Happy Chinese New Year with Rabbit Biscuits, and a bit of the South Island

Happy Chinese New Year to all. After the rabbit sushi and the sugar bunnies I made some rabbit biscuits and iced them :-).

Quick post today, I'll just show you some images from the South Island, we travelled by car from Christchurch to take the ferry to go to Wellington. It was a lovely day and a beautiful drive.

Kaikoura

Can you see the seals on the rocks?

Marlborough (wine country)

Picton

On the ferry to the North Island

The Queen Charlotte Sound

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

More Ideas for the Year of the Rabbit: Sushi Rabbits

The New Year is approaching and I got into this 'rabbit' mood... Actually, for me New Years is more important that Xmas, being inclined towards Buddhism and Eastern Cultures. And then, let's admit it, I love playing with my food, and my kids!

To make the sushi rice you can follow the recipe here. I have a Sushi rabbit stamp from Japan, but you can also use a cookie cutter, if you have one (maybe among your Easter's stuff?).

I have to say that the sushi rabbits looked really nice and stylish even plain! I would have them plain for a more 'formal' dinner :-). But today we have little faces: I used borage flowers, cucumber, chives, takuan, (Japanese pickled daikon), Ume (Japanese pickled plum), and black sesame seeds.

And then it was my daughter's turn, and she also used some tiny basil leaves. We had so much fun making these, and I hope that you like the idea!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Year of the Rabbit Decorations: Sugar Bunnies

Next year will be the year of the Rabbit: a very important year for our family as my daughter is a rabbit! I made some little bunnies, the white one is made with fondant, and the cream bunny is made with marzipan.

To show you the sizes I put a cherry next to them :-). I thought I did a pretty good job, and them my daughter showed me the rabbit she had made...

What do you think? Isn't it cute!!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

The year of the Rabbit, Nengajo and Xmas labels

Around this time of the year I take out my Japanese stamps to make Nengajo (Japanese New Year Greeting Cards).

Next year will be the year of the rabbit, and in Japan it starts from January 1st (unlike China, when it usually starts around February).

This year I thought of using the rabbit stamps to also make labels for the Christmas presents, something different from having Santas and Holly!

They came out quite well, with a home-made but stylish look. The first went on the Rose liqueur bottle I posted yesterday :-).

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©