Happy Lunar New Year, everybody!
Today, across Asia, families will gather to ring in the Lunar New Year (the New Year as determined by the start of the Lunar calendar), called Seollal in Korea.
At the heart of this 3+ day celebration is family. Families gather to pay tribute to their elders and their ancestors. A common tradition is for members of the younger generation bow to their elders, a ritual called Sebae, after which the children receive cash gifts from the elders, intended to bring good luck and fortune in the new year.
The family typically sits down to a big meal of ddukguk, a warm, comforting meal of broth filled with fat dumplings and chewy rice cakes, topped with roasted seaweed and slivers of fried egg. (Can you tell what part of Lunar New Year we're most enthusiastic about?)
Even though Korean cuisine doesn't have much in the way of sweets or dessert, the Lunar New Year is a special occasion for a unique iteration of rice cake that's stuffed with crushed sesame seeds (or nuts), honey, steamed, and then served slick with sesame oil. If your family is really old school, the girls will get dressed up in their hanbok, Korean traditional dress made of raw silk, usually patterned with fine embroidery and a medley of bright colors.
The New Year is also marked by the shift in the zodiac—each year is represented by one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac story, which was adopted by the Koreans as well. 2016 is the year of the monkey!
The celebration of the New Year, whether Lunar or otherwise, is a time filled with hope for luck and prosperity in the year to come. However, not all of us have Korean families to go home to and eat ddukguk with so, here at Peach & Lily, we're opening up the holiday for some loose interpretation.
If you’ve fallen off the wagon a bit with some of your January resolutions, the Lunar New Year presents a perfect opportunity to hit refresh. In that vein, and in celebration, we are offering a rejuvenating gift (M Line From Mizon’s Vita Lemon Sparkling Powder) with all orders over $25.00 placed today, 2/8, until 11:59 PM EST. If you’ve never tried a sparkling mask, now’s the perfect opportunity to try another luxe quickie K-beauty treatment (we’ve all tried sheet masks by now, yes!?), so why not start the new year with another simple indulgence.
Cheers!
Peach & Lily
