This week is an incredibly special week in our house.  Not only because Valentine’s Day awaits us this weekend, but because Chinese New Year falls on Sunday this year too!

So despite my incredibly slow gait these days (I am seriously waddling like a penguin), I am doing my best to prepare special meals and activities filled with love.

And nothing says love and celebration like handmade food and… dipping sauce!

So in honor of the Chinese tradition of having dumplings on Chinese New Year, I spent most of Sunday preparing a house favorite- Potstickers.

**My usual disclaimer:  In case you do not normally stock rice cooking wine or oyster sauce in your house (if you’re Chinese, shame on you!), this recipe is very forgiving and you can just increase the amount of soy sauce and oil to compensate.  But you will need the sesame oil, white pepper, and the other fresh ingredients.  They are important.  The sesame oil alone will fill your house with an amazing aroma!  Also, this recipe may seem intense, but it is really quite easy.  The time invested is SO worth it, and it yields enough for multiple meals.  Unless of course, you have a husband who eats potstickers by the dozen, then this recipe may be just enough.

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I am unsure how the tradition started in our house.

My guess is since we tend to eat and run on most weekday mornings, by the time the weekend arrives, everyone in our house is ready for something better than a bowl of Cheerios.

So on Saturday and/or Sunday morning, I try to make breakfast special.  It is usually comprised of a mix of items such as pancakes, biscuits, eggs, bacon, grits, and always, mixed fruit.

If I feel really motivated, I will bake fresh bread from scratch.  I love fresh bread, especially the sweet bread used in cinnamon rolls.

However, I will admit, I usually lack the patience for all the chemistry involved in bread making.

When I wake up, and my pregnant stomach is growling, I have no patience for dissolving yeast in the perfect temperature water, and then waiting hours for the dough to rise.  I will shove fistfuls of Lucky Charms down my pie-hole while waiting.

So this past weekend, I figured why not combine a biscuit dough recipe with cinnamon rolls?  Biscuit dough omits the need for yeast and rise time, plus there’s cinnamon and sugar. Win-win!

Now before I go any further here, allow me to place this disclaimer on the recipe:

If you are a die hard cinnamon roll fanatic, and live for soft oowey-gooey Cinnabon-like rolls, THIS IS NOT THE RECIPE FOR YOU.  These are biscuits, flirting with cinnamon rolls.  So if you’re afraid of the commitment of bread making, this makes a sweet couple.

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