"One is to save it for when food is scarce, and the other is to save a lot of grain."

The wisdom of ordinary people should not be underestimated. In the past, the elderly had many ways to preserve food!

Oh, right, I remember we have quite a lot of purslane and wild amaranth in our field. If they're still tender, you should dig up some more.

I'm tidying up and drying things at home, so you can take some with you when you leave.

In winter, chopping some minced meat to make dumplings, steamed buns, or pancakes can be a nice change of pace, and it's certainly tastier and healthier than those expensive greenhouse vegetables.

Chen Hong's words reminded Director Jin and the others that they could really enjoy the harvest by digging for vegetables in nature.

Hearing Chen Hong describe the various delicacies made from wild vegetables made their mouths water even more.

After taking a nap at noon, at just two o'clock, they each took a basket and a hoe, and with their water bottles, went to the orchard to dig for vegetables.

To prevent the children from being bitten by mosquitoes, Chen Hong sprayed them all over with mosquito repellent.

She wanted to leave Nini at home, but the little girl was also a bit of a gossip and insisted on going with the group, refusing to play with her aunt at home no matter what.

Chen Hong had no choice but to pack them moisture-proof mats, juice, fruit, biscuits, and other food and drinks, treating it as if they were going on a picnic!

"Sister, don't worry! The orchard is right on the hillside, there's a gentle breeze, it's not hot at all, and there aren't any mosquitoes."

The air under the trees is even more comfortable than when you're at home with the air conditioning on! Take a breath, and you'll smell the fresh scent of grass and pears!

There are so many adults here, we'll definitely take good care of the child. Why did you bring so much stuff? It's quite heavy!

Upon hearing this, Chen Hong went back into the room and brought her a towel blanket, saying, "You don't understand, children are different from adults."

"It's better to bring extra things than nothing. If the child gets sleepy, cover her with this blanket; the mountain breeze can be quite chilly."

Seeing that the basket was getting fuller and fuller, Xiaoyun knew she couldn't argue with her sister, so she had no choice but to carry the basket and lead the children out quickly.

After seeing off the large group that was digging for wild vegetables, Chen Hong quickly got busy as well.

First, peel off the outer layers of husks and corn silk from the tender corn that Xiaoyun and the others brought back in the yard this morning, wash it clean, and put it in a vegetable basket to dry.

Then I picked the tender peanuts and washed them clean, and also picked and washed a few tender edamame beans.

Add water to a large pot, then pour in tender peanuts, a few peppercorns, and star anise.

Arrange the tender corn on top, cover the pot, and turn on the heat. Edamame doesn't cook quickly, so add it after the pot boils.

While the fire was burning under the pot, Chen Hong scalded half a basin of cornmeal, mixed it with chopsticks into loose dough balls, let it cool, and then sat under the tree to pick wild vegetables.

Chen Hong sorted and picked the vegetables as she went. Xiao Yun and the others had mixed shepherd's purse and dandelion together, making it very troublesome to sort.

She first picked out the sow thistles, peeling off only the tender tips and leaves, and soaked them in a basin with a little salt.

Because no pesticides are used in the fields, there are bound to be some small insects on the wild vegetables.

Soaking the vegetables in lightly salted water first will easily kill any insects and their eggs on the leaves.

After picking the sow thistle, Chen Hong picked shepherd's purse. This shepherd's purse was really tender. Chen Hong decided to steam pork and shepherd's purse buns tonight.

Dandelion (also called dandelion) is also very tender, and it's good to eat it with sauce at night. Although it has a slightly bitter taste, it can reduce swelling and dissipate nodules, detoxify and clear heat, and has high medicinal value.

After selecting the insects, Chen Hong soaked them in lightly salted water to kill them, and then started kneading the dough.

First, divide the scalded cornmeal into two halves. Add soybean paste and kneaded thistle to one half and use it to steam vegetable buns.

Add half of the flour and yeast to the other half and use it to make pancakes.

