Dumplings!

Do you know how to make Chinese dumplings?  Called "jiaozi" in northern China, they are traditionally eaten in the winter, especially for the New Year's celebration.  Dumplings can be stuffed with a variety of meat/vegetable/egg fillings.  Our little ones have been gearing up for the New Year by learning the fine art of making dumplings, and they are happy to share what they have learned with you!

First, you start by making the wrappers.  These are a simple flour + warm water dough.  

Once that is all mixed up, you can let it rest while you turn your attention to the fillings.  We had a lot of fun chopping carrots!

Then, we laid out all of our different ingredients and mixed up the dumpling fillings - so many options to choose from - corn, carrots, chicken, pork, onion and a little soy for flavor!

Each of our little ones got to choose the best combination of ingredients for their special dumplings:

After the fillings are ready, it's time to finish preparing the wrappers.  The dough must be kneaded, and then cut into small pieces and rolled out:

And then the fun part - filling the wrappers, and carefully crimping them closed:

After that, they can be boiled, steamed or fried up as potstickers.  No matter how you cook them, they are delicious!