For Chinese New Year I decided to make traditional potstickers from scratch including the wrap. It turned out delicious. My sister Helen pulled the dough recipe off the internet. This is my only contribution for the event. It really is a lot of work to roll your own wrap but it really is so much more delicious this way. Since Chinese New Year come only once a year, it's alright to spend three hours rolling dough.
Potstickers symbolize gold nuggets. It is a tradition to say good wishes as you stuff the wrap with stuffing. I'd say it's the original fortune cookie. The way it's done is you are suppose to do this in a large group and everyone puts in collective good wishes into the stuffing.
It's not Chinese New Year without the Red Envelopes. I like collecting these envelopes. Some have pop outs, some have pull outs, some have both and some are just very beautiful and cute. They all have verses of good wishes on them. As you receive a red envelope you are to respond with a good wish for the giver or a blessing. My little nieces and nephew whose age range from 2 to 12 said, "I hope you don't go bankrupt this year. I hope you make lots of friends. Hope you get lots of kisses and hugs." after running out of all the few lines of Chinese they knew they switched to creative but genuine honest wishes.
