{"id":100,"date":"2012-01-22T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-22T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/01\/how-we-almost-forgot-chinese-new-year\/"},"modified":"2012-01-22T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-22T08:30:00","slug":"how-we-almost-forgot-chinese-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/01\/how-we-almost-forgot-chinese-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Almost Forgot Chinese New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cWhen\u2019s Chinese New Year this year?\u201d I asked the kids this past Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cI think it was Monday,\u201d said Kai.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWHAT????\u201d \u00a0I shrieked, \u201cWe missed it?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, no,\u201d she amended, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s this Monday.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I checked on-line and sure enough, Chinese New Year falls on January 23. \u00a0Whew!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What kind of Tiger Mom am I, if I can\u2019t even remember to celebrate Chinese New Year? \u00a0The answer, just a Tiger Mom wannabe. \u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a>I couldn\u2019t even remember what animal this upcoming year will be without Googling it. \u00a0The answer\u2013the year of the Dragon, something I should have known because both Scott and Ren are Dragons. \u00a0Scott will turn 48 while Ren will turn 12. \u00a0(The Chinese zodiac rotates around a 12 year cycle).\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It just shows that I don\u2019t dance to the rhythms of the Chinese beat.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Last Chinese New Year\u2019s I wrote about the dilemma of remembering Chinese New Year, raising bi-racial kids who\u2019ll feel good about their Chinese side, and the challenge of getting the right Chinese New Year foods<\/a>. \u00a0You\u2019d think that writing about these things publicly would mean I\u2019d do better this year, wouldn\u2019t you?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It feels like it was just dumb luck that last Wednesday I happened to shop at H-Mart, the Korean superstore. \u00a0I went to buy frozen Chinese dumplings, my most popular\u00a0go-to\u00a0potluck dish, for a potluck on Tuesday. \u00a0Whenever I find myself in an Asian grocery store I can\u2019t resist buying Asian vegetables, so baby Shanghai choy, garlic chives, Napa cabbage, dou miao (pea shoots), and Japanese eggplant all went in the shopping cart. \u00a0Without planning, I purchased a bonanza of veggies at just the right time.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Friday, Ling and I celebrated the end of her midterms with Indian buffet, then drove to Chinatown to buy nian gao (sticky cake). \u00a0I gave her $20 and told her to run into the bakery\u2013expecting that Chinatown would be a mad rush of cars and people, but not only was it not crowded, I found a parking space right after dropping Ling off. \u00a0Good thing too\u2013when I found her, with nian gao and banana rolls already purchased, I said, \u201cWhere\u2019s the change?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cUh, they didn\u2019t give me any.\u201d \u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding? \u00a0Those things shouldn\u2019t have cost 20 bucks!\u201d \u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So we marched back into the bakery, found the woman who helped her, and as politely as possible asked how much it should have cost ($12.20) and if we could have the change.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cOh? \u00a0I didn\u2019t give you the change?\u201d she asked all innocence. \u00a0(Here\u2019s where I am a Tiger Mom\u2013you don\u2019t go short-changing my daughter just because she\u2019s 5\u201911\u201d, doesn\u2019t look pure Chinese, and is too shy and timid to ask for what\u2019s rightfully hers!)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tonight our friends and co-Cana leaders, Larry and Lois, will come for dinner and to watch the Patriots game. \u00a0It\u2019s Lois\u2019s birthday. Before I remembered it was Chinese New Year\u2019s Eve, I was going to make her a nice healthy dinner with appropriate portions because all 4 of us are constantly watching our weight. \u00a0But it\u2019s Chinese New Year\u2019s Eve. \u00a0So instead we\u2019ll have:<\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • Some frozen dumplings made into potstickers<\/li>\n
  • Stir-fried dou miao<\/li>\n
  • Shiitake Mushrooms with baby Shanghai choy<\/li>\n
  • Eggplant in Garlic Sauce<\/li>\n
  • Chicken with Garlic Chive Nian Gao (rice cakes)<\/li>\n
  • Tomatoes with Egg<\/li>\n
  • Barley\/Brown Rice (for dieting purposes)<\/li>\n
  • Nian Gao from Chinatown<\/li>\n
  • Hawaiian Butter Mochi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    And Kai might bake a real Western birthday cake as well. \u00a0<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Yum.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cWhen\u2019s Chinese New Year this year?\u201d I asked the kids this past Wednesday night. \u201cI think it was Monday,\u201d said Kai. \u201cWHAT????\u201d \u00a0I shrieked, \u201cWe missed it?\u201d \u201cNo, no,\u201d she amended, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s this Monday.\u201d I checked on-line and sure enough, Chinese New Year falls on January 23. \u00a0Whew! What kind of Tiger Mom am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow We Almost Forgot Chinese New Year<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""When's Chinese New Year this year?" 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