TEACHING ICE CREAM MAKING FOR THE NEW YEAR


Cathy wanted to do something special for her daughter's preschool class to teach them about Chinese culture for the Lunar New Year. After she found out that the Chinese were actually the first to invent ice cream, she invited me to teach a lesson on ice cream making at York Preschool on the Upper East Side.

Preschoolers are so funny. I asked them what was in ice cream and one kid replied, "ice". Man, I love kids!

All the kids had a blast because we were able to make our own red bean ice cream! At first they were a little grossed out that we were making ice cream with actually beans but in the end it grew on them.

Surprisingly, most of them were adventerous enough to also try things like the taro, green tea, and lychee.

It was a real treat for me because I do miss teaching and being in the classroom again.

HOLIDAYS FOR FAMILY BUSINESSES

People in small business say that "holidays for others are not holidays for us". Many businesses do a bulk of their sales during the holidays. Family businesses have to especially work hard because during days like Chinese New Year, many people prefer to have off.

What was our Chinese New Year like? At CICF we were definitely understaffed and insanely busy. We don't get a chance to take it easy because we are so busy preparing the ice cream and the cakes all week long. Everything we do here at CICF comes with a lot of TLC and hard work.

Today me and dad headed to work extra early to prepare for the New Year. Dad bought some dim sum and coffee for us and our employees. This was our "Chinese New Year lunch". It was still great though, but it's different from the typical homemade the meals that we just did not have time to fit in our schedules. Our business operates like a small family so it's still very special during the holidays.

Dinner was of course from our neighbor Moonhouse Restaurant. They were so packed that we had to get our orders to go. My friend Jeanie and her mom always put a lot of TLC in their food so our New Year's Dinner was special none the less. Me and Jeanie have a barter system going on...she trades her food with my ice cream; this way we are always guaranteed meals with dessert.

I have scooped ice cream and decorated cakes for almost 18 consecutive hours. It was definitely a busy but good new year. Gung Hey Fat Choi and Good Night! This blogger needs to catch her zzzs.