Mooncakes and Lanterns

My mooncakes are here!!! Airflown from Malaysia.... Yummm. I opened my front door today and saw the big box of stuff from my mom including mooncakes sitting on the doorstep. Thanks mom!!! I know what I'm having for dessert tonight. I love mooncakes and perhaps the fact that you can only get them once a year makes them all the more special. BTW no, they are not the same as moonpies. So here's yummy foodie pictures of my mooncakes:

One of the boxes came with the cutest mooncake knife ever so I thought I'd show it here.

Mekayla's comments: "More cake. More cake. Yummy cake."

I remember as a kid, we'd celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and you always knew it was coming because there would be mooncakes in the stores and lanterns for sale. I used to think the best part were the lanterns (us kids would call it the Lantern Festival - what did we know?) but now it's the mooncakes. The lanterns would be made in various animal shapes. For some reason, I always wanted a nice big dragon (pre-Christian days of course). A pretty goldfish was also nice. They would be made of a wire frame wrapped with cellophane of various colors for the different body parts and detailed with paint (i.e. a goldfish would be made of orange cellophane and the scales, eyes and mouth would be painted on). In the center of the lantern would be a little candle holder where you could place a lit birthday candle. The top of the lantern would be attached to a wooden or bamboo stick by string.

So, on the night of the festival, dressed in our PJs (don't ask me why - I guess coz it was at night and late?), we would get our lanterns, have our parents carefully insert and light the candle, and carry it around the yard/neighborhood with the other kids. We'd compare lanterns and be really happy until..... your lantern burst into flames... Yes, people, our lanterns would sometimes burst into flames. You see, the cellophane used to make the lanterns is highly flammable. And the lanterns are not very sturdy. So, it was highly probably for the lantern to tip (as it bobbed around at the end of the stick) or the candle to fall over (if not probably inserted) resulting in this big lantern fireball that would completely freak any kid out, sending them into fits of traumatic screams and tears. These lanterns did not win any safety awards and would certainly never be allowed in the U.S. today.

If your lantern was spared so far, you'd feel sorry for the victim, console them briefly, go call a parent to deal with the fire and tears, then continue having fun with your lantern and the other kids, thankful that it did not happen to you... Yet... If you had the misfortune of having your lantern blow up in your face, then your lantern days were pretty much over till next year. You'd go home crying, feeling sorry for yourself and your pretty lantern that was. On the brighter side, there was always mooncake to eat when you got home.

As I got older, they came out with plastic battery-operated lanterns. But they never were the same as their hazardous, combustible counterparts. Even if they did last longer, they didn't come in as many pretty colors or shapes. So, no fun there.

I look back on this with fond memories (even though I've had a few combust on me in my days) and I hope that someday my girls get to experience this part of their culture. However, I must say that now, as a parent, the thought of a lantern igniting in their hands sends shivers down my spine. Perhaps I'll get Po Po (grandma) to send a couple of those battery-operated ones over.