8 Ways to Celebrate Chinese New Year

What are the Chinese New Year activities for celebrating

this most important festival in the Chinese calendar?

Let’s start at the beginning…

In China, Chinese New Year is called the Spring Festival.

That’s because the first day of Chinese New Year falls on

the start of spring.

The beginning of spring is a fresh start…

It’s the start of a new year of sowing and reaping.

A wish for a good harvest in the year ahead.

(That’s how the Chinese character for “year” nian2 年 came

about.)

A cause for celebration!

All around the world, Chinese families…

put up Chinese New Year scrolls on both sides of the door,

set off firecrackers (It’s illegal in many Chinese cities

now, but people do it anyway)

and married adults give children red envelopes filled with

“lucky money”.

Chinese New Year activities begin 2-4 weeks before the “big

day”.

Here’s what you can do to celebrate Chinese New Year.

It’s what Chinese families do all over the world.

1. Clean up the house

Select a day and together with the family, clean up the

house.

This ritual gets rid of bad luck in the ending year and

welcomes in good luck in the new year.

2. Send greeting cards

Send greeting cards with new year wishes to friends,

relatives and colleagues.

Remember to post your greeting cards early!

3. Go shopping

Go shopping to buy new clothes for the whole family, food

and sweets, and festive home decorations.

4. Get ready some red packets.

You’ll need them later.

5. Decorate the house

Hang Chinese New Year scrolls called spring couplets on both

sides of the door to usher in good wishes for the new year.

Paste paper cuts of upside down good fotune “fu” characters,

happy children and tangerine oranges on the wall.

Make sure you have vases of flowers in the house during

Chinese New Year.

They do more than just add a new year atmosphere to the

home.

Living plants symbolize growth and flowers represent wealth

and prosperity.

Pum blossoms can be arranged together with bamboo and pine.

They stand for endurance, nobility and longevity.

Other favorite flowers are pussy willow, azalea, peony and

water lily or narcissus.

6. Prepare the reunion dinner

Gather your family together for this most important and

sumptuous meal of the year on Chinese New Year’s eve.

Prepare a meal with auspicious dishes like chicken, fish,

oysters, dumplings, green vegetables and noodles.

They have meanings of prosperity, longevity and abundance.

I’ve put together some Chinese New Year recipes and a list

of what different foods symbolize at [http://www.living-]

chinese-symbols.com/chinese-new-year-activities.html

7. Pass the year

After a hearty meal, stay up late to “pass the year” guo4

nian2 过年, an ancient tradition.

You can watch TV, play card games, or chat.

After midnight (or on the morning of Chinese New Year’s

day), give your children the red envelopes filled with money

(called “lucky money”).

Put the red packets under the pillow of children. This is

said to ward off evil.

8. Send New Year greetings

Call up friends or SMS them on the morning of Chinese New

Year and wish them Happy New Year, Good Health and

Prosperity.

Visit the homes of friends and relatives with two big

tangerines.

Bring red packets to give to the children at the homes

you’re visiting.

These are eight ways to have a roaring Chinese New Year

celebration with family and friends!

Eight is the most auspicious number for Chinese people.

It means wealthy and properous.

Here’s to your good health and prosperity in the New Year!

Chinese New Year Picture Book for Kids & Adults – http://gottalovechina.com

Making Chocolate Making use of Molds

These days, you don’t have to go to the grocery to buy chocolate. Just like cookies, these can be home created as lengthy as you have the components and the supplies. The most crucial to make chocolate are on amazon.com.

Molds are typically created of plastic and these can be purchased from craft shops. Most of these expense about a dollar up so if you want to make these in distinct shapes and sizes, you have to buy a bunch.

Now that you have your mold, you ought to also buy the raw chocolate which is also obtainable from the craft retailer. This is obtainable in distinct flavors and colors so you can mix them up later on.

There are two ways to melt chocolate. The initial is to reduce the chocolate block into small pieces and then place this in a microwave safe bowl prior to sticking it in the oven. Since it is fairly difficult to see if all the chocolate has finally melted, we now come to the second choice which is to melt it utilizing a double boiler.

