schloo:

13 February: Sesame balls

Yesterday, we woke up to a message on our answering machine.  It was my aunt, calling from my grandma’s house: “Cooooome and get it!”  In our family, on Chinese New Year’s Eve that means one thing: freshly homemade sesame balls!

My family benefits from the many years that my grandparents owned a shop in Chinatown.  At New Year’s Eve, people used to line up down the block to pick up their goodies from our shop.  My 7-year-old self sometimes helped decorate some of the packages but now I wonder if they ever actually sold any of mine, or just let me help to keep me busy…

Anyhow, now that my grandma’s retired, I have her sesame ball-making skills ALL TO MYSELF! MWA HA HA!

Yum.

Oh, hey! Out of curiosity, where in Chinatown was your shop? Our family used to get goods from one frequently, but they closed down awhile ago because—according to my aunt who talked to the owners—nobody in their family wanted to carry on in the business. That made me sad. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the shop off the top of my head.