happy chinese new year/mardi gras/any other international holidays!

It's hard to believe that a year ago today I was coming home to Shanghai after a month-long trip around South East Asia. Oh, how times have changed!

Even though I'm no longer in China anymore, I still feel a deep connection with Chinese culture (as deep as a white girl from Cali can feel, at least) so I was really excited about Chinese New Year! I happened to be in San Francisco over the weekend so I got to see lots of red lanterns up on the streets...but sadly missed all the cool parades.

Anyway, these fortune cookie cupcakes would have been an awesome edition to my Chinese New Year festivities, which mostly included waking up after 10AM, not showering, and watching Hulu all afternoon. DO I KNOW HOW TO CELEBRATE, OR WHAT?!


Remember when I blogged about how to make fortune cookies? Ya, I didn't really remember it either...thank gawd for archives!! Here's a shot of a few of my handmade fortune cookies, in all their glory:


These were actually really, really good and as I mentioned in the original post, the almond extract adds a nice flavor that is absent from store-bought/Chinese restaurant fortune cookies. It wasn't a walk in the park making these puppies, but it was totally worth it in the end and I think they make a perfect gift to show someone how much you appreciate them. And they're delicious.

Oh also, it's Mardi Gras which normally would be exciting but sorta just...wasn't this year. Probably because I had a Mardi Dimanche and stuffed my face with--including, but not limited to--3 Anthony's cookies, 1 Sprinkles cupcake, and several slices of cheese pizza, and thus skipped bingeing on junk food for a second day in the same week.

Turns out, without the "Fat", Fat Tuesday is just...Tuesday.

Is anyone giving up anything for lent this year? I'm not because I'm a total badass.