A Chinese New Year Party for my Editorial Team
Perhaps you read Kevin Sharkey’s blog recently about his Chinese New Year party. Kevin decorated his apartment in a Chinese theme with inexpensive finds from Pearl River in the Soho section of Manhattan. When Kevin told me how much fun this party was, I asked him if I, too, might host a Chinese New Year party in his already decorated apartment for the editorial team of my magazine. To prepare the meal, I enlisted Chef Pierre Schaedelin, of course, and my long-time housekeeper, Lily Mei. The two of them shopped for authentic ingredients in Chinatown and got busy making a real authentic Chinese feast.
According to the Chinese Zodiac, which is made up of twelve different animals, the Year of 2011 is the Year of the Golden Rabbit. The rabbit is considered a lucky sign that represents quiet and calm, which is a relief following last year, the Year of the Tiger, a courageous and fiery fighter. Happy Chinese New Year!
1 The entryway to Kevin's apartment
2 Kevin's spacious living room overlooking the Hudson River
3 This giant split leaf philodendron loves the sun exposure.
4 A view of a pier turned into a park with Jersey City, NJ beyond.
5 And the view from the other side of the apartment - the Empire State Building.
6 There was a giant bowl of fortune cookies, a platter of pistachio nuts, and vibrant kumquats and mandarin oranges.
7 Boiled peanuts with a spicy ginger dipping sauce
8 Party favors included Chinese yo-yos and folding fans.
9 Pussy willows adorned this side table.
10 And flowering branches
11 Kevin found great inexpensive ceramic figurines in Chinatown.
12 A great dragon
13 Paper lanterns were suspended from the ceiling using mono-filament and 3M Command Decorating Strips.
14 Kevin's monogrammed linen napkins
15 More kumquats
16 A decorative mandarin bonsai
17 Pierre and Lily shopped in Chinatown for many ingredients, such as these Chinese greens.
18 Blanching Pak choy
19 And Chinese broccoli
20 Slicing braised beef top-round seasoned with Chinese 5-spice powder
21 Authentic Chinese sausage
22 The beef and sausage was arranged on a platter along with Peking duck and hoisin sauce.
23 More authentic ingredients - chopped ginger root
24 Fragrant cilantro
25 Crisp scallions
26 Lily about to blanch Chinese chives
27 Plunging them into boiling water
28 Followed by a cold water bath to stop their cooking - Lily knotted the blanched chives into a figure eight.
29 A close up
30 Quail eggs purchased in Chinatown were hard boiled.
31 Lily sliced a bit of the white of the egg to make rabbit ears.
32 The little rabbits were placed upon the chive knots - An adorable presentation for the year of The Golden Rabbit.
33 Dipping sauce for dumplings
34 Evening arrived and the ambiance was set.
35 To avoid frying the spring rolls, Pierre opted to pan-sear them and then crisped them in the oven.
36 The spring rolls were fantastic!
37 Lily made shrimp, pork, and vegetable dumplings.
38 Right before guests arrived, the dumplings were boiled.
39 For the Chinese soup, Pierre made oblong chicken dumplings.
40 The completed soup - a rich chicken broth with bamboo shoots, pea shoots, Chinese mushrooms, and the dumplings
41 A well-stocked refrigerator for a party, at least
42 At 7PM, the first guests arrived.
43 It's so nice meeting with co-workers outside of work.
44 A relaxed and casual affair
45 I thought the soup was so, so delicious!
46 Jennifer Morgan helped Pierre serve the food.
47 The dumplings were fabulous!
48 As was the Chinese roast pork and pork belly.
49 And the tilapia fillets pan-seared and drizzled with a sweet and sour sauce
50 A colorful and healthful platter of assorted Chinese greens and shitake mushrooms
51 Dessert was so simple - grapefruit and orange slices topped with homemade lychee sorbet.
52 Lily and Pierre were so happy with such a successful party!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
The food looks delicious and everyone seems to be having fun.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | February 11th, 2011 at 12:33 am
Chinese new year is one of my favorite holidays! The color and vibrancy of everything! http://www.themalemartha.com This year is the Golden bunny. You can see golden bunny statues all over china town! The food looked fantastic... Your so lucky to have a chinese cook!
