Happy Chinese New Year!

Hi, Everybody!

Happy 4707!

The party animal that I am, I've been to two Chinese New Year parties and one at home. The first one was on Sat. night with our friends Joe and Rosemarie Shirk. They invited a Chinese lady (Alice) who teaches in CMU's Osher program to cook. She made some very tasty dishes. We (all the ladies) helped my jiao-zi (Mandarin for dumplings). We made vegetarian and shrimp. There were other dishes. All very tasty. Other guests included Rosemarie's brother and Alice's male friend.

My second party was on Sun. at the Pittsburgh Chinese School. John and I watched the kids perform and we stayed for dinner. It was the regular Chinese buffet fare. Lots of food and pretty good. It was great seeing all the families. They had karaoke. The people who sang seemed to be old-hands at doing it. They sounded great.

We didn't celebrate at home until Mon. night. We didn't have all the fix'ins we would have had if we were in NYC. After all, where would I find a chicken with a its head and feet in Pittsburgh!!!!!

We had watercress soup; see goo with loopcheung; stir fried chicken with water chestnuts, lotus root, dried mushrooms; salmon with blackbeans; thi fun: and brown rice.

The next day we had tee doys and gai lungs. Yes, you read it right. I stayed up until 4 AM and cooked them in hot oil at 9 AM in the Mom-tradition. I did the same last year. I now understand why mom and sometimes dad worked at night. It's so much easier to work without the distractions. I remember how wonderful it was in the laundry and at 48 St. waking up in the AM smelling the tee doys and gai lung cooking in hot oil during Chinese New Year. Hsaio-Yen said it smelled good.

I made about 30 tee doys and 34 gai lungs. I took some over to the Shirks (did the same last year). They're crazy about them.

John says I finally master the tee doys. They are thin shinned with a lot of filling-lotus seed paste and crunchy peanut butter. The were crunchy on the outside and moist and warm on the inside. Oh soooo good... I really like the better on the second and third days when their soft and a bit tough and a bit hard to chew.

I also wanted to make fan su and fat tee. I have all the ingredients, but I was a bit too ambitious. I never got to them but hope to in a few days. I don't know how mom ever did it-with us four and having to take care of grandma. Boy, she was a super-mom! Such a magnificent human being-sacrificing for her family!!!

Well, I was on Skype hoping to find you on, but you weren't. How about on Sat. at 9 PM?????

Should I make this our first entry in our "Familee" blog???

Miss all of you. With technology the way it's advancing, maybe I'll some day be able to send you the smell and taste of tee doys and gai lung over the internet.

新年快乐！(happiness in the new year)

恭喜发财！！Wishing you prosperity)

Love,

Mee-Li


PS I'll send pics of the tee doys and gai lung as soon as I figure out how to download from my camera. I need to make an appoitment with my in house tech support team (JJ and HLJ)