Fun Friday with Family and Friends

Yesterday was a good day.  Our niece, Danielle, came over and hung out with us all day.  We don't get to spend as much time with her as we would like so it makes our time together that much more special. Then, when Tamie came to clean, she had her daughter Raechel with her.  She left but Rae decided to stay and hang out with us.  We played cards, we went shopping, we played with Little Miss while Ting took a nap.

I also planned my menu for tonight. You might recall that Wednesday was Chinese New Year. We try to acknowledge and celebrate each year with Tingting and this year is even more special because it is Melody's first Chinese New Year. For several years we went to a celebration at a restaurant. They had dragon dancers, fireworks, fortune tellers, and a great menu.  It was always a good time but very expensive. Last year they never contacted us and when I contacted them they said that they were no longer having the yearly event.

So I decided to throw a big celebration here at the house.  You can read all about it here.  This year, Chinese New Year fell on Ash Wednesday so needless to say there was no feasting that night.  Instead we are celebrating tonight with a family dinner that will include Ting and Melody, Amy and Doug, Dick and Jackie, Nicole and Pierre and John and Kirsten.  That is what the girls and I went shopping for yesterday.

Here is our menu for tonight:

Menu in Celebration of Chinese New Year

Appetizers

Roasted Red Pepper Pinwheels

Clams in Black Bean Sauce

Vegetable Egg Rolls

Entree

Honey Sesame Chicken

Ginger Venison Stir Fry

Chicken Fried Rice

Ginger Rice

Dessert

Chinese New Year Cookies

We finished off the evening by going out to dinner with a group of our dive friends and then listening to a couple of sets of our friend, Rob's band, Maverick.  They are so good and we had a great time.

I will be posting photos and sharing our party with you later tonight or tomorrow.  See you then.