Making Dumplings

A few weeks ago we had one of our Chinese co-teachers, Ciel, and her boyfriend (whose English name alternates between Stone and Codi (y?)), over to cook. We spent over four hours learning how to make and then making pumpkin dumplings, egg and chive dumplings, and a few other Chinese dishes (including sugary sweet yam "fries"...amazing). It took us a while to get the hang of the art of jiaozi dumpling making...but after about 30 tries resulting in some messy/ugly dumplings (okay I'm exaggerating...maybe 10) we finally started getting some positive feedback from Ciel and Stone/Codi. After four hours we had made almost 100 dumplings completely from scratch (aren't you impressed, Moms?)! After Stone/Codi quickly boiled the dumplings we were ready to enjoy the result of all our hard work. It was well worth it! It was arguably the best meal we've had since we've been here. While we ate we shared some very interesting conversation with our guests. They were very honest and open about the pressure young people in China feel to get married and start a family young. They spoke of the expectation to live with your parents throughout your whole life, and the expectation to be completely committed to your family. We're hoping to have them over again before we come back to the states in 5 weeks(!) so that we can be able to make them for you when we come visit!