A double boiler consists of two pans. The initial one has water although a smaller one is placed on best which is exactly where the chocolate will be placed. You then stir the chocolate until melts. Once everything is now in liquid type, you then get your mold and pour the chocolate.

You ought to tap the bottom to take out air bubbles out of the chocolate otherwise there will be holes later on when they come out of the freezer. If you determine to place in candy sprinkles or marshmallows with your chocolate, it is best to pour them into the boiler.

After ten minutes or so, the chocolate mold inside the freezer is prepared to be taken out. A good indicator is to verify the bottom of the mold and see if the chocolate is nonetheless holding on to the mold.

If it is prepared, then it is time to flip it more than and tap it gently so it can land on a soft surface like a napkin to stop it from breaking. Another approach is to very carefully pour water on the mold. But if it is not, then you ought to place the mold back into the freezer.

The good thing about operating with chocolate is that if is ought to crack or break, you can recycle it which prevents wastage. If you make a error when you are painting it, donít touch it and wait until it freezes so it is easy to get rid of and you can commence more than.

When it is prepared, you can serve this as part of your dessert but if you are giving this away as a gift, make certain you find a good box simply because it ought to appear presentable to whoever will be receiving it.

Surely the molds you utilized to make chocolate will be utilized in the future. To maintain it, you should never wash this with soap as this removes its slickness. You ought to also very carefully dry it following washing simply because it could result in spots to seem creating it also challenging for the chocolate to be released from the mold.

But if your chocolate mold is sticky, possibly you ought to coat it initial lightly with some vegetable oil prior to you pour in the melted chocolate.

Making chocolate utilizing molds is enjoyable. You may not get it excellent the initial time but as time goes by, you are certain to get better at it.

Choosing the Right BBQ Grills

When summer time rolls around you want to be in a position to entertain outdoors. 1 of the best ways to entertain outdoors is to have a BBQ. Nicely, to do that you need BBQ grills, but choosing the correct one can be tough. Choosing the wrong one can be an pricey error.

Remember that although some models will carry out nicely and may be the absolute best on the industry, they may not be correct for you. Take into account your budget and this will help you narrow down the BBQ grills that you should be looking at.

Expense

When expense in a concern turn to charcoal BBQ grills. These are usually a lot less expensive than gas grills. It may be a little much more tough to use but you will discover that the cost difference is worth the extra effort of firing up your grill.

Stainless steel BBQ grills are also less pricey than painted grills. If you do decide to go with a painted grill then be prepared for wear and tear to ensue pretty swiftly. Particularly if left outside, painted grills need much more care to final longer. It may be worth it to invest in stainless steel BBQ grills.

Space

The quantity of meals that you will be grilling is really essential when choosing BBQ grills. If you will be grilling for only one or two people or 3 at most then some thing with 75 square inch grill will be fine. If you intend to grill for much more people then your grill size has to increase. Or you will end up grilling forever and feeding people in really small batches.

Donít be fooled by the sticker on most BBQ grills. Some grills will list the warming rack as component of the grilling service. If this is the case then you will end up with a a lot smaller grill. Get a excellent appear at the grill that you want, this will give you a excellent thought of how a lot grilling space you have rather than just reading numbers and square inches.

Make Life Easy

When choosing grills you want to make life simpler, so get a grill that has wheels on it. Think about the difficulty you will have when it begins to rain and you want to move the grill to a covered region. Wheels will be a fantastic asset no matter what kind of grill you purchase.

Cleaning a Grill – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaptlFmQoVw

If convenience is a large element then remember that charcoal grills take a lot of time to prepare and clean. With a charcoal grill you need to wait for the grill to heat up before cooking and cool down before you can clean it. Gas grills have knobs that will allow you to handle the heat and are a lot simpler to clean with a brass grill brush.

Best Gluten Free Recipes

Take a look at the movie of the best gluten free recipes available.

One thing Fantastic for the Road: BBQ Trailers

Some people just can not leave their house without having their special BBQ recipe. However if you are going someplace where you can’t cook your BBQ, what will you do? The easy and easiest option for yourBBQ fix is to discover a BBQ concession trailer.

These will typically be situated at nearby fairs and other summer season events. But if you have a fantastic BBQ recipe of your own, why do not you share it with the planet? You can make a lot of funds and travel to numerous locations with BBQ trailers.

