Year of the Rooster!

Lori

January 30

4 Comments

We have a lot of family celebrations that have now become much anticipated traditions…Chinese New year is one of our favorites! Even when our boys were little, they were pretty adventurous eaters so it was always easy to introduce new cuisines and celebrate with food! I love all the opportunities to have meals around the table together…whether it’s big celebrations like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter…right down to our corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, a Mexican feast on Cinco DeMayo, or all the Asian choices for Chinese New Year! Over the past several years we’ve invited friends over to enjoy the Chinese New Year with us. It’s a fun celebration to get a little creative and since the theme changes with the zodiac calendar, each year is something new until the cycle repeats itself! But this holiday we kept it simple and decided to celebrate with just the four of us and place a take-out order from one of our favorite Chinese restaurants! And since I didn’t have to prepare any food…I had a little fun making our table just as festive as if we were having guests! By recycling my supplies I saved a lot of time and money creating a simple but fun table! If you think you missed out on the Chinese New Year celebrations, not to worry! They’re not over for 15 days into the new year so you’ve got plenty of time to break out the chopsticks and still have some fun!

Celebrating the Chinese New Year!

the Chinese New Year festivities often begin the evening before the New Year, just like our calendar year celebrations! but since they keep the party going for 15 more days, that leaves some significant time from January 28 to go ahead and still have a celebration…or more celebrations! we made it easy & ordered from one of our favorite Chinese restaurants that also happens to be just up the street…in case any locals are wondering, Jing Chuan was our top pick!

when my hubby picked up our carry-out order, he snapped some photos of the special presentations in the restaurant that day! he’s so used to this blogging routine by now so he’s getting good at remembering to capture images! it looked really festive…

i would have loved to sample some of this spread!

to set our table for dinner, i grabbed some supplies from around the house…some paper favor boxes, chopsticks, purchased fortune cookies, and a rooster that often sits in my kitchen! it is his year after all!

we eat Chinese food often at home so i do have chopsticks in my silverware drawer…but you can certainly ask for the wood variety when you pick up your take-out order! a tiny strip of ribbon to tie them together makes a lovely detail and red is the traditional color of good luck in China!

i created a simple centerpiece with the rooster by simply placing him on a dinner plate filled with a little bit of water…

then snipped off the blooms from a bunch of red carnations and layered them around the rooster so that the tips of the stem stayed damp. carnations are also very hearty and can stay fresh out of a vase for a long time. mine still look good this morning without replenishing the water!

that’s it! a ring of pretty red flowers to circle the little guy! if you don’t have a figurine you could simply tuck the red blooms into a vase or a cup nestled into an extra carry-out box…anything to add a little more “good fortune” to the table!

i used my lazy susan in the center so that we could later pile it full of take-out boxes & condiments! similar to a family-style meal in a Chinese restaurant, we could easily spin it around to share the deliciousness!

a linen napkin folded in half stood in for a placemat and paper napkins are great for sopping up sauces that were sure to be on more than just the plates! the chopsticks & spoons placed right on top!

i LOVE these little to-go boxes and wish i could share where you could get some. i bought these years ago in a clearance bin…i don’t even remember where. i did buy each and every one that i could find and have been using them at any opportunity i can! they look sweet filled with a couple fortune cookies for our dessert. the great new is that you can buy take-out boxes in almost any party store and in a variety of colors too! you could always embellish them with a sticker or stamp to personalize your table!