Sunday Snapshot - "Red"

Yesterday, I had to go over to "2 Hip Chics" to open some canvases that arrived earlier in the week.
On friday night, the town where the store/studio is located is having a Snow Ball to pay tribute to local artists and I am one of the artists featured, so we will be serving wine and cheese for all of our fellow art lovers who will be walking through the store/studio to see some of my work.


While we were there, and the light was beaming into the studio space so beautifully, I decided to do our Chinese New Year photos. Reags looks good in so many colors because of her beautiful dark features, but I think Red is definitely the one color that stands out from the rest.


I purchased paper lanterns at Party City for a little something extra to break up all the white in the space.


And gave her a fancy pair of chopsticks with a Chinese take out box(also purchased at Party City) filled with some goodies.
She had a lot of fun.....I did not have time to go through all of the pics yet, but you will see some silly shots later in the week. Just thought I would just post a few today.

It has been three years since I have attempted cooking the food for our Chinese New Year celebration and I think this year we are going to tackle the Asian Dumplings again. I made them in 2010, just a few months before we received Reagan's photo......but have not made them since. I spoke with my Mom and she said she was willing to help out this year if I wanted to cook them. They are A LOT of work, but oh my heavens, they are really good. I went back in the archives to find the photo I took back in 2010 and figured I would post the recipe for anyone that wants to try them out this year. If you do, you have to let me know what you think! My family raved about them when I cooked them the last time.


Asian Dumplings

Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
up to 1 1/4 cups cold water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 cup ground pork or beef
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 TBSP Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, or to taste
3 TBSP sesame oil
1/2 green onion, finely minced
1 1/2 cups finely shredded Napa cabbage
4 tablespoons diced water chestnuts
4 tablespoons diced carrots
2 slices fresh ginger, finely minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

Preparation:
Stir the salt into the flour. Slowly stir in the cold water, adding as much as is necessary to form a smooth dough. Don't add more water than is ncessary. Knead the dough into a smooth ball. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, prepare the filling ingredients. Add the soy sauce, salt, rice wine and white pepper to the meat, stirring in only one direction. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring in the same direction, and mix well.

To make the dumpling dough: knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Divide the dough into 60 pieces. Roll each piece out into a circle about 3-inches in diameter.

Place a small portion (about 1 level tablespoon) of the filling into the middle of each wrapper. Wet the edges of the dumpling with water. Fold the dough over the filling into a half moon shape and pinch the edges to seal. Continue with the remainder of the dumplings.

To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add half the dumplings, giving them a gentle stir so they don't stick together. Bring the water to a boil, and add 1/2 cup of cold water. Cover and repeat. When the dumplings come to a boil for a third time, they are ready. Drain and remove. If desired, they can be pan-fried at this point.

Dipping Sauce:

2 TBSP of Soy Sauce
1 TBSP of Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 tsp of minced garlic
1/4 tsp of minced ginger root
1/2 tsp of sugar
4-8 drops of Hot Chili Oil

To see more Sunday Snapshots, head on over to visit my friend Stef!