Chuc Mung Nam Moi!!! Happy Lunar New Year! Vietnamese New Year is also known as Tết. It is the year of the Tiger.

Tết is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam. It is based on the Lunar calendar and takes place from the first day of the first month of the Lunar calendar (usually land between late January or early February) until the third day. This year Tết is happening on Valentine's Day...

Many Vietnamese prepare for Tết by cooking special holiday foods and cleaning the house. There are a lot of customs practiced during Tết, like visiting a person's house on the first day of the new year (xông nhà), ancestral worshipping, wishing New Year's greetings, giving lucky money in a red envelope to children, and opening a shop.

You can read more about the Tết at the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet.  

As for me, Tết is a great time to eat all my favorite goodies such as banh trung, water melon, xoi (sweet flavored rice), etc... YUMMM!!!  I like to crack open the red-colored water melon seeds and eat the insides. Yes, sirree bob, there is an art to opening a water melon seed with your teeth without chipping your teeth first. I mastered cracking the seed and opening the skin using only one hand. I can go on and on...

Tết is one of my favorite Vietnamese holidays of the year. In honor of Tết, I am having my cookbook, A Vietnamese Kitchen, (retail at $24.95) available to everyone at $14.95 (40% discount). Please click on http://haroda.com/store/index.html to place your order. Hurry, limited time only -- Make it a special gift to someone you love for Valentines and/or the New Year!

Many best wishes for a prosperous NEW YEAR - Year of the Tiger!!! =)

Pho Queen
Have fun eating healthy.