The Year of the Rabbit

My friend Elaine is one of the coolest people I know. Seriously. I know people say that about their friends, but Elaine is really cool. She is super intelligent, gorgeous, fun, great to talk to, knows lots about "scenes", and is able to get people with lots of different perspectives and personalities to convene for traditional Lunar New Year fare on a Thursday night where we discussed food, culture, and the significance of both. If you don't know Elaine, stop telling people that your friends are cool. You need the authentic experience before you can make false claims.

As I mentioned, Elaine hosted a gathering to celebrate the "Lunar New Year," which I always called "Chinese New Year," but apparently that's not politically correct. See, she's cool, I never would have learned this if it wasn't for the discussion taking place at dinner. She cooked up a ton of dishes that were traditional and delicious. I hope to post one of her recipes here at a later date once I get to debrief with her. :-)

Here she is debriefing us quickly on what everything is before we eat!



The night was casual, we sat around a huge short table (which we were informed was one of her roommates' "kid's table" during family gatherings as a child. Kinda cool. But by this point, you shouldn't be surprised.) eating delicious food and drinking wine.
The cuisine was full of flavor. See all the happy faces, and Elaine hiding how tired she MUST be!



No complaints here either...



For dessert, since I know nothing about real Chinese food whatsoever, I whipped up a batch of Mexican Chocolate Cookies, an idea inspired by the spices of cinnamon, cayenne, and chili powder I've had mixed in Mexican chocolates and drinking chocolates. I had my first mexican chocolate, chili, and cherry bar this last summer. So good. These cookies turned out delicious. Light, fluffy, and spiced, with the chocolate flavor providing undertones of deep, earthy flavor. Perfect for sharing with friends who love to talk about food!

Mexican Chocolate Cookies

for the dough:
1 cup of flour (a little extra for sprinkling if your dough appears too sticky)
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp of cayenne or chile powder (Cayenne is the spicier powder. Use the one that best suits your tastes)
3/4 cup of sugar
A pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 stick of softened butter
1 egg

for rolling the dough in:

1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chile powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl mix your dry ingredients together. In a large bowl use an electric mixer *or prepare to get an arm workout and cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. It should be a pale yellow color. Add the eggs to your wet ingredient bowl and beat in, then slowly combine in your dry ingredients. I recommend folding in about 1/4 of the dry ingredients at a time.

Mix your rolling sugar, cinnamon and chile powder together in a small bowl or on a small plate. Roll a generous tablespoon into a the sugar and spice mixture and press down to form a small disc. Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for 10 minutes leaving room for the cookies to spread. Let cool on wire racks before storing, or enjoy warm *that's how I found them to be best.