Mmmmm!!! Look at that spread. It was all so good. Of course, we made a separate meal for the kids, chicken nuggets and mandarin oranges.
Orange Chicken. Courtesy of Allrecipes.com. Typically, fish is eaten during Chinese New Year because the Chinese word for fish (yu) is a homonym for abundance, but neither Melanie nor myself wanted fish so we made chicken. Chicken is also a good thing to eat during the new year as well because it represents prosperity. 
A side dish of fried spinach and garlic. Courtesy of a Chinese cookbook Melanie bought a few years ago. Below the spinach you'll see a picture of a rat. Yes, it is now the year of the rat.
Egg Rolls! Courtesy of FoodNetwork.com. I've always wanted to try to cook egg rolls. Luckily I had some help finding the spring roll wrappers and Napa cabbage at the grocery store. These turned out pretty tasty.
Red envelopes for the kids. Hayden was born in the year of the dog, Blake in the year of the monkey, and Grant in the year of the horse. On a side-note, Melanie was born in the year of the ram and I was born in the year of the rabbit. What animal are you?
Grant shows us his money. We printed out some pictures of official Chinese money and put in the kids envelopes along with a few coins. Traditionally, married people give out these envelopes to children and teenagers during Chinese New Year. They usually contain money in "lucky" amounts.
Grant and Blake. Show me the money! Notice the chicken nuggets on their plate. Grant ended up eating all the chicken nuggets off of both plates. Blake ended up eating all the mandarin oranges off of both plates. You gotta love picky eaters.
Hayden likes eating his chicken nuggets. I don't think he gave much thought to his red envelope though.I thought it would be real fun to sort of celebrate Chinese New Year this year. I made Chinese dishes, but I admit I had a lot of help from Melanie. I'm still just a glorified sous chef after all. All the dishes were great, but I think I liked the egg rolls the best.
Oh my gosh! I'm totally impressed! What a spread and a lot of work! Amy (my friend) taught a R.S. class on Chinese cooking and I took it and bought ALL the stuff and then I have never made it because I always think it is way too much work! You score big points with this dinner in my book!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious! Can we make orange chicken again when I'm there? I looooooove orange chicken.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the kids look hilarious in all the pictures. They're so goofy.
I forgot to mention that the kids are all wearing red because that is a very auspicious color.
ReplyDeletePlus, wearing red protects you from the evil monster, Nian, who only comes out once a year and is afraid of the color red.
Plus, I figured out why the pictures were faded... apparently whoever designed this template did that on purpose.
ReplyDeleteI'm a tiger. Rob's a dragon. But no need to go back and remind yourselves of how much older we are then you! The food looks great, Travis (and Melanie)! xia jian!
ReplyDeleteTravis,
ReplyDeleteVery impressive. Even if you were just the sous chef, impressive indeed!
Wow I had no idea Travis could cook like that! Yummy! Only thing mine can make is donuts! HEHE
ReplyDeleteOh I almost forgot - I was born in the year of the Rooster, and Pete's a Rat - and now we're having a rat baby!
ReplyDeleteWitty, stealthy, selfless, but oh so cuddly...yes, long live the year of the Rabbit. What would Pooh be without Rabbit? And for that matter, Looney Toons? Alas, happy Chinese New Year to Mickey Mouse.
ReplyDelete{1975 Rules!)
Well done T Bone. Between this and the ballet, you guys are fast becoming the cultural mecca of M Town.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are so much better now! Glad you figured that part out!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and Dad is a Rabbit and I'm Monkey. Me and Blake can be Monkey Buddies!
ReplyDeleteNice meal Travis. Looks great. Take the blog design back to Black. Much better that way.
ReplyDeleteOkay Melanie I KNOW you have done a million fun things since this last post!!
ReplyDeleteWow, wish we could have joined you for your Chinese New Year meal! Everything looked so delicious. I LOVE Chinese food more than anything (even though I'm half Japanese).
ReplyDeleteYou guys are awesome cooks! Happy Valentine's Day this week :-). We love you and your adorable boys.