Plans To Make Before Chinese New Year Kicks Off

“Cheers for a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.” - Oprah Winfrey. It’s no lie that we always try to be the best version of ourselves when it comes to a new start. There’s somehow so many things that we need to improve on in terms of our development, strength, versatility, skills and so much more. However, it takes time to mastermind all of them as we are humans and not robots.

To that, here are 3 activities that we can start our New Year with:

1) We can hold an open house

What better ways to have a good start than inviting all our family and friends over for a gathering. In this way, we can update among each other on what we are currently going through and also a way to show them that they actually matter to you.

Having an open house will not be easy as there are quite some things that we need help on when it comes to the preparation. For instance, is the catering services. There might be many different types of choices to choose from but will never get to know which is the right one to pick. Adding on, is the beverage. The normal drink that everybody gets are usually either carbonated, or ready made drinks. However, by hiring a bartender with a fair amount, people get to enjoy their custom drinks much more compared to the usual. To top it off, what’s main course without dessert? It would certainly put a smile on the children’s face as they get to enjoy sweet but healthy treats.

If all mentioned above is slightly a hassle to be managing, why not just get a freelance chef to do everything for you from the appetizers all the way to desserts? The cost could be a little more higher compared to the separate services but it could save you some time; at the end it really depends on your preferred choice.

2) Learn how to make New Year cookies and decorations

Picking up a new hobby doesn’t seem such a bad activity, as it could also check off that box in your bucket list on learning something new. Not everyone has the interest to get out of their comfort zone to do something different or honestly could be just lazy. But after all, what is there to lose?

Since it’s just weeks away from Chinese New Year, cookies will be at least one of the few important items that we should have lying around our house. With just several steps, you are on your way to making a fresh batch of scrumptious goods. Here are some types of cookies that you can try making:

- Mice Cookies (since it is the year of Rat)

For this treat, it delights children of all age, plus you can get your children to help you in the process. This total makes about 3 dozen.

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

2. 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

3. 1 cup (2 sticks), unsalted butter, softened

4. 3/4 cups of sugar

5. 1 teaspoon of almost extract

6. 1/4 sliced natural almonds

7. 4 30-inch black licorice laces, cut into 3-inch lengths

8. 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

- Pineapple Tarts (just like Turkey to Thanksgiving, it’s not Chinese New Year without it’s Pineapple Tarts)

The best ever pineapple tarts, buttery, crumbly and melt-in-your mouth goodness pastry filled with pineapple fillings. This recipe makes about 1 dozen.

Ingredients:

1. 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (350g)

2. 3 1/2 ounces of unsweetened condensed milk (100g)

3. 2 egg yolks

4. 18oz all - purpose flour or plain flour (250 - 300g)

Pineapple Filling:

1. 2 whole pineapples (8 lbs / 3 1/2 kg or 5 lbs (2 1/2 kg) pineapple flesh)

2. 1/2 tablespoon cloves, (optional)

3. 1 - 1 1/2 cups sugar, or to taste (250 - 300 g)

4. 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Egg Wash:

1. 2 egg yolks

2. 1/4 teaspoon condensed milk

3. 1/2 teaspoon oil

- Non-Baked Corn Flakes Cookies (for those who do not want to make common New Year cookies)

This will be the best yet easy choice of cookies to make if you do not have an oven lying around your house. Trust me, it is yummy that not only kids like it but adult as well. This recipe makes about 2 dozen.

Ingredients:

1. 400 grams of corn flakes honey crunch

2. 150 grams of butter

3. 200 grams of honey/golden syrup/maltose or a combination of all three

Moving on to the decorations, New Year will also not be complete without it’s decorations. It can easily be bought from the stores outside but if you’re thinking of doing an activity that involves spending more quality time with your family, here are 2 types of DIY New Year decorations you can try!

- Chinese Paper-Cut

Paper-cut is a very distinctive visual art of Chinese handicrafts. It originated from the 6th century when women used to paste golden and silver foil cuttings onto their hair at the temples, while men used them in sacred rituals. Later, they were used during festivals to decorate gates and windows and finally after hundreds of years' development, they have now become a very popular means of decoration.

Here are the tools that you’ll need:

1. Pencil

2. Scissors

3. Ruler

4. Red Square Papers

- Chinese Fish Ornament

The words for fish and abundance are pronounced the same in Chinese (鱼,yu) so the fish in the Chinese culture symbolizes wealth. Fish also symbolize harmony, marital happiness and reproduction because they multiply rapidly and sometimes swim in pairs.

Here are the tools that you’ll need:

1. Red packet

2. Scissors

3. Glue

4. Ruler

5. Stapler

6. Red thread

3) Plan a vacation for your family and friends

“If you are too busy to enjoy time with your family, then you need to reevaluate your priorities.’’ - Dave Wills. It is important to have bonding time with the people around you as it shows how much you cherish them as your loved ones. To that, what better ways to start of a New Year by traveling to a new country with them?

However, if you think that traveling across the country might be a little over your budget, it would be great to travel just around your own country. You might think that you know too much about your own homeland and it will be boring, trust me, as you travel around more especially to places you never thought you’ll go, i assure you that it will be an eye opening experience as you can gain more insight on how much you’re actually missing out even when it is just right in front of your own eyes.

If you think that you just want a short getaway from your home and not having to drive hours just to get to a destination, or if your wallet is already tight just at the starting of year because you’ve spent so much on other things but still wants to go on a getaway, that’s not a problem as with the help of Task2Bid, we will get you to attractive, fascinating, and affordable places for a vacation that you will never forget.