Sugar-coated Hawthorn
Manbao hesitated for a moment and said, "But sister-in-law, I really want to eat it."
She felt that since she had promised her nephews and nieces, she had to follow through. After all, she was the elder and had to set a good example.
After some consideration, Manbao insisted, "Sister-in-law, please make it. I'll buy the brown sugar."
Even Dadao stopped running around and eagerly watched his mother at the door. If Xia Qianshi was going to refuse, she hesitated, and even the youngest San Ya and Si Tou ran up and looked at her eagerly.
After some thought, Xia Qianshi reluctantly agreed but asked Manbao, "Do you know how to make sugar-coated hawthorn?" "I have no idea."
Manbao immediately said, "I'll go look it up!"
Keke carefully searched for relevant information and integrated it for herself. In fact, the process of making sugar-coated hawthorn is similar to that of yam beans, with an additional step required for the fruit.
The next step was to cook it.
Xia Qianshi had a talent for cooking, and she prepared many of the dishes that Manbao desired. Sometimes she was not very clear, providing vague instructions such as "a little salt, a little oil," without specific measurements. However, Xia Qianshi knew precisely how much to add.
Fengshi, Heshi, and Zhou Xi took turns cooking, but the entire family was willing to let Xia Qianshi be in charge of the kitchen.
Unfortunately, she was very busy, and Qianshi did not want her daughters-in-law to be fixated on one thing. In her opinion, if Xia Qianshi were solely in charge of the kitchen at home, then in their absence, and if the family were to be separated, Xia Qianshi would lack proficiency in other tasks, and the cooking abilities of the other daughters-in-law would not be very impressive.
Even though Xia Qianshi was the best cook in the house, she was not allowed to stay in the kitchen all the time.
This time was no exception. Manbao did not know how to make sugar-coated hawthorn and had never seen it being made. When she mentioned that the yam beans needed to be cooked first, then cooled, and then threaded onto sticks, Xia Qianshi knew how to do it.
She had the older girls wash the yam beans and then boiled them.
They had eaten yam beans several times at home, and she had figured out a way to peel them by blanching them at a high temperature, then drying and cooling them before scraping off the skin with a bamboo knife. Peeling the vegetables after they were cooked was much easier than when they were still raw, and it was also less likely to cause itching.
Manbao drooled over the yam beans and ran to the village chief's house to borrow brown sugar.
It was too late to buy it at the market, so she decided to borrow it first and would purchase it back tomorrow.
As she ran, she asked Keke, "Are sugar-coated hawthorns really delicious?"
Keke did not respond.
Manbao did not need his answer and mused to herself, "If they are delicious, then I'll eat two more sticks." Yam beans are delicious, so it's possible that sugar-coated hawthorns are delicious too.
With that in mind, Manbao finally felt excited and ran even faster towards the village chief's house.
When she brought the brown sugar back, Xia Qianshi had already chopped the chicken and stewed it with the yam beans. The children were working hard to peel the yam beans. The advantage of having many children at home was that there were people available to do these scattered tasks, saving the adults time.
Xia Qianshi then watched the fire while taking Manbao into the kitchen to figure out how to hang the sugar-coated hawthorns.
Manbao recited the information provided by Keke, and Xia Qianshi had to ask her to explain many things she did not understand.
When she finally understood, the chicken and yam beans were cooked.
Xia Qianshi served the dishes, cooked some cabbage, and then carried them out. She said to the excited children who were peeling the yam beans, "Alright, let's eat first, and then make the sugar-coated hawthorns." Dadao, please go quickly and call Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, uncles, aunts, and Big Aunt to come back for dinner.
The children had already smelled the delicious aroma, and even though the family could now afford to eat meat frequently, they couldn't help but drool at the moment.
Dadao turned and ran to the next door, while the older girls stopped to set the table and prepare the bowls and chopsticks.
Manbao was responsible for standing by and waiting to eat, but she was also checking how well the yam beans were being peeled.
Although Xia Qianshi had agreed to make sugar-coated hawthorns, she did not spoil the children. She took most of the yam beans from the two large bamboo baskets and stored them, leaving only a few to be cooked and peeled. Then she put the peeled potatoes into the pot with the chicken to stew.
She had never made sugar-coated hawthorns before and was not very confident. Therefore, she poured a lot into the pot, thinking that if the sugar-coated hawthorns were not successful, at least the chicken stew would not go to waste.
She felt that anything stewed with chicken was delicious. Looking at the adults and children at the dinner table, she knew they would all continue picking at the yam beans after finishing the chicken.
After cooking the remaining yam beans, Xia Qianshi discovered that there were only seven pieces left. She looked at the children and decisively transferred one stick from each to another bamboo stick. Now there were eight sticks.
Eight children, and not one was missing.
After teaching the older girls the words they had to learn that day, Manbao came over and said, "Sister-in-law, why are there so few sticks?"
"It's not a few; each stick has seven or eight."
Xia Qianshi started cooking the sugar.
Sugar was not inexpensive, and brown sugar was even more costly than maltose. Xia Qianshi was afraid of wasting the sugar, so she kept the heat very low, planning to add a spoonful of water to make sugar water for everyone if it didn't work out.
Brown sugar is good for blood.
Manbao, who knew nothing, squatted beside her and watched the brown sugar in the pot, drooling.
For convenience, Xia Qianshi used a small pot instead of a large one.
Manbao said as she drooled, "It smells so good, much better than the sugar we usually eat." Sister-in-law, from now on, I won't eat maltose or candy. I'll eat brown sugar, okay?
Xia Qianshi knew that Manbao didn't like to eat sugar very much, so she nodded and said, "Sure, from now on, I'll cook eggs with brown sugar for you every morning."
Manbao asked, "Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious," Xia Qianshi said matter-of-factly, "Eggs are delicious, and brown sugar is delicious too." When you combine two delicious things, the result is even more delicious.
Manbao didn't think eggs were delicious, but the brown sugar looked really appetizing. Since she couldn't drink egg water, it was also good to eat eggs cooked with brown sugar.
Manbao happily agreed.
The brown sugar became more and more viscous, and Xia Qianshi estimated that it was almost ready. She awkwardly placed the threaded yam beans into the pot and noticed that the brown sugar kept dripping down, unable to adhere to the yam beans. She used a spoon to try to hang more on them.
The first attempt was not very successful, and Xia Qianshi broke out in a sweat.
But she didn't dwell on it and quickly picked up the second stick…