It's that time again: Chinese New Year! This time, the Year of the Horse. As always, we prayed, served the ancestors, lit incense, bowed with the food, burned paper money, and ate. We ate a lot: fruits and candies from the altar, then chicken, pork, duck, a whole fish (and fish ball soup), a vegetarian Buddhist delight (for me--mushrooms, tofu "skin", noodles, baby corn, etc.), vegetables, homemade fried tofu, and taro with coconut milk for (one) dessert, PLUS more store-bought desserts. My in-laws shop at about 10 stores in preparation the week before, never knowing exactly what will be best to buy. This year there were my favorite candied kumquats, sesame puff sticks (ok, yes, these are all my names--it just doesn't translate!), sesame balls, egg custard tarts, peanut "empanadas," almond sesame seed cookies, soy sauce cakes, dried persimmons, etc etc etc.
I described it all in (much better) detail a
few years back.
We also played with Goo, practiced some Tai Chi (my in-laws are taking a class; I'm considering it), watched some (awful, high-pitched, too cutesy) Chinese New Year song videos with three little girls (sometimes it's boys and girls), and also watched some Winter Olympics.
And of course, my favorite part: singing along to the Gong Xi Ni golden light-up turtle! (The video of which I can't seem to upload here.)
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| We always watch the latest New Year's video with cutesy singers. |
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| The table is set for the ancestors, with incensed burned three times. |
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| The home altar |
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| Paper money is burned as an offering to the ancestors after the praying is done. |
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| Rice, tea, and liquor served to the ancestors |
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| Burning the money. |
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| SOME of the food |
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| The foods from the altar. The red dots make it all extra special. |
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| The table from another angle. |
Quite the feast!
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