A person reminisces about their childhood in Singapore, where they celebrated Lunar New Year with traditions such as exchanging oranges for red packets of money and eating pineapple tarts. They have been craving these tarts since moving to the United States but cannot find them anywhere. A friend, Nathan, offers to help them make the tarts using his aunt's recipe. They experiment with different methods, initially trying a pie-like dough, but ultimately settle on a cookie-like dough with creamed butter and powdered sugar. After multiple attempts, they finally achieve the desired texture and taste, and the person is overwhelmed with nostalgia and happiness.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The narrator grew up in Singapore and celebrated Lunar New Year with many traditions.
2. One of the traditions was exchanging oranges for red packets filled with money.
3. Old people would pinch the cheeks of children to wish them a prosperous new year.
4. The narrator's family would bake family dinners at their grandmother's house.
5. The narrator's family moved to the United States, and their New Year's celebrations changed.
6. The narrator craves pineapple tarts, a staple of Lunar New Year celebrations.
7. The best pineapple tarts were always homemade, and the narrator's favorite.
8. The narrator doesn't know how to make pineapple tarts and can't find them in stores.
9. A friend, Nathan, has a family recipe for pineapple tarts and agrees to help the narrator make them.
10. Nathan uses a combination of canned pineapple, sugar, and cinnamon to make the pineapple filling.
11. The narrator and Nathan try two different methods to make the cookie dough: a pie-like method and a creaming method.
12. The creaming method produces a softer, more desirable cookie.
13. The narrator and Nathan adjust the amount of sugar in the cookie dough and test different sizes of cookie cutters.
14. They decide to use a smaller cookie cutter and add a lattice pattern to the cookies.
15. The finished pineapple tarts are baked at 350°F for 15 minutes and brushed with an egg wash.
16. The narrator is delighted with the taste and texture of the finished pineapple tarts, which remind them of their childhood.