Have you seen anything this cute? Guess that they are?

Petite Bride & Groom Gourmet Apples

I had a hard time guessing that these are, in fact, wedding chocolate caramel apples decorated to replicate the wedding couple, dressed in a bridal gown and tuxedo. Fabulous, aren’t they? I wonder how they made the criss-cross effect for the wedding gown and the smooth chocolate effect that looks like it could fade stretch marks. The petite size apples are perfect as wedding favors while the jumbo apples are popular as table decorations.

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So now that the Reunion Dinner is nicely tucked in and my vegetarian meals cooked for today, it’s time to look forward to tomorrow’s Kickoff Lunch menu. The Chinese New Year Kickoff Lunch (in my terms) is the first meal of the new year on the second day of Chinese New Year. In the old days, businesses would reopen briefly on the second day of Chinese New Year with a lunch for the employees to welcome a brand new and more successful business year.

So I guess that’s how this whole idea of the Kickoff Lunch started. We’ve celebrated this since we were kids. This year, I got my menu ready early so I won’t have to stress myself out so much at the last minute that I have to call on the best face wrinkle cream to save the day .

This is what I’m planning to cook at home tomorrow.

• Fish Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onions (‘fish’ or ‘yu’ in Cantonese is synonymous with having ‘excess’ of all things good in the new year)
• Cereal Shrimp (’shrimp’ or ‘ha’ in Cantonese is synonymous with joy, happiness and laughter)
• Stir-fried Baby Kai-lan with Garlic
• Yee Sang, or Raw Fish Salad (signifying everything and everyone coming together in harmony)

Stay tuned for updates and pictures of our meal.

This year, for our CNY reunion dinner, I decided to slave in the kitchen this year instead of subjecting ourselves to those rip-off festive restaurant prices. My dishes are very simple so it’s not too hard to whip up something pretty quickly.

Stirfried Kailan with Crispy Scallop Bits

Stir-fried Kai-lan (Chinese kale) is a common everyday dish. I merely funky-ed it up with a topping of crispy dried scallop bits. Surprisingly my say-no-to-veggie brood loved this .

Claypot Pork Ribs and Tofu

We’re big fans of Claypot Tofu (recipe here) and I cook this quite often for regular meals. Here I used pork ribs with carrot flowers and wolfberries and turned it into something special.

Spicy Thai-style Crispy Chicken

I topped my easy-peasy and very popular Thai-style Crispy Chicken (recipe here) with shredded carrots, cucumbers and onions.

Braised Mushrooms with Phoenix Claws

Don’t jump now. Phoenix claws are actually just plain old chicken feet.

Lotus Root Soup with Japanese Baby Scallops

This turned out so sweet and flavorful I surprised even myself .

You’ll agree there’s nothing very fattening here so no need for us to start reading phentermine reviews ! In fact, I cooked everything here with fresh ingredients and very little sodium, practically no sugar or added MSG.

Twas one night when my brain went into overdrive and kept me awake long enough to plan out my Chinese New Year reunion dinner menu. Last year, we dined out on Chinese New Year’s eve.

This year, I’ve decided to go back to my usual practice of cooking reunion dinner at home. I’m planning a simple menu of gourmet, restaurant-style dishes which can easily be whipped up at home.

• Claypot Tofu with Pork Ribs and Veggie Medley
• Fish Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onions
• Roast Chicken, Thai Style
• Stir-fried Kailan with Dried Scallop and Wolfberries
• Lotus Root Soup

Of course, this menu may change. It’s only the first draft. I might be tempted to tinker with it as CNY draws nearer, or if I let my kids have their say. Hopefully the final menu won’t make us so guilty that we’ll all go jump on an elliptical the next morning!

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival falls on October 3, 1009. Someone gave my dad a box of mooncakes as a gift and he gave it to me. How sweet and while you’re at it, make that a double please – the mooncakes are indeed as sweet as my dad !

Once upon a time, I used to buy boxes of mooncakes and distribute them to my elders on both sides of the family as gifts. But somehow over the years, I’ve let that tradition slide.

Mooncakes are so sweet it can only be eaten a little at a time and it seems everyone has a hard time finishing up their mooncakes. I don’t know what diabetic and Mesothelioma doctors have to say to that but if even the old folks find them sweet, they must indeed be so.

I myself don’t eat mooncakes. My daughters would only nibble on small pieces of this lotus paste mooncake with egg yolk.

These days, mooncakes come in all sorts of unlikely colors (purple, pink) and fusion flavors (jelly, tiramisu, ice-cream mooncakes) and they cost a fortune. This green tea crusted mooncake is still sitting in my fridge because ‘green just looks so icky’, say my daughters.