Happy New Year!
Gong Hei Fat Choi! 
It's The Year Of The Ox
The Lincolnshire Ox, by George StubbsFor many years I have hosted a Chinese New Year party. Sometimes a big sprawling one for 50 people. But most times a sit-down dinner. I started doing this when I was in New York.
My ex was a Jewish guy who studied Kung Fu. He's a Master now with a school and training facility and the new wife. Because of his avocation, we had a few Chinese friends. In fact we were married in a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I wore a red taffeta strapless bubble dress (cocktail length). It was the 80's and this was quite cute then. And guess what, the look is back again now! Anyhoo, I learned to order at a Chinatown restaurant in Cantonese, and cook Cantonese style cuisine.
Lots of preparation rituals are involved with the new year. You must clean your house before the new year starts. You must not sweep your floors once the new year starts lest you sweep out good luck. There are so many quaint superstitions, most dealing with luck and evil spirits.
This year I decided to have a recession pot luck dinner party. I've been wanting to have a dinner party for months, but frankly, we just don't have the several hundred dollars it always seems to take to entertain well. You may think I'm exaggerating, but between groceries, wine and cocktails, fresh flowers for the house, etc., well it all adds up pretty fast.
So I sent out and SOS to a few friends broaching the subject of a pot luck recession dinner party. We would provide a main course and beaucoup ambiance, and they would each bring a dish or beverage. I never got back such quick RSVPs in the enthusiastic affirmative!
I chose Friday January 30, not realizing I was having my dinner party right in the middle of Chinese New Year! I was so happy to discover this, so I'm making it a Chinese New Year dinner party. I'm making
Chinese Braised Ox Tails. I 've asked everyone to bring any style Asian dish, home made or take-out, and put a call out for someone to make Sake-tinis!
Saketinis! Yum!
The shopping in New York's Chinatown is fantastic. I loved to get all the things I needed for my party there. I often got a whole roasted baby big for the center of the table. Noodles are a must too, the longer the better, to signify long life.
Shopping in Chinatown
Our local Asian market in New Orleans
Two little girls in the check out line in New OrleansI'll be picking up red and pink flowers, and some quince branches for the house.
We're going to set up long boards on saw horses in our large kitchen. I want all of us to sit at one table.
Typical dinner party at our house
I have a 60 inch round folding table that seats ten that I usually put in the dance parlor.
But the group got larger so the hubs came up with the idea of the chef's table like they do in a fancy restaurant. People pay good money to sit in the kitchen ha ha. We've never done a sit down in the kitchen before, and I'm excited! Since we're not really cooking the entire dinner, I think this will work out great. I'll post pictures of it when it all happens.
The streets in Chinatown are packed day and night. And of course the parades with the lion dancers are fantastic. The firecrackers are everywhere, and it's loud. The smell of gunpowder is overwhelming. No one ever seems to get hurt, but I was always a little nervous in the crowd with firecrackers exploding at my feet.
There's nothing like this happening in New Orleans ha ha. They only shoot guns into the air on regular New Years Eve.
I'll be picking up some red envelopes to give to everyone as a party favor. They'll each get some token money inside the envelope to bring prosperity for the coming year. The superstition is to not give odd numbers lest more bad luck. A Satusma orange, is another good luck token.
All the restaurants really decorate. I did a couple of parties in restaurants in Chinatown, both as hostess, and also for clients. It's quite usual to have a banquet style dinner with several courses of extra special dishes in a restaurant. There are several days of celebrating the new year.
Valorie Hart Designs
Chinatown restaurant New York City
China rings in the Lunar New Year in a big way. The festivities begin on the first full moon of the new year and last for 15 days. Chinese New Year is the single most important holiday in the country. It's a time for renewal, family gatherings, eating rich foods and paying respect to your ancestors and elders. Also, what you do and how you act during the period is crucial in determining how the rest of your year will go. So, eating the right foods is a must.
These customs are widely known by most mainstream Westerners, but in many parts of Asia, New Year celebrations take on a different and richly diverse flavor.
In Korea, the Lunar New Year celebration is barely a blip on the party radar while New Year is a month-long vacation and matchmaking fest among the Hmong. And in Thailand, New Year festivities include a splashy good time with a water sprinkling ritual. Also, because many countries interpret the lunar calendar differently or use the solar system, the dates of celebrations vary as well. The Indian holiday of Diwali falls in late October or early November, the Cambodians enter their Chaul Chnam Thmey in mid-April and modern Japan celebrates New Year, oddly enough, on January 1st. The Vietnamese celebrate at the same time as the Chinese.
Despite a number of differences, there's one common theme that takes center stage for all Asian New Year celebrations: family. No matter what the country, religion or race, New Year's Day is a time for family reunions, gatherings and reflection and reaffirming bonds.
So why don't you think about having your own Chinese New Year party? Get some take out and put it on your best dishes. Wear red. Pop some champagne, or stir up a pitcher of Saketinis. Beer is good too. It doesn't have to cost alot, and it might start a fun tradition to help banish the winter doldrums.
The Ox is a steady beloved creature, and perhaps it bodes well for all of us that this is the Year of The Ox.
Laozi on an Ox, mid 1500s, by Zhang Lu (approx. 1490–1563)
China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644),
Hanging scroll, ink on paper,
National Palace Museum, Taipei
Fancy Mardi Gras Pants window done by Marshe Griffin at Miss Claudia's Costumes
French 18th Century Painted Commode
The back of the chest - old oxidized wood just as it should be
After the heady experience of talking about that beautiful piece of Chinoiserie, I toddled on down to see Jack and Caroline at Perch.
I loved this huge round table - It's done by Kerri French only for Perch -
It looks like aged zinc
Another table top is leaning against the wall behind this chair -
julieneil.com
I took a detour down a side street, and stumbled upon this house. I think it combines old and new elements perfectly.
I love the way industrial materials are used - the roof of the house and the driveway gate are common metal. The building behind was once the slave quarter, and now it's been redone in a very modern way.
I think the front garden is a nice city solution using mulch bordered by mini boxwood hedges. The kumquat tree is filled with fruit. The white wreathes on the shutters are very pretty, and I love the X pattern gate.
I even love the way they did the driveway, alternating gravel with concrete squares, repeating the X pattern again.
