my rabbit can kick your butt

The Chinese New Year celebration begins today so...

新 年 快 乐.

The following is from Simple Recipes, Elise Bauer’s recipe blog, in a write up about Three Teacup Chicken in honor of the Chinese New Year…

“2011 is the Year of the Rabbit (兔) which is a welcome thing after the previous wild and somewhat ferocious Year of the Tiger (虎). The rabbit is probably the most delicate animal of the Chinese zodiac and those born under rabbit years (1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011) are reserved, good natured, compassionate, and artistic, though perhaps a bit absentminded and superficial. The Rabbit, being a such a good friend, also likes to prepare food for people. This is especially true come Chinese New Year.”

I really put no credence in the zodiac, or any kind of astrology for that matter, but from a purely entertainment standpoint, it can be fun. I was born in the year of the Rabbit and while I take exception to the “superficial” (and maybe the “absentminded” one too) characteristic listed above, I think the other ones do describe me.

I have childhood memories of eating out with my family at “real” Chinese restaurants in New York City, well before the advent of our present mega Chinese buffets.  No matter which restaurant or how nice it was, there were always a few things you could count on… you would drink hot tea served in little white, handle-less cups, everyone who worked in the restaurant spoke English as a second language (if you were lucky) and the table would always be set with paper placemats with the dates for Chinese New Year and the year's presiding animal zodiac. My brothers and I would pour over the placements and have whole conversations about whose animal was better… like somehow we actually were those animals. (As I said, I am a Rabbit, Phil was a Snake and John's a Sheep. My two sisters were either not born yet or too young to play along, but to be fair, they are a Dog and a Tiger.) We didn’t eat out often, so the outings were memorable in themselves, but more special are the memories they provided. (Who would have guessed?)