tuen ng what?
so, being the true cbc that i am, i really have no idea what all these different chinese holidays are for. so today, i finally took advantage of this age of free information (and wireless in my house) and tried to find out why we have such a random day off in the middle of the week.
legend has it that a wise, honest government official by the name of chu yuan, who was also very loyal and dedicated to his state and king, was the man behind all the fuss. there are variously versions of the story, but it all surrounds his suicide by jumping into the river mi lo (that's mee loh, not milo the hot chocolatey beverage to those from down undah). he was also apparently a pretty good wordsmith, and there was some controversy about a poem he wrote about a king.... anyway, those who loved him were so grieved by his suicide that they raced out into the river on boats in an attempt to save him. hence, the dragon boat races.
i suppose after they realized that death-by-river was unavoidable, these loyal followers of his threw rice into the ocean in hopes of warding off any predatorial fish and turtles, thus preserving his body for as long as possible. another story says that the rice was actually a food offering for chu yuan, but the fish and turtles kept eating it all before his deseased body could get to them, so his spirit appeared to them one night and politely asked them to wrap the rice in bamboo leaves (or silk, depending on which story you listen to) and tie them with colored string. this way, those nasty fish and turtles would not be able to eat the rice because of their lack of opposable thumb action. hence, the zhong that chinese love to eat.
fascinating, isn't it? ok. history lesson over.
* * *
so derek tried to bake another loaf of bread today. yesterday's loaf, a cheese herb bread, turned out pretty good. today he tried (i am still not allowed to partake in this activity yet) to make plain white bread, and for some reason the dough just didn't get mixed properly. a lot of flour ended up being stuck to the bottom, so the loaf ended up being a bit too wet and really dense. bakers out there, does anyone know why this happened?! how do we fix it??
and while i've got the attention of bakers, i would LOVE your help!! we are looking for anyone who would like to 'donate' some (as much as you like) baked goods like cookies, muffins, cupcakes, bars or other goodies for a fundraiser!! yes, we are doing the good ol' bake sale to raise money for our team of 6 to go to the thailand/burma border to work with refugees. for more info about why we're going, please refer to the BURMA links in the may 17 post below... let me know if you can help!! i'll probably be bombing you with emails soon anyway....
so, being the true cbc that i am, i really have no idea what all these different chinese holidays are for. so today, i finally took advantage of this age of free information (and wireless in my house) and tried to find out why we have such a random day off in the middle of the week.
legend has it that a wise, honest government official by the name of chu yuan, who was also very loyal and dedicated to his state and king, was the man behind all the fuss. there are variously versions of the story, but it all surrounds his suicide by jumping into the river mi lo (that's mee loh, not milo the hot chocolatey beverage to those from down undah). he was also apparently a pretty good wordsmith, and there was some controversy about a poem he wrote about a king.... anyway, those who loved him were so grieved by his suicide that they raced out into the river on boats in an attempt to save him. hence, the dragon boat races.
i suppose after they realized that death-by-river was unavoidable, these loyal followers of his threw rice into the ocean in hopes of warding off any predatorial fish and turtles, thus preserving his body for as long as possible. another story says that the rice was actually a food offering for chu yuan, but the fish and turtles kept eating it all before his deseased body could get to them, so his spirit appeared to them one night and politely asked them to wrap the rice in bamboo leaves (or silk, depending on which story you listen to) and tie them with colored string. this way, those nasty fish and turtles would not be able to eat the rice because of their lack of opposable thumb action. hence, the zhong that chinese love to eat.
fascinating, isn't it? ok. history lesson over.
* * *
so derek tried to bake another loaf of bread today. yesterday's loaf, a cheese herb bread, turned out pretty good. today he tried (i am still not allowed to partake in this activity yet) to make plain white bread, and for some reason the dough just didn't get mixed properly. a lot of flour ended up being stuck to the bottom, so the loaf ended up being a bit too wet and really dense. bakers out there, does anyone know why this happened?! how do we fix it??
and while i've got the attention of bakers, i would LOVE your help!! we are looking for anyone who would like to 'donate' some (as much as you like) baked goods like cookies, muffins, cupcakes, bars or other goodies for a fundraiser!! yes, we are doing the good ol' bake sale to raise money for our team of 6 to go to the thailand/burma border to work with refugees. for more info about why we're going, please refer to the BURMA links in the may 17 post below... let me know if you can help!! i'll probably be bombing you with emails soon anyway....
posted by jana* at 5:23 PM
