Fun Chinese Traditions

Yesterday was double the celebration with Valentine's Day and also Chinese New Year. Jeremy's Dad is half Chinese. (That is him as a little boy on the far left with his brothers and sisters. Aren't they just so cute!)

So that makes Luke and Ava an eighth Chinese. Which probably would explain their LOVE for Chinese food. Something we had plenty of last night for dinner! We made fried rice, P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef (yum), orange chicken, beef and broccoli, shrimp and pea pods, and homemade fortune cookies with funny romantic v-day fortunes. Like: Marriage lets you annoy one special person for the rest of your life. :) I love all the fun Chinese traditions that have been passed down for our kids to enjoy and hopefully someday they can enjoy them with their own kids. I think it was last year that our Auntie Elizabeth (Thomi's sister, the one sitting right next to him in the picture.) gave Luke and Ava a "Lai See Bao" as they call them in Cantonese. It's a little red envelope that is given as a gift on special occasions, like Chinese New Year, with money in it. It is said to bring good luck and wealth for the new year. The kids each had a dollar in theirs this morning. So Happy Chinese New Year!

Here is the recipe for the fortune cookies, they are pretty easy to make and so fun and yummy to enjoy!

Ing.:

2 large egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

3 Tbl veg. oil

8 Tbl flour

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

8 Tbl sugar

3 tsp water

1. Write fortunes in advance. Preheat oven to 300. Grease cookie sheets.

2. In med. bowl lightly beat egg whites, vanilla, almond ext., veg. oil until frothy, not stiff.

3. Sift flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in separate bowl. Stir water into flour mixture.

4. Add flour mixture into egg white mixture and mix until you have a smooth batter. It should not be runny but should drop off a wooden spoon.

5. Place tablespoon size dollop of batter on cookie sheet 3inches apart. Gently tilt sheet back and forth until the circles are 4 inches in diameter.

6. Bake until the outer 1/2 inch of cookie is golden brown about 14-15 mins.

7. Working quickly remove one cookie at a time from cookie sheet with spatula. (this is kinda a two person job) flip over in your hand, place fortune in the middle of cookie, fold in half over fortune, grab edges and fold together over the edge of a bowl or cup.