7daysweek

Sunday, January 02, 2011

First Haircut...and a New Year

 
I'm not sure if it really counts as a first haircut.  At over 3 years old, I'm sure she's had a few by now.  Still, it's the first I've taken her to get, so I'm counting it anyway.  Plus, it's absolutely too cute not to get a shout-out. 
Here's Miss Saidie rockin' the new do:



On New Year's Eve, our church family meets to reflect on the past year and to dedicate all babies and children added to our church during the year.  We just made it under the wire with Saidie.  
She was decked in a new Chinese dress and her squeaky shoes.  



New Year's Day we decided to attempt to make Chinese dumplings.  I watched my friend Susan make these a couple of months ago, and I took notes.  Susan was amazing.  Her mother taught her to make dumplings in China when she was a young girlSusan grew up and lived most of her life in Liaoning province where Saidie is from.
  
grated cabbage and carrots

rolling out the dumpling skins

heating the pork and cabbage mixture

many hands make light work

ready to boil


ready to eat
So, after seeing how much work it would take to create these beauties, I enlisted the help of my 3 older kids.  It was fun, messy, and exhausting.  I think it took about 5 hours (including clean-up).  I got to try out my food processor, too.  Unfortunately, the consistency and taste were not nearly as good as Susan's.  I decided it would have been easier and tastier to just order up some Fast Dragon.  Still, it was a nice memory with the kids.




4 comments:

Tina Michelle said...

How fun! My FIL used to make homemade dumplings. Oh, they were the best from anywhere. He moved back to Taiwan but my husband told me how to make them. I tried once. It took forever. Make the dough, make the insides, wrap it up so it will stick together. Mine kept falling apart too! LOL Anyway, we found frozen ones at the chinese market that were super tasty and slightly less expensive than the restaurant ones. That dress she is wearing is super adorable too!

Paige said...

It is always fun to try new recipes! I love the haircut too, she is really cute!

Anonymous said...

Really love the new hair cut! She looks so pretty in her little blue dress and squeaky shoes. Didn't know if you bought any for her or not! So glad you were able to take her to church on New Year's Eve. Special time! The dumplings looked good--too bad it took so long but glad the kids were able to help!
Saidie looks like she is loving her new family! She and Maimie look so cute together!
In Christian Love,
Grandma & Grandpa

Anonymous said...

Good for you on the dumplings!! I want to learn!! The squeaky shoes need a story. :) I heard them but did not realize they were shoes!! No sneaking off for that little one... now that we know who they belong to. So much fun!!

Love,
Vera