Happy early Chinese New Year!

This Sunday marks the beginning of Chinese New Year, and if you're planning to throw your own celebration, make sure to stop by the Cincinnati Asian Market on Reading Road in Evendale. I went there for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I was working on a Chinese New Year story, and I was amazed by the size of the place. It should really be called the Cincinnati Asian Supermarket -- it's got aisles and aisles of fresh and frozen fruit, vegetables, seafood and other meats, dried foods, sweets, hot prepared foods and health and beauty products (including Asian versions of familiar-looking products you can find in American supermarkets and drugstores). When I visited a couple of weeks ago, they had a table piled high with Chinese New Year supplies -- trays of candy, paper lanterns, bright red banners bearing Chinese couplets and more. Today I'm sharing some peanut buttery candies that came in a gold plastic pig (it will be the Year of the Pig) and a dish of coconut candy with my co-workers. I think I might need to make another trip there this weekend...