Food & Party Planning Ideas
Chinese New Year
Did you know that the end of January usually is when the New Year is celebrated for the Chinese? Wouldn't it be a great idea to throw a Chinese New Year party in 2002, instead of the traditional New Years or holiday party? Wilton can help you plan and prepare your goodies and food for your party, which may soon become a celebration everyone looks forward to each year.
The Chinese New Year is often a celebration filled with the colors red and gold, everywhere you look. Therefore, you want to make sure that your room is decorated with balloons, streamers, anything else in these colors. Also, plants and flowers are very important to the holiday. Plants represent rebirth and new growth, while flowers symbolize wealth and high positions in one's career. For each guest's place setting, be sure to write happy wishes on red paper and for the kids, a small red envelope with money in it is often given.
Food is an important part of any celebration. Using Wilton's Storybook doll pan and the Asian girl cake pattern*, a Star of the East cake can be made, as a beautiful dessert. Tangerines and oranges are usually eaten or given as gifts because they are the Chinese symbols for abundant happiness. Using Wilton's zester, with comfortable handle grip, and 9x5 inch loaf pan or mini loaf pan, you can make Golden Tangerine Nut Bread. This bread not only incorporates the tangerines for happiness, but also peanuts, which are symbolic of a long life. For the appetizers and main meal, choose traditional Chinese foods, such as Sesame chicken, peanut noodle salad, and chicken satays.
The month of January is also National Hot Tea month and China is the homeland of tea. Therefore, it would be perfect to incorporate hot tea month into your Chinese New Year party. Chinese tea can be classified into five categories, according to how it is processed. These categories are green, black, wulong, compressed, and scented teas. To warm your guests and your party, serve each of these types of teas, after the meal, to honor the Chinese tradition.
