Tag Archives: Chinese New Year

Valentine’s Weekend

Not only is Valentine’s Day on Sunday this year but today (Friday) is Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox) and on Monday we are celebrating Presidents Day. When I was in elementary school and beyond we celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12th and George Washington’s Birthday on February 22nd. We had both days off from school.

Sending love here there and everywhere.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Presidents Day which now covers Washington and Lincoln and others. The above collage is of the statue of George Washington in the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

We have a devotional from Lincoln that I found on our bookshelves today. Here is an excerpt from it;

The True Believer;

The Believer the Object of Divine Love

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 1 John iv. 9.

Pause, my soul, adore and wonder,
Ask, Oh, why such love to me?
Grace hath put me in the number
Of the Saviour’s family:
Hallelujah!
Thanks, eternal thanks to thee.

Today our morning started at 6 degrees f. Right now it has only gone up 1 degree. It is cold. Freeze your face cold. We are doing some indoor things. My sister and her hubby are due to travel over the mountain pass and arrive at our place sometime before five. We have dinner reservations at 5 so we’re hoping they have an uncomplicated drive.

In other news, our King Governor of Washington State has granted Eastern Washington a move to Stage 2 for reopening businesses. Our small businesses especially restaurants are breathing a sigh of relief.

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone!

Busy Week Ahead

Back in 2016 we celebrated Chinese New Year on February 8th which happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, too. This year Chinese New Year is this coming Friday, the 12th of February.

At our Super Bowl Chinese New Year Party at our house in 2016  I made this simple soup that many Chinese Restaurants serve. Several recipes were very similar online so I really don’t know who to credit this recipe to. Our local restaurants call this soup Egg Flower Soup and another name is Egg Drop Soup.

Ingredients:

4 cups prepared chicken broth
2 Tablespoons chicken stock reserved from the 4 cups
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 green onions chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

1. Make a slurry of the 2 Tablespoons broth and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, set aside.
2. Pour the remaining broth into a medium sized pot.
3. Add the soy sauce and grated ginger to the broth.
4. Bring the broth to a boil.
5. Add the slurry slowly and stir to incorporate it all until the broth thickens for at least 2 minutes.
6. While the broth is boiling and the slurry thickens the broth add the beaten eggs slowly in a stream while stirring the broth in one direction.
7. Keep stirring and adding the egg as it becomes feathery in the broth.
8. After the beaten eggs are added turn off the heat.
9. Taste and see if you need added salt or white pepper.
10. Add the chopped green onions and serve.
Serves 4 people.

We brought in Chinese takeout for our meal which we enjoyed after this homemade soup. It made hosting this party very easy. We added some panko shrimp from Costco with some Sweet Chili Sauce, too.

Back to the present and our busy week.

Monday our Heat Pump is being worked on. It is a major job and we feel sorry for the technician who will be working in below freezing temperatures here. Monday night our weekly home Bible Study is starting up again after a two month break. We are in 2 Thessalonians. On Tuesday we have a casual dinner and Canasta with some friends. On Friday my sister and her husband arrive for an overnight and they are taking us out for a Valentine’s Day meal. This is busy busy for us.

What’s new in your corner of the world?

Super Lunar New Year!

super sunday

We had a fun celebration on Super Sunday starting with a exhilarating church service. Two of our pastors squared off with a sermon duel with the theme of finishing strong. Quarter one was about Solomon and his varied appetites that kept him from finishing strong. Quarter two was about Moses and his anger that kept him from finishing strong. Quarter three was about Judas and his greed that kept him from finishing strong. Quarter four was about Jesus and although it seemed that He wouldn’t finish strong because of his crucifixion he rose again to victory over death and sin. In order for us to finish strong we need to follow Him. There were penalties thrown and commercials in between quarters, a half time show, and Bibles with football binding given out to kids in the end zone after touchdowns!  In the end and maybe a bit prophetic Pastor Alexander with the help of his stand in after his injury on the field (sprained tonsils), pastor Goetze, edged out Pastor Wolfgang for the win.

We came home pumped up and started a few preparations for our Super Lunar New Year Bowl party.

Chinese New Year 007

Chinese New Year 022

It was fun to gather up goods to set a Chinese New Year themed table for our party. This inspiration started in January while I visited San Francisco’s Chinatown with an old friend of mine.

2016-02-05 Chinese New Year3

2016-02-05 Chinese New Year

These three wine covers were the instigators for the table. A large variety of these were offered for sale in every shop Alice and I went into on our visit to Chinatown. I kept handling them but walking away. Finally in the last shop we visited my resistance was depleted and I bought these three. Look at those little hats with the braid attached! They were only $1.99 each!

2016-02-05 Chinese New Year2

Now I was in search of more items to complete my table and room decor. There are several large Asian stores around our area and I went to one where I found the Lucky pockets, candy, almond cookies and fortune cookies.

2016-02-05 Chinese New Year1

The lanterns, dragons, plates and napkins came from a party store.

2016-02-05 Chinese New Year4

Before hand I queried each of our guests for the party about their favorite Chinese take out dish. We ordered each of these dishes and picked them up just before our planned start time. This take out idea really made hosting the party easy peasy. We heated up the Panko shrimp from the frozen section at Costco that went real well with sweet chili sauce. We would recommend it if you ever need an appetizer for a party.

Chinese New Year 013

quesadilla egg flower soup 012

The one thing I prepared from scratch for our party was this Egg Flower Soup. You can click over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook to get the easy recipe today!

Happy New Year to all our Asian friends who are celebrating today!

Hello February!

Shining 014

I’m ready for this new month and some fresh ideas around this old house.

Shining 015Nothing drastic just a little something here and there. I’ve organized a couple areas of our kitchen to make it more efficient and less cluttered. Little changes that make a difference.

Shining 018Katie has been busy making creations out of chain maille rings. I’ll take more photos soon of all the bracelets and other necklaces she’s made. She’s sold a couple and has bartered one in exchange for a scarf.

Katie and I have watched all but the last episode of Downton Abbey! We will watch the last episode later today! I love watching it with sub titles!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Have a great Saturday…