Dan Viger
Hollis Center, Maine.
Posted by: Dan Viger | February 11th, 2011 at 12:35 am
The food looks so delicious and authentic!!! And the decor is inspiring!!!
Posted by: Ellen | February 11th, 2011 at 12:59 am
Hi Kevin. Please settle a debate I have with my mother. She raised us to not wear shoes in the house. Even guests weren't allowed. I am so accustomed to living this way, that I have NEVER allowed shoes in my own house--NOT even when I have a party and friends come over or neighbors drop by. However, I always offer an array of brand new spa slippers in packages, so if they don't want to walk barefoot, people are comfortable. I throw them out later. So, my mother (Mrs. No Shoes in her youth) now tells me that it is utterly rude to make guests remove their shoes for a party! She is getting old & I wonder if she's forgotten she's responsible for my aversion to dirt, germs, salt, and snow on footwear. Is it really so rude? Thanks!
Posted by: memmy | February 11th, 2011 at 4:09 am
Dear Martha, thank you for sharing this. Your idea of having a Chinese New Year celebration is so much inspirition to me, a Chinese home cook. I've been your fan for more than 10 years, and love everything you do, cooking, crafting, gardening..., and the most important, your attitude towards life. Thank you so very much! Have a great year of Golden Rabbit!
Posted by: Liping Wu | February 11th, 2011 at 4:15 am
The party looks wonderful. I had seen the pictures on Kevin's blog and I loved everything about it. The lanterns looked great and of course the food made me feel really hungry! Well done Pierre and Lily.
Posted by: Perfecting Pru | February 11th, 2011 at 4:39 am
Hi!
Looks like a fabulous evening.
Just wondering who is the artist of the black & white paintings in Kevin's lounge room?
Thank you
Posted by: Janelle | February 11th, 2011 at 5:27 am
Where in NYC can I get napkins custom monogrammed?
Posted by: liz | February 11th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Martha, what a great idea. The party looked like lots of fun. Thanks for sharing it with us. Hope your day is great.
Posted by: KLBrown | February 11th, 2011 at 9:18 am
Hi Martha, These photos of Kevin's beautiful apartment are absolutely stunning! What a delightful party that must have been for your editors to attend. They all look so relaxed and happy. How nice to have Pierre and Lily make that fantastic dinner. They looked extremely happy and I'll bet they had fun, too! Martha, you are so kind to your wonderful MSLO team! No wonder they all look so happy! Great TV Show again yesterday with all of those beautiful lips! You make holidays so much fun! Thanks again for sharing! Have a great day and a wonderful weekend! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | February 11th, 2011 at 11:07 am
At last! Something has been cooked in Kevin's kitchen!!!
Posted by: Christian / @vfbr2001 | February 11th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Great photos to inspire us.. Loved the 60s show, I have been enjoying Makers Mark Manhattan since seeing play at Guthrie of Louise Erdrich's book Master Butchers Singing Club..Even in Minneapolis, I put on my vintage mink and go 'out'to the theater and that old dimmer switch still works at our ranch.
Posted by: ann | February 11th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Hi Martha,
I bet your parties are fun! The food always looks good! Trish
Posted by: Trish @Trish_EllenC | February 11th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Wonderful ambience...great decor and beautiful foods! Now i plan to cook my spring rolls 'Pierre' style...what a good idea...and better than all that frying.
Posted by: sherey | February 11th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Aside from the gorgeous photo of the bonzai Mandarin oranges, I think my favorite picture throughout this whole collection were the candid shots of the guests, including the young man sitting on the floor (sans shoes) and Martha sipping her soup from the bowl.
Posted by: Gregory Patrick | February 11th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Oh thanks for the beautiful photos. I loved looking at all the different foods. I have never tried any of those. Would love to know how to cook all of that so I will be working and googling chinese recipes for the next while. It looks like very healthy food.
Posted by: Frances | February 11th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Gorgeous! Those rabbit eggs! They are rabbits right? Ingenious!
Posted by: Annette Frey | February 11th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Loved the pictures and the night shot--I'd never leave--just face the river for days on end. The party looked fabulous--such lucky guests.
