Happy Chinese New Year and Ground Hog Days Eve! let's consider this day a reset of sorts. We kind of started the new Year off on a sour note with another spike in the Covid conundrum. Let's mark this day not only as a testament to Spring, but also as a NEW start to the year! First things first, what is this ground hogs day? How can we celebrate it with food & fun? I'm thinking we can likely integrate this with the Chinese New Year to make it fun!
Groundhog Day; is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutchsuperstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. Due to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Time Zone, Shubenacadie Sam makes the first Groundhog Day prediction in North America.[80] "Daks Day" (from the German dachs) is Groundhog Day in the dialect of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
In French Canada, where the day is known as Jour de la marmotte, Fred la marmotte of Val-d'Espoir has been the representative forecaster for the province of Quebec since 2009. A study also shows that in Quebec, the marmot or groundhog (siffleux) are regarded as Candlemas weather-predicting beasts in some scattered spots, but the bear is the more usual animal.
Wiarton Willie forecasts annually from Wiarton, Ontario.
Balzac Billy is the "Prairie Prognosticator", a man-sized groundhog mascot who prognosticates weather on Groundhog Day from Balzac, Alberta.
Nanaimo a ferry port city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada present Chopper, Marlu, and Van Isle Violet, all wild Vancouver Island marmots, for forecasts, via the Marmot Recovery Foundation.
Enough said about that, now for a recipe! Some of you maybe revolted by the idea of hunting and then cooking a groundhog, and that's fine. Substitute your favorite protein of choice! Additionally, I did mention something about Chinese New Year, and how you might entertain both events. Easy peasy. Simply add some Asian inspired influence to the stew, or even use a ground meat version to make dumplings. In a previous blog about Chines NY, I mentioned that dumplings are your number one go to for the celebration...so go for it!
Cheers, and have a prosperous ground hog day, and a yummy Chinese New Year! See you Friday for my next installment,
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