Just discovered this entry in my draft folder, started on 10 January (2 weeks to Chinese New Year)... Since then I've been busy, truly a frenzy of activities and have had no time to blog.
We usually don't celebrate Chinese New Year in a big way, just a reunion dinner with our extended family (my mum & siblings, sometimes with Reuben's parents if they are visiting). Usually I make some pineapple tarts (I cheat with pineapple jam from Phoon Huat).
This year, since my sister Lilian and her husband Perry were coming to visit from Seattle, with 18 month old Caitlyn, I thought I'd make a bit more effort. My mum who's been in Seattle since September 08 also came back with them.
My helper Uswatun and I made pineapple jam (she did most of the shredding, cooking and stirring) - 10 pineapples worth of it! From 8 kg of pineapple pulp and juice and 2 kg of rock sugar, we produced 4 kg of pineapple jam. When you think of it, that was a lot of water which evaporated! I prepared 8 batches of pineapple tart pastry and then I got into a frenzy of baking.
In total I made 600 over pineapple tarts (i counted!). Every single pastry lovingly cut, crimped, given a coat of egg wash, filled with jam, topped with tiny pastry stars and then baked. Don't they look pretty?
Making CNY cookies quietly on my own is actually quite therapeutic. Making it with the children is a bit more chaotic but a fun family activity as you can see. I remember as a child, mixing, rolling, cutting, baking mountains of dough each year with my mum and siblings after school. I thought it would be nice to give my kids that same experience... and try to recreate some of that "CNY atmosphere" for them.
It requires effort, patience and is tiring but I want to create memories for my kids... Of course not just passing on recipes but even more importantly for me, passing on the faith. Helping my kids experience a real and vital relationship with God through Jesus Christ is my topmost priority although often the business of daily living threatens to overwhelm my attempts.
Psalm 78:3-6 (CEV)
3 These are things we learned from our ancestors,
4 and we will tell them to the next generation.
We won't keep secret the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles of the LORD
5God gave his Law to Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel. And he told our ancestors to teach their children,
6so that each new generation would know his Law
and tell it to the next.
