Preparation For Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year (CNY) is just around the corner. This year, it falls on the 10th of February. CNY is the biggest event in the Chinese Calendar. Chinese celebrate the occasion by catching up with family, relatives, and friends. On such an occasion, there is always plenty to eat, drink and merry making – not unlike the year-end celebrations of the west.
Prior to the new year, it is customary for households to do spring cleaning. The home is given a clean/dust/scrub from top to bottom. Old, and useless stuff are thrown out and replaced with new ones. The idea being to begin the new year on a ‘clean’ slate and to attract positive energy and feng shui to the house.
Cookie baking is another activity seen in most households. In recent years, most of the cookies are commercially made in factories. It is a lot more convenient for those working and for those who do not know how to bake. However, the general opinion is that home-baked cookies are always better. They are fresher, more healthy (less sugar) and it is more meaningful. Family members gather together for some quality time and there is more festivity and atmosphere in the air. One can also pass down the recipe to the next generation.
My sister likes to bake some new year cookies at this time of the year too. Last Saturday, she baked pineapple tarts. This is a favourite with the nephews/nieces and grand nephews/grand nieces.
Pineapple tarts are small bite-size tarts filled, or topped with pineapple jam. Typical shapes are flat, open tart topped with pineapple jam, rolls filled with jam that are open at the ends, and jam-filled spheres or elongated shapes.
Pineapple jam kneaded into balls. These will be stuffed into the pastry.
Pineapple tarts fresh from the oven. They are left to cool before being packed into containers.
Pineapple tarts packed into containers.
Preparation for the Chinese New Year is a tiring affair. It is a lot of work for two days of celebration. Hardly worth the trouble, if you ask me. I will be glad when it is all over.
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Congratulations on the upcoming holidays. Your post is festive and very appetizing. Thank you very much.
I appreciate your kind words. 🙏
So, continuation of the theme of Western holidays. 😊
I don't know if I've come to this conclusion before, but I think this type of routine, even if it only happens once a year, gives meaning to many people's lives. Doing something repetitive, even boring, just because it has to be done means, one way or another, that this life just has to (it must have to) be lived, no matter what, that it has some meaning and that meaning is not extinct or not disintegrated over the centuries. Smart!
These pineapple tarts look very delicious to me by the way. And the tradition of spring cleaning is very useful. It also exists in the Western world as a concept.
In fact, many people wait for Chinese New Year to come because of this interesting animal calendar. However, I believe that this cannot be used and applied in other cultures no matter how much people are fascinated by it.
You are quite right. Normal people would look forward to the New Year celebrations, and especially children and those working abroad. For the children, it's holidays and lots of goodies to eat. For those working abroad, this is the only time they get to go back to see their families.
But I am not a child and I am not working abroad, I am not even normal, I think. lol. I am not the celebrating type. For me it is just a hassle I can do without. It's just another day. 😊
For me, you are one of the best bloggers on the Steemit platform. Your posts are a large amount of positive information and beautiful nature. I sincerely wish you good holidays and excellent health. Good luck and all the best to you.
Thank you for your kind words. It makes me very happy to hear that someone appreciates my posts. 🙏
Have a wonderful weekend.