March 2024

March is here! Now we're getting somewhere.

The first couple of months always tend to drag on and feel like an entire year unto themselves. Especially with this being a leap year, that extra 24 hours yesterday was a doozy! But as spring approaches and the weather warms, I suspect things are going to start flying by.

February is also home to the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year as I grew up calling it.

In last month's newsletter, I wrote about eating experiences and food memories. Then, as I was celebrating the Lunar New Year a few weeks ago, I was struck by how few memories I have surrounding the holiday.

In fact, I can only muster up one childhood memory; a classic dragon dance at our favorite dim sum spot. There was good food (obvs) and a long dragon procession that culminated with it chewing up whole heads of cabbage before showering us with the regurgitated brassicas.

I could have been anywhere between 5 and 12. And that's all I got up until I stumbled upon the aftermath of a parade in Chinatown in 2015, putting me at 26. That's a lot of years unaccounted for.

I'm not sure where those memories ran off too, but being that half my family is Chinese, I can't imagine we simply didn't celebrate.

So while I was thrilled that January brought back a long-forgotten backyard pig fry, I was slightly miffed that in February I realized that I'd all but forgotten a seemingly significant holiday for most of my life.

Luckily, I'm still just a spring chicken and I've got tiny spring chicks, and dozens of Lunar New Year's and other holidays to share and look forward to.

And if you were wondering, this year's Chinese New Year was wonderful and memorable (easy to say when it was only a few weeks ago).

We spent it with my people, my sister, her kids, and my mom. My sister organized and we all made hand-pulled noodles. A great success.

I can't say for certain, but I think that if I had made hand-pulled noodles for CNY in the past I would have remembered. So we're starting this year and this new era of memory-making with a bang biang 😏, so when my kids are in their 20's they better remember!

Marching On

While it's not quite spring yet, warm, sunny days are showing up more frequently, and perennials are starting to peek their heads out, which means I need to get it together and start planning for my annual and always slightly disappointing vegetable garden.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll hopefully get a schedule put together and start planting my first seeds indoors.

This will be my fourth year growing in my small raised-bed vegetable garden.

You'd think that one would learn and achieve a better yield year after year, but I'm fairly certain that I peaked in year 1, and have been slowly declining ever since.

And on that note, I should probably get off of here and get to planning for planting. The farm is a fickle beast.

New Recipes

• Cast Iron Dinner Rolls
• Easy Vinegar BBQ Sauce

February Eats