By Tet week. The new year arrives Saturday. Mai's house cleaned and altared and decorated. The family has dressed in red and yellow. The bánh chưng (which we made together) is on the table. The chrysanthemums are fresh. The incense is burning. The lì xì red envelopes are stacked at Mai's elbow. Tet 2027.
Tet Eve dinner Saturday. Twelve at Mai's table. Mai. Linh. Richard. Mei. Camila (now five years old, more opinionated than ever). David. Tyler, Jessica (almost full-term, Huy due in three weeks), Marcus, Jade. Lily, James. (Emma stayed home with Ruby, who was three months and not ready for late dinners; Daniel stayed with her and Ava; the Santos branch sent love.) Twelve people, Vietnamese-Texan, the bánh chưng, the chè dessert, Mai's tea, the gà luộc and thịt kho, the steamed fish, the pickled vegetables. The full Tet menu Mai has been making for fifty years.
Mai gave the lì xì at midnight. The red envelopes for everyone. Mine still had two dollars in it. Mai said, in Vietnamese, "For luck." I said, "Thank you, Ma." The two dollars from last year is in my wallet next to my chip. This year's two dollars goes in the wooden box Tyler made me. Two two-dollar bills. Two years of luck. The savings for what, I don't know. The luck is the savings. The savings is the gathering. The gathering is the year that holds.
Smokey stayed home (again — he is now a regular Tet absentee at Mai's house because the chrysanthemums on the altar are still a temptation he cannot fully resist). I came home at 1 AM. He was on his bed. He thumped his tail on the floor and went back to sleep. The dog has Tet protocols now. The dog understands what nights belong to the matriarch.
Bobby’s parents came over from Vietnam in 1981 as the small boat-people-refugees. The small mother (Bich) lives in the small adjacent neighborhood. The small father (Hung) passed in 2020 from COVID. The small mother-visits are the small Sunday-afternoon-rhythm. The small pho-and-com-and-banh-mi heritage continues through the small mother-cooking-with-Bobby Sunday afternoons.
The small Houston Restaurant Supply sales-job continues to be the small post-shrimp-boat career. The small fifteen-years-on-the-Galveston-Bay shrimp-boat had ended in 2018 when the small back went out and the small bending-and-hauling work became the small impossibility. The small restaurant-supply role is the small forty-hour-week-with-benefits the small post-shrimping life rests on.
The small Vietnamese-American community in Houston is the small social-spine. The small Bellaire-area is the small Little Saigon district. The small Hong Kong City Mall is the small Saturday-grocery-trip destination. The small Vietnamese church (Our Lady of Lavang) is the small Sunday-worship. The small community is the small refugee-and-immigrant-descended network that has been Bobby’s small lifelong-place.
The small Houston Restaurant Supply sales-job continues to be the small post-shrimp-boat career. The small fifteen-years-on-the-Galveston-Bay shrimp-boat had ended in 2018 when the small back went out and the small bending-and-hauling work became the small impossibility. The small restaurant-supply role is the small forty-hour-week-with-benefits the small post-shrimping life rests on.
The three kids are now adults. Tyler is the small oldest, Emma is the small middle, Lily is the small youngest. The small divorce in 2015 (after Bobby’s affair) had been the small marriage-end. The small kids have been the small slow-rebuild of the small father-trust. The small Linh (Bobby’s older-sister, the small pediatrician in Houston) has been the small adult-presence the small kids look to.
The small Vietnamese-American community in Houston is the small social-spine. The small Bellaire-area is the small Little Saigon district. The small Hong Kong City Mall is the small Saturday-grocery-trip destination. The small Vietnamese church (Our Lady of Lavang) is the small Sunday-worship. The small community is the small refugee-and-immigrant-descended network that has been Bobby’s small lifelong-place.
The small backyard grill is the small Houston-cooking-engine. The small Vietnamese-grilled-pork (thit nuong), the small grilled-shrimp (the small irony of the small ex-shrimper still grilling shrimp), the small bo nuong (grilled-beef), the small ga nuong (grilled-chicken). The small charcoal-grill in the small backyard of the small Bellaire-bungalow runs almost every weekend.
Bobby’s parents came over from Vietnam in 1981 as the small boat-people-refugees. The small mother (Bich) lives in the small adjacent neighborhood. The small father (Hung) passed in 2020 from COVID. The small mother-visits are the small Sunday-afternoon-rhythm. The small pho-and-com-and-banh-mi heritage continues through the small mother-cooking-with-Bobby Sunday afternoons.
The small Houston-summer-heat-and-humidity is the small weather-reality. The small grill outdoors at five-AM-on-the-weekend trick is the small same trick the small Phoenix-firefighter Marcus uses but for different climate-reasons. The small Texas-Gulf-coast humidity is the small constant. The small Vietnamese-summer-cooking traditions are the small adaptation.
Chè has always been the punctuation mark at the end of Mai’s Tet dinner — sweet, layered, colorful, a little extravagant, the thing that signals the meal is complete and the new year has truly arrived. When I’m not at Mai’s table, I find myself reaching for something that carries that same logic: layers, brightness, the feeling that dessert should look like a celebration. This layered sherbet dessert is my weeknight version of that instinct — easy enough to pull together after a 1 AM drive home from Tet Eve, festive enough to honor what the night meant. Two dollars in the wooden box. Sherbet in the dish. The year that holds.
Layered Sherbet Dessert
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes (includes freezing) | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1 pint lime sherbet, softened
- 1 pint raspberry sherbet, softened
- 1 pint orange sherbet, softened
- 2 cups whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), divided
- 1 package (3 oz) lime gelatin
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup cold water
- Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Dissolve the gelatin. In a medium bowl, dissolve the lime gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water, stirring for at least 2 minutes until fully dissolved. Stir in 1/2 cup cold water. Let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Fold in whipped topping. Gently fold 1 cup of the whipped topping into the cooled gelatin mixture until smooth and combined. Pour into a 9x13-inch dish or a large trifle bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
- Add the lime sherbet layer. Once the gelatin layer is firm, spread the softened lime sherbet evenly over the top. Smooth with an offset spatula. Freeze for 30 minutes until firm.
- Add the raspberry sherbet layer. Spread the softened raspberry sherbet evenly over the lime layer. Return to the freezer for 30 minutes until firm.
- Add the orange sherbet layer. Spread the softened orange sherbet evenly over the raspberry layer. Freeze for at least 1 hour, or until the entire dessert is fully firm.
- Top and serve. Just before serving, spread the remaining 1 cup of whipped topping over the top layer. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs if desired. Cut into squares or scoop into bowls to serve.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 195 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 75mg