Happy New Year! Pull your ear?!

Did you (and do you, or children these days still) say that? ;p




Seriously now...

While you're tucking into your sumptuous, scrumptious (may be more than one!) reunion dinner, things are quieter on our end. We aren't gathering with friends here till later next week, but the very sweet gestures and well-wishes from those we love and care across the miles, let us enjoy a slice of the festive mood back home (and especially the yummy goodies that can't be bought here)! And it warms our hearts, and we want to also be celebrating the occasion, never mind if it's pared down or just not quite the same in a home away from home, and be eating, and cooking, too!

Here's wishing everyone reading this a very Happy Lunar New Year!
Gong Xi Fa Cai! Wan Shi Ru Yi! Prosperity and abundance to you and yours, and success too, in all your endeavours!

On our own, trying to add a little homemade touch, and borrowing creative Priscilla's lantern idea in her "It isn't Chinese New Year without..." post, Jon and Ben had a bit of fun there...

As you can see, we didn't get very far, but it's the spirit that matters!

For our reunion dinner, it was just us, and a regular schoolday at that (and quite a crazy evening). Now, I didn't cook up a storm, still, did make sure there was some of our favourite food...



It would have been napa soup, now saved for another meal, if not for these unusually leafy watercress I couldn't resist getting from the Asian supermarket, and had waited a long time for them! They are wonderful to make soup with (or salad, but I prefer them in soup), and if you don't cook them till all shrivelled, it makes for a yummy soup for fishballs, everyone's favourite fishballs! Fish for "Nian Nian You You", but of course =).



And in order that there was the soup, I used the stock from this chicken, a very mild drunken version, that we ate with a simple soya sauce dip cooked with some oil...



Then, for the ausipicious red (actually, it just happened to be that way, because I always like some colour in our food), besides that it's also a favourite with the boys, prawns were my choice for how easy and quick they cooked!



That's all, and while there wasn't a particular favourite for Vern, who also enjoyed the watercress soup and bouncy Do Do fishballs as much as I did, there was indeed some braised pork I made for him the day before, though not with the classic hairy black moss, but black fungus as substitute. Tell me that counts, and it must help that we had them with long, long glass noodles -- shown here with iceberg lettuce for a decent, complete meal!



Of course, if you ask Ben and Jon what they like best about our simple reuninon dinner, they are unanimous in their pick! DESSERT, done my father (Gong Gong)'s style!



Haha, but who can say "no" to a sweet treat like this?

Just to qualify, I'm not that particular about the 'must-haves' for this (what must be the) most important meal of the year, always just happy when the kids and husband have their fill. If you are, Tot's mom does have some interesting information about what food symoblizes what, in her Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner post!