Hey hivers, happy weekend! Last Sunday, my sister and I were invited for a dumpling making to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. 
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In our family, we always make dumplings every end of the year in preparation for the new year ahead so i was very excited to make dumplings again with friends. 
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We were a bit late when we arrive at the venue because of the traffic but nevertheless, there were still dumpling fillings to be wrap. So, to start of, we wash our hands in the sink to maintain the cleanliness of our dumplings. Our guest, Sister Lucia, a nun who's from China, made wrappers from scratch. She taught us the different ways and style of wrapping dumplings. Some made wanton, siomai, and money-gold style dumplings. The meat filling were also divided into two kinds, one with shrimp and one without shrimp, just in case some people are allergic to shrimp.
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While making the dumplings, i had a meaningful conversation with Sister Lucia. She mentioned that she have stayed here in the Philippines for 7 years and had only gone back to China every once a year. Compared to living in China, she definitely have more freedom here in the Philippines in preaching Christian teachings because in China, before giving people lectures, they still need an approval of the Government. She also teach Chinese language at *Sacred Heart School- Hijas de Jesus* in Cebu. 
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After wrapping all the dumplings, we then place them in a huge pan, add water and steam. For the sauce, we used a ready to eat siomai sauce since we know that making it can be quite tedious.

## Tikoy
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We also made some ***tikoy***, also known as *Nian gao*, a popular Chinese snack usually served during Chinese New Year. It is made of glutinous rice flour covered with battered egg. Since 2024 is a year of the Wood Dragon, we added dragon fruit in the battered egg coating to serve as its flavor. We then deep fried the tikoy until cooked.

After cooking, we enjoyed eating the dumplings and tikoy as we chatted more. For me, this simple way of celebrating Chinese New Year is still the best.

Before going home, Sister Lucia handed each of us a bookmark with a prayer blessing. It says, 
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*Heaven's blessings overflow in the dragon year;
God's graces emerge in the new spring.*

That's it for today's blog. See you in my next one!

Sending some love and light

Love, Jane