Today is New Year's Day according to the Chinese calendar, and 2006 is the Year of the Dog.
It's not a set date or day of the month, like many holidays. The first day of the Chinese New Year is based on the heavens, on the Lunar calendar - it always falls on the second New Moon after the winter solstice. (Check out this cool moon phases doodad!)
Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is a traditional time for feasting with family and friends that dates back thousands of years.
Gathering and feasting. Marvelous concepts. Most of the traditional foods are symbolic, served and eaten with the coming year in mind and hopes for happiness, prosperity, good fortune, and long life, like Chinese Sticky Cake (Nian Gao), "which is said to make people advance toward higher positions and prosperity step by step."
(Red dogger stolen from chinapage.com)
Speaking of gathering and feasting (nice seque, huh?), the "Potluck" Carnival of the Recipes is up at Triticale, the Wheat/Rye Guy, with a great assortment of dishes perfect for any gathering.
I've always wondered where that term "potluck" came from. According to Webster, potluck means "Whatever food happens to be available for a meal, especially when offered to a guest: Having arrived unannounced for supper, we had to take potluck". I guess that means the meal is a game of chance, and if you're lucky, what's in the pot will be good. Well, if you're arriving unannounced and expect to be fed, you gots to be willing to take your chances! I can see that evolving into group gatherings, especially in small communities at the end of a long winter where food was running low. Folx might have to pool their resources, and share their various pots of whatever was left. Fortunately, a potluck dinner now usually means "easy to make and carry" and not necessarily whatever was left over in the kitchen.
ANYway, next week's carnival will be hosted by Prochien Amy and the theme will be, appropriately enough for February, CHOCOLATE. Submit your chocolate recipes here: Conservative Cat's Carnival Submission Form, or email to recipe-dot-carnival-at-neversendspam-gmail-dot-c0m by next Saturday noon!
Wow, thanks D, and thanks Lyn!
Posted by: Christine | January 31, 2006 at 05:08 PM
My friend at Third World County wanted to nominate you for the best Coffee Blog in my Best So Far Awards for January 2006. I don't have a category for Best Coffee Blog, but if I did, you'd win! All in good fun to find more great blogs. Feel free to participate by nominating others at Bloggin' Outloud - http://blogginoutloud.blogspot.com/2006/02/best-so-far-blog-awards.html
Have a great week! Lyn
Posted by: Lyn | January 29, 2006 at 07:27 PM