On the 15th day of the 8th Chinese month each year, the Chinese Moon Festival is celebrated. (That means Sept 25 for people like me.) Princess and our family will celebrate with other adoptive families tomorrow night. Moon worship was known to have existed in China about 4000 years ago, and for centuries there have been stories of the lady who flew to the moon and now lives there - Chang Er. It's a time to celebrate togetherness and abundance. Moon cakes are the favorite food and should be eaten under the fullness of the moon.
The last few nights in NC have been very clear, and that big harvest moon has been shining brightly - my favorite time of the year.
Here is a recipe for Moon Cakes from www.dltk-kids.com
Easy Chinese Moon CakesIngredients: • 1/4 cup sugar • 2 egg yolks • 1/2 cup salted butter • 1 cup all-purpose flour • 1 cup strawberry (or your favorite) jam (traditionally red bean paste is used so if you want a more authentic version, you can use a can of red bean paste instead of the jam).Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 2. Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk and stir. 3. Mix in the flour. 4. Form the dough into one large ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. 5. Refrigerate dough for half an hour. 6. Unwrap the chilled dough and form small balls in the palms of your hand. 7. Make a hole with your thumb in the center of each mooncake and fill with about half a teaspoon of jam. 8. Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet. (We didn't have a brush to do this, so skipped the brushing step) 9. Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown 10. Makes 24
To make them look a little more authentic, brush diluted red food dye on the top of the cookies or mark a Chinese character on the top. Have fun!
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