With Chinese New Year tomorrow, I’ve got dim sum on the brain. My friends have said they don’t know what to order when they go on their own, so here are the staples we always order to get you started (mostly for meat eaters, sorry).

Siu mai
Steamed pork dumplings often with mushroom and shrimp in thin wrapper. Usually in the cart with lots of stacked metal steamers.

photo by Sara McCleary

Har gow
Shrimp dumplings in a sticky, translucent wrapper. Almost always ordered with siu mai, so same cart.

photo by Matt @ PEK

Char siu bao (steamed)
Fluffy buns filled with barbecue pork. At dim sum I recommend getting the steamed version (pictured here). If you visit a Chinese bakery definitely try the baked version (will be a brown, round bun).

photo by Takeaway

Noh mai gai (sticky rice)
Sticky rice filled with chopped mushrooms, chicken, and often a piece of lap cheong (Chinese sausage). Wrapped in lotus leaves.

photo by Takeaway

Gai lan
Steamed Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.

photo from whiskeyandbooch.com

Shrimp balls
Fried. Shrimp. Balls. I recommend you get shrimp toast first if you see it, but I’ve found a lot of dim sum restaurants have switched to doing these shrimp balls and they’re also very delicious.

photo from makanan.club

Chicken feet
If you’re feeling adventurous... The chicken feet are deep fried in hot oil and steamed so the cartilage puffs up and becomes soft. They’re then simmered in a sweet and spicy black bean sauce. Think of it kind of like eating a chicken wing, where you eat around the bones. Not for everyone, but I love ’em.

photo from tucsonfoodie.com

A few others we often order to round things out:

• crispy spring rolls
• shrimp cheung fun (shrimp filled, flat rice noodles with sweet soy sauce)
• Singapore noodles (yellow curry noodles)
• steamed spare ribs
• dan tat (egg custard)
• jian dui (sesame balls)

Add some hot mustard or a chili oil/soy sauce mix and enjoy. And also, Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy year of the rabbit 🐇

2022 was a good year for television with a bunch of fun new series and one major standout. Some honorable mentions for this list are Maya Rudolph’s Loot, anxiety-filled The Bear, Rachel Bloom’s Reboot, and the adorable Ms Marvel. We also had a lot of fun catching up on LEGO Masters (so wholesome) and Succession (not so wholesome).

Here are my fave miniseries and series debuts from 2022.

10. Yellowjackets

9. The Resort

8. Inside Man

7. Heartstopper

6. Wednesday

5. Our Flag Means Death

4. Peacemaker

3. A League of Their Own

2. The Afterparty

1. Severance

A lot of great movies came out in 2022, with a couple that will surely make my best of the decade list too. I didn’t make it to the cinema as much as I hoped, but this was definitely the year to watch from home cuddled on the couch with the pups.

Some honorable mentions for 2022 include Top Gun: Maverick for helping me wait things out until Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning comes out next year, Slumberland, Nope, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and Spirited (whose soundtrack I listened to a whole bunch).

10. Hustle

9. Ambulance

8. Turning Red

7. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

6. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

5. The Menu

4. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

3. Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical

2. RRR

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

This year started with a gut punch as we spent Monday morning saying goodbye to our beloved dog, Helo. Despite a bad heart in his later years, he lived a lot longer than we expected. He got 15 years, 12 of which were with us. We are grateful for every single minute we got with him.

He was a weird dog, a grumpy old man from the very start. A true introvert, he would often sneak away and tuck himself into bed. It was a joy to go searching for him to find a pair of paws or a little nose peeking out from under the covers.

He didn’t like most people, but the few he did, he loved with his whole being. With us (and Clay especially), he wanted to be as close as possible. On a lap or in a leg nook was where he wanted to be, no matter how much more comfortable another spot might be. And if you changed rooms, you bet he was following.

He had a big bark for a little guy and did his best to keep up with his big sister. She is faster and more athletic, but he was the fearless one. No weather or nail grinder could phase him and he would hang as far out a car window as we would let him.

And speaking of his sister, Boomer and Helo became real cuddle buds later in life. It took a while for these two opposites to connect, but they developed a quiet bond we’re grateful for.

He loved a walk, but never on gravel. A raised curb was his balance beam and he would occasionally step onto grass to do a joyful roll. A special treat we relished to see.

He made Halloween costumes and bandanas look extra adorable.

Most of all Helo was the king of finding a comfy spot. He made our life warmer and richer and we are already missing him so much. Rest in peace bud, our wheezy little guy.

I didn’t catch as many new shows as I would have liked this year (honestly, how can anyone keep up). I did enjoy watching some shows I missed the first time around like Broad City, Superstore, Nailed It!, and Manifest. And I must call out season 2 of Ted Lasso and the episode Beard After Hours which I loved so so much.

This list is my favorite TV series or miniseries that debuted in 2021 (plus one comedy special). This criteria is interesting since a lot of my all-time favorite shows don’t really figure themselves out until season 2 or later. So should be fun to revisit this in a few years.

11. Sweet Tooth

10. Schmigadoon!

9. Mare of Easttown

8. Loki

7. Only Murders in the Building

6. Hacks

5. Squid Game

4. Rutherford Falls

3. Made for Love

2. WandaVision

1. Bo Burnham: Inside