Celebrating Chinese New Year--Post 1

We continued our celebration by making homemade dumplings and peanut dip. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to find all the ingredients, but we managed to do just that. Yay!!! And...let me say that making authentic new year dumplings is not as easy as it sounds! I consider myself a good cook and baker, but it took me almost three hours from start to finish. We had vegetable sticks to go with the dip, and we also drank hot tea and had fortune cookies. It was worth every minute it took to plan, prepare, and cook. We enjoyed every part of the dinner, and the dumplings and peanut dip were especially delicious. Also, we are trying very hard to keep Chinese traditions and holidays in our home. We want our daughter to be able to learn about and be a part of her native land as much as possible. It's so important for her heritage and self-esteem, as well as for her understanding about her roots. So we will make every effort possible to continue this and other Chinese traditions in our home. After the meal, we went outside to shoot some fireworks. You will also notice that our girls wore traditional dresses. We purchased these and a few others while in China. Look for more posts as our celebration continues!