Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Last Sunday was the Lunar New Year. I'm still not ready to start doing big gatherings--although both DL and I got our bivalent boosters--but I wanted a Lunar New Year party so I had it... just stretching out the absurd amount of food over a week.

Oh, before I post food photos, here is one of the sunrise behind the power plant. It is said that UAF's coal plant will be the last coal-fired power plant to be built in the United States. No, not because of renewables, which are still not capable of providing 100% of power without large amounts of storage. But because of relatively inexpensive natural gas. But Fairbanks does not have access to large amounts of natural gas. Although we do buy a lot of natural gas-derived electricity from the Anchorage region via an intertie, the intertie can only bring us electricity, not heat. Coal can bring us heat, and it is locally available from Usibelli Mine, which is nearby, accessible by rail, locally owned by a family vested in the community, and whose coal is naturally ultra-low sulfur. (This last bit is due to a lucky accident of nature.)

So... while coal is far from ideal, if we have to have a coal plant, this is about the "cleanest" and must justifiable one.

OK New Year always starts with a giant bunch of jiu-cai!

For jiao-zi, of course! See here for ingredients.

Nian-gao is a homonym for "higher year", so it is typically eaten on Lunar New Year, although the more typical for factor is a sticky dessert cake. I like these stir-fry slices better!

For Day 3 (which would be Course 3 had we had a big gathering), we had noodles, for longevity!

Noodle mise en place:

"Hello! Are you chopping veggies? We like veggies!"

Miss Thistle likes BOKCHOYSTEMZZZZ!

Princess Cricket, too, likes BOKCHOYSTEMERZ!

And of course there is fishy! The Chinese word for "fish" is the a homonym for "plenty", so it is part of Lunar New Year, too!

I pan-fried these pieces in Hawaiian barbecue sauce.

We still have leftover salmon! Which is the goal. Leftover fish mean a year where you will always have plenty of plenty! I believe I'll make fish patties tonight.

Happy Year of the Rabbit! It is supposed to be a gentle, peaceful year, since rabbits are such gentle, peaceful creatures.

OK maybe not Mr. B! But Miss Millie was very sweet! Happy Lunar New Year to all 14 of my loyal readers!