The tree is up and decorated. Each year I get so much pleasure and I add each ornament. The tree contains memories that go back more than 60 years. After my mother's death my brothers and I had to empty her condo and split up her belongings. There were no surprises until we got to a big storage closet in the garage that, among other things, held boxes and boxes of Christmas tree ornaments dating back to the…
I wanted to share a special Thanksgiving memory today. Thanksgiving is a harvest festival, with gratitude for the fruits of the soil that have sustained us through another year. It is also a time of gratitude for the other blessings of our life, especially the family and friends with whom we celebrate. Sometimes it is the Thanksgivings celebrated far from those we love that have a special place in our memory. As the current news is so filled…
It seemed only appropriate to serve Beauty Heart radish at our Valentine’s dinner. We were introduced to the beautiful pinky red radishes when we were living in Beijing where it is very popular. Members of my Women of China work unit brought some pickled Xin Li Mei radish to a picnic outing. They called it Beauty Heart which I much prefer to Red Meat, as it is sometimes called in seed catalogs. It is also called Watermelon radish…
For days now Chinese people have been travelling all over the country to return to their home towns to celebrate Spring Festival, the beginning of the lunar new year. During the two separate years (1989-90 and 1995-96) we spent in Beijing we learned about the importance of this holiday.In the west, New Year's Eve means a party and greeting the new year at midnight, but in China it means 20 days of celebration with family, surrounding themselves with…