Chinese Food Cart

Seems like social media is all abuzz about Chinese New Year and the excitement is contagious. This year, I’m giddy to say we will be in Taiwan for the holiday festivities. While everyone is preparing with decorations and cooking, I am teaching my kids the characters for our favorite foods by creating a Chinese food cart. We are a family that LOVES to eat! My 4 year old dreams of owning a food truck, though the Chinese mom in me hopes that’s just his hobby paid for by his high paying corporate gig!

Lately son has been pushing back on learning Chinese. I understand this is common with children when they start preschool. It’s time consuming coming up with ways to get him interested again. I did tell him if he learned these menu items he would be able to eat whatever he could read himself. Of course the first characters from the menu he learned is 剉冰 (Taiwanese Shaved Ice)! He says, “oh mommy, I know that. It’s your favorite!”. Yes son, it is indeed!

There is a lot of Japanese influence in Taiwan which is why I decided on the Izakaya style hanging menu and paper lantern. It’s a common theme seen at many eateries. The menu items were printed on standard printer paper, then glued to wood grain printed scrap-booking paper you can find at your local hobby store. Total cost came to $3 for the paper, but my grocery bill has increased because I’m now hungry all the time.

I’d love to see how everyone else is preparing for Chinese New Year!