother, coins tinkering as we gambled the night into dawn.

As the 15 days of the new year followed on, there would be MORE gambling, lots of eating, visiting family and friends and MORE eating!

RED for luck

This year, we had a HUGE reunion dinner with my husband's family. It was a chinese banquet of 9 dishes signifying wealth and prosperity. The meal was scrumptious as always. There were so much merry-making. It was so much fun! I had totally forgotten my camera as we sat down for dinner.

New Year's Day

Traditionally, my mom would make longevity noodles in chicken broth, topped with red eggs for good luck.

We invited a few good friends over for my version of lucky noodles: Spicy Taiwanese Beef Noodles.

They came bearing gifts, a huge RED hamper of peanut cookies, oranges, pomelo, pineapple, lovely dark chocolate, bottles of wine, all signifying luck and prosperity. As usual, the boys were spoilt silly with more presents, a wonderful picnic basket FULL of goodies, gardening tools, a cuddly teddy for baby and an ingenius bib! Thank you so much for your lovely, thoughtful gifts.

It was a wonderful start to the week.

This year, by coincidence, the first day of CNY also falls on my mother's birthday. We called her on the phone and Lachie sang her a birthday song. Happy Birthday my dear mother! Sending you hugs and kisses and wishing you a healthy and happy year.