Chinese New Year arrived quite early this year on Monday, January 23, 2012. I wasn’t prepared for it as I was still recovering from Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year’s) and dealing with life’s curve-balls. I debated whether I would cook this year or not; whether I would write a 2012 Chinese New Year’s post. Last year, I was highly motivated and made two dishes: Chinese – style egg rolls and Jai (or Buddha’s...

  明けましておめでとう！ Akemashite Omedetou! Translation: Happy New Year! A few years ago, I vowed to learn how to make osechi ryori, or traditional Japanese New Year’s food. For as long as I can remember, every year, my Mom would make several different types of osechi ryori for our family to eat on New Year’s Day. Today, this is still true, to a certain extent, but recently I’ve been trying to help her by making...

  Happy New Year! Thank you all for your friendship, love, kind words, encouragement, delicious food and good company! May you all enjoy a healthy, prosperous and happy 2012! * * * * * * * * Soooooo….. Despite my comments regarding beef in my last post for 2011, I ended up cooking a rather LARGE piece of red meat for my family’s Christmas lunch…. ….And then, Christmas came and went in a flash. The days that immediately...