We had a fun day yesterday celebrating the Chinese New Year at Bop-Bop and Nonnies home! Zachary LOVES a party (Well, don't we all)! When Zach went down for his nap we decorated the dinning room with banners, confetti, dragons, noise makers, etc.

Nonnie and I planned a home made meal full of Chinese delights. Our dinner consisted of chicken dumplings, fried brown rice, Chicken stir fry, fortune cookies & oranges. We have already made menu plans for next years celebration! Here's Nonnie making the chicken dumplings...
Zachary and me looking at all the decorations...
Nonnie & Bop-Bop gave the grand kids their very first "Red Envelope" which contained $$Cash. Traditionally red envelopes are passed out during celebrations such as the Lunar New Year, Birthdays, Weddings & other Holidays. Red envelopes are mainly presented at social and family gatherings. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits. The amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with an even digit, in accordance with Chinese beliefs (for instance 88 and 168 are both lucky numbers) as odd-numbered money gifts are traditionally associated with funerals. There is also a widespread tradition that money should not be given in fours, or the number four should not appear in the amount, such as in 40, 400 and 444, as the pronunciation of the word "four" resembles that of the word "death" and thus signifies bad luck for many Chinese.

During the Lunar New Year, mainly in Southern China, red envelopes are typically given by the married to the unmarried, most of whom are children. (In the North, money is not given in envelopes.) The amount of money is usually a single note to avoid heavy coins and to make it difficult to judge the amount inside before opening. It is traditional to put brand new notes inside red envelopes and also to avoid opening the envelopes in front of the relatives out of courtesy.

Before Dinner Zachary was playing with his cousins and they taught him a "magic trick". After doing the trick we all clapped at him and he voluntarily just bowed at all of us, which tickled us all! I am not sure where he learned to bow (I suspect it may be from his favorite Oswald cartoon, but I'm not positive on that) and I managed to capture him mid bow! too adorable!
Our dinner plates were full of Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry, Fried Brown Rice & Chicken Dumplings! It certainly looks very healthy! And, it reminds me of how we noticed while in China how they ate vegetables for every meal of the day! We need more of it in our diet. Our local Chinese restaurant gave us the Chinese Zodiac place mats for our party. They were a festive touch to the decor! And, PTL for Party City! We found all our decorations on an aisle end cap.
A few festive photos...
Aunt Camie & Uncle John (my sister and her husband)
Cousin Caroline (our oldest niece)
Cousin Maggie (our youngest niece)
Zachary
Us
We took pictures of Bop-Bop & Nonnie in their festive costumes but those pictures are on my Father's camera. So, I will have to share those pics at a later post.

The night before our party Matt and I made fortune cookies! They were time consuming to make but at the same time lots of fun too. We drew a 3 inch circle on top of parchment paper. And, with our chef knife we spread the teaspoon of dough to the edges of the circle. As per the recipe we were only able to cook 3 cookies at a time because you had to work quickly when they came out of the oven, bending them into shape, before they hardened.
We had a lot of fun coming up with fortunes for our cookies. A few of our favorites were..
I think, you ate your fortune while you were eating your cookie.
The harder you try to not be like your parents, the more likely you will become them.
If you never expect anything you can never be disappointed.
Try? No! Do or do not, there is no try.
Those who walk in other's tracks leave no footprints.
Some men dream of fortunes, others dream of cookies.
If you eat a box of fortune cookies, anything is possible.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Help, I'm being held prisoner in a Chinese cookie factory.
Alas! The onion you are eating is someone else's water lily.
Word to the wise: Don't play leapfrog with a unicorn. On our plates the fortune cookies & orange wedges were the cherry on top of a wonderful evening!