Posted by: Marilyn McCall | February 11th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
The boiled egg bunnies were adorable! My daughter was born in the year of the rabbit (12 next month), so I am going to try to emulate Lily's technique and surprise her with some boiled egg bunnies of her own. It is obvious from the pics that Lily and Pierre are skilled chefs.
Posted by: Susan | February 11th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
The mandarin bonsai was incredible! Love it!
Posted by: R. | February 12th, 2011 at 9:40 am
I LOVE your display of food and how I wished I could make nice dumplings like yours. Thank you for sharing Lily and Pierre. XIN NIAN XIAO HA HA!
Posted by: Adelene | February 12th, 2011 at 9:56 am
Gorgeous photos of Kevin's apt and Chinese new year setting. Everything looks amazingly beautiful and the menu is amazing. Kevin is amazing love his blog and work, so inspiring.
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | February 12th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Kevin's home is simply FABulous, and what a wonderful party you were able to throw for your staff - at his already-decorated-for-the-theme apartment!
I just had to log on today to your blog and share some tho'ts and recent happenings and - basically, tell you (and everyone else - I see some new blogging names today!) how much I've missed you! No, no...there's nothing wrong...I haven't been sick or felt any negativity - I just haven't had the time-availability that I once had when I was posting daily. What bro't me back to you today is the following that happened yesterday:
I was able to indulge in some kitchen gadgetry yesterday - MS kitchen gadgetry, that is(!), in our local Macy's. I had "window" shopped earlier in the week and decided I was going to treat myself to a few things yesterday. What was simply charming about my shopping trip yesterday was that I spotted another woman perusing each and every "Martha" item, just as I had done earlier in the week. (Seriously! - I know I spent nearly an hour this past Monday in the "Martha" kitchen section, that had to be only a small number of square footage!) What WAS my realization was that she was of another generation than myself - I am forty-somethingish, and she looked to be sixtyish or in her early seventies. I KNEW I had to say something to her, and I kept spying over at her, to catch her eye and perhaps strike up a conversation. Well, finally I got my chance and told her I just had to ask her if she was a Martha-fan. She replied, "oh, yes!", and I told her I was, too! I told her how neat it was that multi-generations had admiration for you, which brings us ALL together, no matter our ages. As I was speaking to her, I realized that in my heart I felt like you were a personal friend, and I knew you well. I also knew that I'd been "away" - from being away from your and the girls' blog (TDW) - and I r-e-a-l-l-y missed you and your extended family (Eliad, sisterLaura, etc)!
I send you my utmost admiration today and my undying love - as I always had - and without hesitation for seeming like a weirdo or some goofball in your/others' eyes for writing the words for others to see. I know in my heart that in knowing you, YOU have enabled me to live my life fully and joyfully and have a home that I never want to leave!
My heart is so full!...
=^..^=
Posted by: Cindy Bricker =^..^= | February 12th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Everything looks fantastic! The food was definitely inspired. I'm sure everyone enjoyed themselves immensely!
Posted by: Faith from OrdinaryMommy | February 12th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
This looks just amazing - what a fantastic display, it really 'transports' you!
Posted by: spider flower | February 13th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
I am sure everything was perfect and a success. I just would like to know: was all the food prepared in Kevin's kitchen, where were the dishes, food and supplies stored AND who did the dishes. I hope Kevin did not have a melt down. I would have trying to keep all things perfect. I remember his blogs on preparing for his own house warming party.
Good job Kev.
Posted by: Margie | February 13th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
What a nice apartment & all enjoyed the party! I used to visit your website & just knew that you got a blog. And would like to share with you about the Chinese New Year. The theme color of the festival is red, which represents luck, happiness, prosperity, etc. So almost everything is red, like red packets, calligraphy in red paper. Even the young generation still follow the tradition. People decorate home in red/golden color & will dress in bright colors during Chinese New Year. Although Chinese do wear white wedding gowns, it is a taboo to put white lanterns in CNY which are used in special occasions.
The presentation of food is great. I like braised beef, kuamquats & dessert the most!
Posted by: chacha | February 18th, 2011 at 4:19 pm