feast number one ~ lunar new year eve

It seems like all my mom's siblings are chefs! My uncle cooked thirteen or so dishes. And, of course, I overstuffed myself...typical. A tradition for Chinese New Year is to pay respect to your ancestors. Before eating, we climbed (literally, because their stairs are so steep!) our way to the third floor, where my aunt and uncle have a traditional Buddhist altar. On the altar were pictures of my mom's parents and her grandparents. We set the dishes my uncle cooked as offerings and had five bowls and five pairs of chopsticks for each of them. Then my uncle reminisced about my grandparents and their dear grandmother who took care of them after my grandparents passed. Anyhow, afterward we headed down to the dining room and began our feast....

meatballs - traditional Chinese New Year dish; crunchy on the outside, pork + onions + ginger on the inside

veggies, shreds of pork, mu'er

shrimp rolls

egg roll stuffed with pork

soup number one; there were three soups total

bamboo shoots

egg layer with veggies underneath

some kind of meat, pork I think

pork fat

yumm shrimp!

a pricey, but delicious $70 soup

whole fish - symbolizes wish and abundance

mmm yum!

This is my nephew. He is four years old and incredibly energetic.

We, then, proceeded to put out ground fireworks. I heard this sound all night til 3am.