2012: Welcome the kitchen god

My first big event of 2012 will be a trip to China. Secret Agent Man has been "working" there for the past six months and as the end of his "project" is nearing, he will be bringing me along for his last "visit."

In preparation for my big trip I've been doing a little research on Chinese culture. I came across this interesting Chinese New Year tradition.

The Kitchen God is assigned by Yu Huang, the emperor of heaven, to watch over each family and record what they do throughout the year. A paper picture of the Kitchen God is hung in a prominent location in the kitchen.

Each year during Chinese New Year, the Kitchen God returns to heaven to report on what the family has done throughout the year.

The family has a thank you dinner in which a bowl of sticky rice is placed in front of the Kitchen God. It is believed that if the Kitchen God’s mouth is full of glutinous rice, he will not be able speak about the family’s activities. Others give glutinous rice balls served in sugar soup and brown sugar bars as a bribe for the Kitchen God to say favorable things about the family.

After the thank you dinner, the picture of the Kitchen God is burned and thereby sent back to heaven. A new picture of the Kitchen God is hung in the kitchen after the start of Chinese New Year festivities.

Chinese New Year begins on January 23rd this year. It will be the year of the dragon.

I look forward to my first souvenir outing which will include a hunt for my very own kitchen god. I'm going to find an amiable one so he won't tattle on us that we keep leftovers for too long and we sometimes leave dirty dishes in the sink over night. Doh!