The Fantastic Road Trip

Purchasing BBQ trailers may well be a severe choice to make, but if you are correct to the art of BBQ, you will never be in a position to keep up with the demand for your special recipes from your BBQ trailers. Not only can you make a great quantity of funds from selling meals out of BBQ trailers, you can also get to see the nation.

You can travel about all over your state and beyond obtaining jobs at fairs festivals, and other neighborhood gatherings. BBQ trailers are made special to accommodate and severe BBQ cook. The gear inside and out is leading notch. You wonít discover another kind of concession trailer constructed far better than BBQ trailers.

BBQ trailers are a severe investment, so make positive you weigh the pros and cons just before you make your obtain. It the long run, it will most most likely be a effective summer season business for you. It can be a yearlong business for you if you reside in a warm climate.

But if you are not ready just before you go out on your first job, you could run into some problems. If you know the type of event you will be operating, make positive you can get an concept of how numerous people will show up. Itís not realistic to believe that everyone will want meals from you, but it is far better to be ready than be caught off guard.

Make positive you have sufficient preparations to serve at least eighty percent of the total expected crowd. This way, you are positive to have at least sufficient for the people who want it, and possibly more.

If you are caught without having sufficient meals for most people, the crowd will get frustrated and if the identical people see you at the next event, they could just steer clear of you since the know you will run out of meals just before they ever get to the front of the line. BBQ trailers are a fantastic investment. If you are prepared to share your BBQ with the planet, go ahead!

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Barbecue Shops

BBQ Shops Are For BBQ Fanatics

If your passion is grilling in your backyard, on your deck or by the pool then you will want to locate the newest and greatest BBQ goods obtainable. You can shop the world wide web, eBay or pay a visit to local cut price shops, but the greatest spot to locate things for the passionate BBQ griller is a BBQ store.

A BBQ store will have the very greatest in accessories, BBQ grills, gas logs and patio furniture. Every little thing you could ever want for entertaining or just having a quiet night with your BBQ set. You can now style your own, Outdoor Kitchen, which will require particular gear to match your wants and a contractor to build it. All of these specialty things can be found at a BBQ store.

Specialties

A BBQ store will have specialist sales people to answer all of your concerns about BBQ and its essential accessories. They can locate the perfect BBQ grill for your wants and the furniture for you to sit on while you are grilling and can even suggest the perfect bottle of wine to drink with your BBQ banquet. A BBQ store will have barbecue lessons for the beginner cook or seasoned ones to locate new fads in bbq. They will offer menus for the BBQ banquet of your desire including many other delicious bbq delights.

Every BBQ accessory made for grilling will be in a BBQ store, as will gloves, barbecue brushes aprons, charcoal and insect spray. They will have a food aisle containing rubs, sauces, seasonings and cookbooks. They have complete lines of patio and summer time furniture. They have gas logs and fireplace screens. Most BBQ shops have complete selections of wine for all occasions but primarily for bbq. They will have a complete choice of indoor/outdoor sound systems and host and hostess gifts for the crazy griller. Every little thing and something you could want to go with your BBQ meal or to make with it can be found in a BBQ store.

When you walk into a BBQ store there are delectable smells from the in store grilling demonstrations that will make you want to purchase a new grill instantly. Even if you just wanted to browse the store and did not intend on buying something, the divine smells wafting via the air will alter your thoughts.

You will swiftly walk over to the BBQ demonstration and join in so that you can get a sample of what is cooking on the grill. For the avid griller this encounter is amazing. He can banter back and forth with the cook and find out all sorts of new tricks for grilling. Perhaps the perfect gift for the crazy griller is a gift certificate to pay a visit to the local BBQ store.

How to Freshen up Your Grill

In the video below I am going to show you how to clean a grill and what is the very best tool to use for this objective.

A video review of the best brass grill brush

Take a peek at the movie right below! I’m going to show you how to clean any grill and which is definitely the greatest accessory to make use of for this purpose.

How to Clean Your Grill

In the video beneath I’m going to show you how to clean a grill and what is the best tool to use for this purpose.

How to Clean Your Grill

In the video below I’m going to show you how to clean a grill and what is the very best tool to use for this objective.