Chinese New Year Menu Ideas for a Delicious Chinese New Year Feast

Tradition is how we have gotten many of our menu items for holidays. Chinese New Year is no different. Delicious Asian delicacies form a big part of Chinese New Year, and here are just a few ideas:

Some items you may find during Chinese New Year are a vegetarian dish called jai, whole fish, chicken, nian gao, rice pudding, and man tou. The menu items have more meaning than most foods available at a traditional New Year in the United States. The Chinese believe their food symbolizes many things. Among the symbolization of food is the attitude that the amount of food prepared shows abundance and wealth for the household.

Spring rolls are another traditional and symbolic food you may find on the menu for Chinese New Year. To make spring rolls you need 1 cup shredded cabbage, ¼ cup shredded carrots, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 4 Chinese garlic chives, 1 cup bean sprouts, ½ bell pepper, ¼ pound pork, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon chopped garlic, and a pinch cornstarch to create 24 spring rolls. You will also need 24 wrappers.

Other menu items you may find at a traditional Chinese New Year celebration include lettuce wraps, Lion’s Head Meatballs, Pecking Duck, Sweet & Sour Pork, and Tea Eggs. It is important to note that most of the menu items will have some significance to their culture and that is why it is made on the Chinese New Year. Rice pudding is considered a dessert among the Chinese and will complete the meal for you and your friends.

Whether you use these ideas or throw in some of your own, with a bit of preparation and creativity you can serve up a Chinese New Year feast that will have your guests coming back for more.

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Traditionally red packets are also handed out to younger generation by their parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends during Chinese New Year. Nowadays giving red packets as a bonus at the year-end by employers becomes popular and Chinese new year parcel is also a tradition of giving to business associates or relatives.

Giving Chinese new year parcel to employees prior to the New Year is also a good idea. This can be either a gift or a bonus. If it is as a gift, the money should be just right for a gift. If as a bonus, you may enclose a check in the parcel gift and hand it out in an office.

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Valentine's Day - Roses and Their Meanings

If you've decided on going traditional and giving your ladylove roses this Valentine's Day, keep in mind the different colors and the meanings they convey.

Red roses are also known as Valentine roses, and they are usually for lovers, although close family members may also be given red roses. Unless if you're in love with your friend, do not give red roses to her.

Red Roses

Red roses tell the other person "I love you" in the romantic sense. A red rose is an enduring symbol of love and passion. Not surprisingly, red roses are most in-demand in February, thus making them especially expensive during Valentine's day. Here is a list of rose colors and their different meanings.

White Roses A pure white rose is a symbol of truth and innocence. It also send another person these messages: "I miss you" and "You're heavenly."

Lilac and Purple Roses

If you've fallen love at first sight and have become basically enchanted, send the other person a bouquet of lilac roses or purple roses.

Coral and Orange Roses

If you send someone coral roses, it only means one thing: that you desire the other person. If you are not lesbian or bisexual but would to send your girl friend a rose, do not ever send coral roses, otherwise you might be misconstrued. Send yellow roses instead.

Yellow Roses

Yellow roses have a strictly platonic meaning, and you only send them to friends.

The modern celebration of Valentine's Day can be traced as far back as the 1840s. The writer Leigh Eric Schmidt published an article in the American Monthly in 1849 in which he observed that "Saint Valentine's Day... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holiday.

The practice of sending Valentine cards were first popular in England before they became popular in the United States; Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts - whose father operated a big book and stationery store - was the first person to mass produce greeting cards. Howland was inspired by an English valentine note she received. Every year since 2001, the Greeting Card Association gives the "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary" in honor of the first US mass producer of greeting cards.

Estimates by the U.S. Greeting Card Association makes it clear that a whopping one billion valentine card are sent yearly around the world, second only to the volume of greeting cards sent on Christmas. It is estimated 85% of all Valentines cards are sent by women.

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A Short Review of Valentine's Chocolate

We all know that Valentine's Day means love - and love means chocolate. But did you know there's more to Valentine's than just making your sweetie smile as you indulge her sweet tooth?

You'll hear different opinions on just how Valentine's Day got its start. Many say it began in the middle ages. People in those times thought that birds mated on the fourteenth of February. Since they saw the birds pairing off on that day, they started to send love letters.

Others attribute the day to pagan traditions, mainly with the Roman Lupercalia feast. This feast was celebrated every year in mid-February. It's said that women wrote love letters on this day and placed them in an earthen vessel. Men would draw these love letters out and lay claim to their lady for the next year.

Saint Valentine came into the picture with the early Christians. There's some controversy with his history as the Catholic Church has a few different saints with that name or similar. However, the most popular story states that Valentine was a man who performed secret marriages in the third century.

His marriages were performed secretly because the Emperor of the time, Claudius the Second, forbid marriage. He thought single men would be more likely to serve in the army. He had Valentine imprisoned for performing these marriages. The saint fell in love with the jailers daughter and sent her letters signed "from your Valentine." He was later executed.

As with all parts of the Valentine's story, there's more controversy over the sending of Valentines. Some say it started with the Duke of Orleans as he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He wrote romantic letters to his wife while imprisoned in the tower.

It was sometime after all of these events that Valentine's Day candy began to be sent along with the cards. The mid-19th century saw the rise of gifts for Valentine's Day, and by the 20th century, candy and that delightful Valentine chocolate went right along with them.

The chocolates were often packed in red satin, heart shaped boxes. "Chocolate samplers" with multiple chocolates became very popular as gifts to give a sweetheart. Fudge is also a celebrated Valentine's candy.

Other countries also have their own chocolate traditions - Brazil has its own special Boyfriend/Girlfriend day which is much like our Valentine's day. Chocolates are exchanged by lovers on this day.

In Japan there is an interesting custom with Valentine chocolate - only the ladies give men chocolates! Women can give it to all men they know, co-workers, family, and friends. Men often measure their popularity by how many chocolates he's given on Valentine's Day. In fact, some men become very sensitive about the amount they receive. It's interesting to note that there's a day in March, called "White Day" when the men return the chocolate favors bestowed on them by the ladies. There are similar customs to these in Korea.

Other countries have similar Valentine's Day traditions to the United States - the European countries and China all give chocolates to their Sweethearts of Valentine's Day.

There's more to Valentine's Day - and the delicious little chocolate that has become such a traditional part of the holiday, than meets the eye!

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