Harrison's 1 Month Celebration at Wee Gather

 

This past weekend we celebrated Harrison's Day Thang (1 month celebration)/Thanksgiving at Wee Gather. Day thang means full month in Vietnamese and it celebrates a newborn completing his/her first lunar month in the world. Since Harrison's one month was so close to Thanksgiving, we decided to serve both traditional Thanksgiving food (turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, etc) and day thang food (roasted pork, xoi, Vietnamese desserts). Friends and family showered Harrison with gifts and red envelopes.

I have been stalking Wee Gather's IG page since they opened over a year ago and just waiting for the opportunity to host a party here. The space is light, bright, open, extremely kid-friendly, reasonably priced, and flexible (booze and outside catering allowed). The week before the party, I multitasked while breastfeeding and created a mood board for Elizabeth, owner of Wee Gather. Elizabeth and her husband Albin were so accommodating and worked with us from booking to clean up to pull off the perfect event. If you are looking for a party venue, I would recommend you check this space out and support a local small business!

We started hunting for Thanksgiving decor as soon as Halloween was over but in our new baby haze we didn't realized all the stores had already moved on to Christmas. The only things I could find were some unfinished wooden sign on clearance at Michael's which I painted gold and a handful of faux pumpkins at Vons. My sisters incorporated the wooden signs into Wee Gather's existing wreaths and Elizabeth worked the pumpkins into the table decor. 

I purchased two beautiful pumpkins before Halloween that never got carved since Harrison decided to arrive early. Instead of letting them go to waste, I asked my cousin Tuyen to work her magic and write on them for me and we worked them into the decor. I LOVE how they turned out. 

I craved and ate so much pie throughout my pregnancy it was only appropriate to serve it at the party. Guests enjoyed strawberry rhubarb, pumpkin, apple lattice and pecan pies from Betty's Pie Whole. If you have never had Betty's pie, you need to drive to Encinitas ASAP and get yourself a slice.

Harrison is grandbaby #10 for my parents!

A whole roasted pig is served at most important Vietnamese gatherings. It's hard to resist that crispy skin. Yum!

The party was loud and Harrison was passed from one person to the next. He slept through the whole thing.

I can't wait for Harrison to be old enough to play with his cousins.

Kids tables were set up outside with coloring pages and crayons. 

Parker is currently addicted to Roblox and cannot be bothered.

Hosting a gathering for our closest family and friends is always a huge undertaking. If you have read any of my previous party posts, you know the head count is always around 80-100. A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered or was voluntold to help out with the party. Even as an experienced event planner, I could not have pulled this off without you! 

Venue: Wee Gather
Invitations: Tania
Pumpkin Calligraphy: Letterie Post
Catering: Sieu Sieu BBQ (roasted pork), Betty's Pie Whole, all other food made with love by us and family & friends
Lawn games: Sassy Little Bee
Table rentals: Raphael's Party Rentals

Happy Mid Autumn Festival 2016

Growing up, I remember excitedly marching around holding lanterns with my sisters while my parents sang traditional songs every Tet Trung Thu (Mid Autumn Festival). We would fight over who would get to eat the yolks from the moon cakes and have family and friends over for a big dinner. 

[via Thousand Skies]

Tomorrow night the harvest moon will be shining in it's full glory and we are planning to celebrate with a family dinner, paper lanterns and moon cakes! Passing these cultural traditions on to Parker makes my heart happy. Here are some ways you can celebrate with your kids.

*Watch this reading of the book Mooncakes by Loretta Seto which tells of the legend of Chang-E.

*Purchase mooncakes from your local Asian grocery store or bakery. If you're in San Diego, Ranch 99, 85 Degrees, Paris Baguette or Thuan Phat all carry mooncakes. Serve your mooncakes with a pot of hot green tea.

*Make your own paper lanterns using this easy tutorial from Handmade Charlotte.

[Photo credit Handmade Charlotte]

5 Ideas for Celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival with Kids

Tet Trung Thu, the Mid Autumn Festival, falls on September 8 this year. Growing up, this was one of my favorite holidays because it meant that my sisters and I would get to stay up parading our paper lanterns, eating mooncakes and fighting over who would get the yolk. My parents would tell us folk tales about the lady in the moon and we would look up at the sky trying to make out her image on the moons surface.  What makes this holiday unique is that it specifically focuses on children and the bounty of the Fall harvest. Here are some ideas for getting your little one excited about ushering in Fall.

1. Go to a Tet Trung Thu/Moon festival.

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival hosted by 2BC, Inc and the Vietnamese Community of San Diego on Sept 7 will include an array of non-stop live entertainment, concerts, traditional Lion Dance performances and exciting opportunities to experience new cultures and traditions. It is also one of the only events in the county that has no admission fees and offering diverse, exciting entertainment along with free lanterns and moon cakes for children of all ages.

Saturday, September 13, 2014  |  1:00 – 3:00pm
$4.00 Admission | Free for SDCHM Members and children under 12

San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, Chuang Garden
404 Third Ave  |  San Diego, Ca 92101

It’s that time again when the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum opens it’s doors to families from all over the San Diego region to celebrate a time-honored Chinese tradition: the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.  The Chinese celebrate the Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節 on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month by savoring the full moon, the bounty of the harvest, and delicious mooncakes.The event will be held on September 13, 2014 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm in the museum’s beautiful garden.  Admission is $4, free for children under 12 and museum members.