I also mixed a bowl of flour with yeast and let it rise, preparing to steam shepherd's purse buns for tonight.

There were still some prickly ash shoots and toon shoots in the space. Chen Hong planned to make a stir-fried toon shoot with eggs, toon shoot mixed with tofu, deep-fried prickly ash shoots, and prickly ash shoot with dipping sauce for dinner.

By this time, the corn in the big pot was cooked. Chen Hong picked out all the tender corn, poured the edamame into the pot, and sprinkled in some salt.

Once the pot boils again, you can remove it from the heat.

Seeing that it was still early, Chen Hong let the peanuts and edamame soak in the pot to absorb the flavor before turning around and going to the backyard.

The vegetable garden in the backyard was in full bloom, so she took out two large baskets from her storage space and began picking vegetables.

Red, green, and purple peppers, cucumbers, green beans, kidney beans, loofah, snake beans, tomatoes, eggplants, and pumpkins—in no time at all, two large baskets were picked.

After moving back to the front yard, Chen Hong first washed the chili peppers and cucumbers and drained them. Once they were dry, she prepared to pickle the cucumbers and make chili sauce.

Then, using a homemade tool, I split the green beans in half and dried the green bean strands on two bamboo mats.

I sliced ​​two bamboo mats full of eggplant and hung them on the roof to dry, along with some green bean strips.

I prepared half a basin of ginger and garlic, washed them, drained them, and used them to simmer in the chili sauce.

I washed the tomatoes, scored them with crosses, and then blanched them in boiling water to remove the skin.

Crush the chili peppers, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes separately using a meat grinder, and start making the chili sauce.

After the chili sauce was cooked, the whole yard was filled with its delicious aroma. Inside the inn, Aunt Guo murmured to herself:

"Chen Hong is making chili sauce at home again. When the old man comes back later, I'll have to ask him to go to the backyard for a bowl. That way he can have one more steamed bun for dinner."

Aunt Erhu laughed, "You know, I also learned to make chili sauce from Chen Hong, but the chili sauce I make is always just a little bit different from Chen Hong's!"

"The chilies in our garden are all ready for harvest. Let your older brother and Erhu pick some more in the next couple of days so we can make chili sauce!"

It's too hot in the summer, so some chili sauce is a good way to whet the appetite. Many of our guests also love spicy food, so we keep some in the restaurant so anyone who wants some can have a small dish.

Chen Hong, in the backyard, had no idea that her chili sauce was about to boost the hotel's revenue again; she was busy pickling cucumbers and vegetables!

After pickling the cucumbers and wild vegetables, and seeing that the wild vegetables had been soaking for quite some time and that the small insects and their eggs had been killed, she began to wash the wild vegetables.

First, wash the thistle and drain it. Then, start washing the shepherd's purse and dandelion.

Break the small thorns off the thistle, then knead it into cornmeal and a little salt, knead it well, and let it rest.

Blanch the shepherd's purse in boiling water, then remove it and soak it in cold water. Squeeze out the excess water, mince the pork belly, and mix it with cooking wine, minced ginger, minced scallions, thirteen-spice powder, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Simmer the mixture.

Then chop the shepherd's purse and add it to the minced meat, along with salt and peanut oil. Mix well and wait for the dough to rise before wrapping and steaming.

Seeing that Xiaoyun and the others hadn't returned yet, Chen Hong quickly found two large cardboard boxes, packed everything for the Zhou family, locked the gate, and went to the front yard.

Upon arriving at the hotel, they learned that the two Zhou brothers had gone fishing, and only the old lady was in the room packing her luggage.

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Hong left her things behind and asked the old lady, "Aunt Zhou, what time is your flight tomorrow? Shall I drive you to the airport?"

Zhou Yi's mother held Chen Hong's hand and said, "No need, Xiao Xue has already made arrangements, you can go about your business!"

We've come all this way, taking up quite a bit of your time. You have so many guests to look after at home, so we won't trouble you any further."