Happy Mid-Autumn!

[Kenny]

It is the 6 October today on the Gregorian Calendar, but the 15 August on the Lunar Calendar, which is the day we Chinese mark the festival of Mid-Autumn.

Today is the day the moon is at its roundest, brightest, and most beautiful. Apparently, to celebrate this festivity, some people think it is a nice custom to carry lanterns, eat mooncakes, walk under the moonlight, recite poetry and drink Chinese tea. At least, that is so here in Singapore.

There is a legend that during a certain dynasty, some group of vigilante or soldiers or something wanted to overthrow the evil Emperor/government, and part of their scheme in accomplishing such a daunting task was to relay messages secretly through mooncakes; they achieved this by putting scrolls of messages in the mooncakes and giving them to each other as "gifts". If I remember correctly, they scheduled the major attack to be on the night when the moon was at its fullest and brightest i.e. on the 15 August of the Lunar Calendar. Hence why we eat mooncakes today.

15 August on the Gregorian calendar is the day we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" (Song of Songs 6:9.) It is She who has "the moon under her feet" (Apocalypse 12:2).

Happy Mid-Autumn!

[catheotimus]

Interesting, Kenny! Are these "mooncakes" made a particular way? Do you have a recipe?

Thanks,

Robin

[ChantCd]

It may be mid-Autumn, but it's still the middle of Summer here in south Texas!

 

Today was up to 94 degrees, and it will only hit 68 degrees tonight (middle of the night). Even the natural-minded/cheap have to run the A/C.

 

If I still lived in Illinois, I'd probably only have the A/C on 3 days a year. That's because it has to hit 90 before I even consider A/C.

 

Matthew

 

[Kenny]

Interesting, Kenny! Are these "mooncakes" made a particular way? Do you have a recipe?

Thanks,

Robin

I'm afraid I don't have the recipes, but no worries! I found a couple of useful links:

http://countrylife.net/pages/recipes/782.html

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodfestivals/r/mooncakes.htm

Mooncakes are traditionally round in shape, for pretty obvious reasons.

If you really try to make them, I hope you have fun and they turn out a success!

[Kenny]

It may be mid-Autumn, but it's still the middle of Summer here in south Texas!

Today was up to 94 degrees, and it will only hit 68 degrees tonight (middle of the night). Even the natural-minded/cheap have to run the A/C.

If I still lived in Illinois, I'd probably only have the A/C on 3 days a year. That's because it has to hit 90 before I even consider A/C.

Matthew

Here in Singapore it is mid-summer all year round! Temperature ranges from 75 degrees Fahrenheit to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, from January to December.