Guests will see a demonstration on how to prepare traditional treats, which can include exotic flavors ranging from red bean paste to sweet lotus seed. Children will have a chance to make their own mooncakes, and volunteers will help museum staff retell Chinese legends about the jade rabbit and fairy princess living on the moon. Festivities in the museum garden will also include Chinese arts and crafts, a calligraphy demonstration and, of course, a chance to sample various types of mooncake! For more information visit http://www.sdchm.org/exhibitsevents/upcoming/.

2. Make paper lanterns at home.

The accordian-style  lanterns we used to get when I was little looked like this. They are really old school but that's why I like them! Here are some other lantern projects you can do with kids. 

[I love these fish lanterns from Darice. There are no rules when it comes to lantern shapes/sizes.]

[More traditional looking lanterns from Crafting on a Budget]

[Don't have time to make one? You can buy accordian lanterns online for $2 from Luna Bazaar.]

3. Read a book about Tet Trung Thu with your little one.

[Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin]

[Mooncakes by Loretta Seto]

[Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong]

[Surprise Moon by Caroline Hatton]

4. Sing songs about Tet Trung Thu.

Here are lyrics to a folk song about the Mid Autumn Festival.

Lyrics in English:At Mid-autumn festival, walk around with lanterns lit. Take them all across the town, singing to the autumn moon. Lanterns all in different shapes, lantern angel, lantern dream, Lantern fish, or lantern star, lantern swan or butterfly. Take my lantern to the sky; take my lantern to the moon!

Lyrics in Vietnamese:Tet trung thu ruoc den di choi. Em ruoc den di khap pho phuong. Long vui suong voi den trong tay Em mua ca trong anh trang ram. Den ong sao voi den ca chep den thien nga voi den buom buom em ruoc den nay den cung trang. Den xanh lo voi den tim tim. Den xanh lam voi den trang trang Trong anh den ruc ro muon mau.

5. Enjoy mooncakes!

According to Yelp, Huy Ky Bakery is THE PLACE to buy your mooncakes. Looks like I will be making a trip down there.

Huy Ky Bakery

4550 University Ave.

San Diego, CA 92105

619-280-3242

If you are very brave, you can try to make your own mooncakes using this recipe from China Sichuan Food.

RunAwayRice also has great video tutorials on how to make snow skin mooncakes at home.

Vietnamese Sesame Ball Recipe with Pictures



Cooking Vietnamese food terrifies me. First of all, you know it's never going to taste as good as your mom's/grandma's. Second of all, the best recipes are "by taste" and neither my mom or Tuan's mom bother measuring with anything other than a pho spoon or rice bowl. Daunting right?

 

On New Years, my friend Casey came over armed with this recipe for sesame balls from the Ravenous Couple and all the ingredients needed to make these delicious balls of goodness. With the help of youtube, we managed to make our first batch and it turned out relatively well. Go grab your apron, I'm about to take you through the process.

 

 

Vietnamese Sesame Balls (Banh Cam)

recipe adapted from the Ravenous Couple

 

Ingredients

 

Filling

8 oz split peeled mung beans

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup warm water

3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

 

Dough

2 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cup sugar

16 oz bag glutinous rice flour

1 cup rice flour

2 tbs baking powder

2/3 cup mash potato flakes

 

Directions

 

Filling

1. Soak mung beans for 1 hour in warm water.

2. Steam until softened and easily smashed between finger tips (roughly 30 mins).

3. Dissolve sugar in  warm water.

4. Transfer cooled mung beans to mixing bowl and mash coarsely.

5. Add water sugar mix and coconut to mung beans and mix well. The texture should be like mashed potatoes.

6. Allow to cool and form into quarter size balls of mung bean. I put the mix into the fridge to speed up the cooling process.

 

Dough

1. Dissolve sugar in warm water.

2. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar water mix with potato flakes and stir to dissolve.

3. Add baking powder and stir to dissolve.

4. Add the two types of rice flour and mix together with hands to form a ball of dough. The dough should be wet play-dough consistency.

5. If the dough is too dry, add an extra 1/4 cup of water at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

6. Pinch off a golf ball sized piece of dough and form it into a ball. Flatten to a disk with the palm of your hands and thin out the edges to form a pancake. If the dough cracks at the edges it's too dry and you need to add more water.

7. Place filling in the center and fold dough edges together and seal seams by rough in the palm of your hands.

8. Rolls in a bowl of sesame seeds to cover immediately. Waiting to do this process will result in the dough drying out, making it difficult for the seeds to stick to the ball.

9. Cover loosely at room temperature and allow to rest for 1 hour.

10. After balls have rested, fry at 325 until balls are golden brown.

11. Remove from oil, drain and enjoy!



 



 

[Golden sesame balls!]

 

 

[Rolling the mung bean filling. Make sure it is completely cooled or you won't be able to form the balls. The size of your final sesame ball will depend on the size of your filling. I like mine on the smaller side so we made the filling balls smaller.]

 

[Mixing the dough by hand]

 

[Pinch off a piece to check the consistency of your dough]

 

 

[Parker watching me wrap the dough around the filling]

 

[It  was easiest to have someone standing by the roll the balls into sesame while I formed the balls. You don't want to stuck your dough-y hands in the sesame seeds.]

 

[We used vegetable oil and made sure the temp was at 325 before throwing the sessame balls in to fry.]