While picking pine cones, Mingyue looked up at the golden fragments leaking through the treetops, and suddenly felt that those hanging pine cones looked like unopened secret letters.
When the wind blows by, it lifts the curtain woven from pine needles, revealing the amber sleeping among the branches - that is the resin condensed last year, which forever seals an afternoon of cicada chirping.
The bread suddenly jumped onto the branch of an old pine tree, causing a rustling sound.
Mingyue took a half step back and saw a few juicy green fruits hidden among the swaying pine needle branches.
These new tender fruits are like a baby's curled fist, forming a wonderful cycle of life with the dark brown old pine cones on the ground.
"Bread, help me lower that branch." She called for Bread's help. After the branch was lowered, she easily picked up a few tender green pine cones.
Mingyue picked some fresh pine needles and filled a bag, then decided to stop while she was ahead.
Mingyue took the things back to the dining car and planned to start preparing right there.
There was too little information in the fairy tale book, and Mingyue didn't know how to make wine with pine cones. She turned on her computer and wanted to search the Internet for some information about the uses of pine needles and pine cones.
After some research, Mingyue discovered that pine needle wine had been recorded in ancient times. Not only that, many ancient medical books also described in detail the various medicinal uses of pine needles.
Mingyue was very excited about these discoveries, and she carefully wrote down several practices that interested her.
"Hmm... Using pine needles to make wine is a tradition, but you can actually add other ingredients and cook it slowly at low temperature. This method looks pretty good, I'd give it a try. Wow, there's also pine needle wine? How amazing."
"Hey, there's pine cone jam? There are whole pine cones in it. I wonder how it tastes?"
Mingyue muttered to herself, her eyes gleaming with excitement, and she became more and more eager to try.
Before starting, Mingyue took out her tablet and opened the ninth season of "MasterChef". She then placed the tablet firmly in a prominent position on the kitchen counter so that she could watch the show while preparing pine wine.
After making preparations, Mingyue took out the pine cones and pine needles from her backpack one by one and rinsed them in the sink.
Under the flushing of water, the dust and impurities on the surface of pine cones and pine needles are carried away little by little, and their originally dull appearance gradually becomes smooth.
But this was not enough. Mingyue took out a packet of baking soda from the cupboard and sprinkled it evenly into the water. The tiny bubbles produced by the mixture of baking soda and water attached to the pine needles, further decomposing the imperceptible dirt.
After cleaning, the pine needles appear a pleasing bright green, just like the tender grass sprouting in spring, looking clean and fresh.
After completing the cleaning work, Mingyue used a colander to scoop up the pine cones and pine needles, drained the water, and placed them neatly on the drying rack nearby to dry.
She plans to start by making some pine cone and pine needle wine.
First, use the cold extraction method and put the washed and dried pine needles directly into the vodka bottle. The pine needles hang in the bottle like bright green needles.
Because the fairy tale book said that pine cone wine has a weak taste, Mingyue decided to cold brew the pine needles for two days to see how it goes.
She was worried that adding only pine needles to cold brew would have a bitter pine oil taste, so she planned to make some mixed pine needle wine that would be slow-cooked at low temperature.
Add pine needles to vodka and, following your intuition, add a little pine wood, apple chunks, black peppercorns, and vanilla pods, then simmer on low for two hours.
When the time came to open it, a woody pine scent mixed with a light fruity aroma wafted out, just like passing by a pine forest in the early morning and taking a deep breath of pine fragrance. From the pine scent in the mist, you can feel the coolness of pine and cypress.
Mingyue filtered out some wine, mixed it with soda water, and took a sip. The wine tasted very light, with a little bit of pepper mixed with woody fragrance at first, and a faint sweetness.
This combination is good. Filter it out first and put it in the refrigerator for later use.
Pine cones are also needed to make wine, and the pine cones used for making wine are mature.
While she was making pine needle wine, Xiaoman and Mianbao had helped remove the cores of the pine cones, leaving only the scattered parts of the pine cones.
Mingyue rinsed it again, used magic to quickly dry the moisture on the surface, put it in the pot and stir-fried it until it was fragrant, then took it out and put it in a glass container and added rice wine.
This wine needs to be soaked for seven days before it can be drunk, which is not in time for the agreed time between Mingyue and the little squirrel. So Mingyue sticks an acceleration talisman on the outside of the pine cone wine to help catalyze the fermentation process.
Finally, there are those tender green pine cones. Mingyue plans to use them to make pine cone jam. They will act like the pine cones placed in the glass in the illustrations of fairy tales.
At first, Mingyue didn't know there was such a thing as pine cone jam. It was only when she was searching that she discovered that in the snowy country in the far north, people had cleverly made small pine cones into unique pine cone jam, which undoubtedly became a unique specialty of the snowy country.
Mingyue couldn't help but wonder, pine cones might taste like a rich pine oil aroma and an unbearable bitterness, but what would it taste like if they were made into jam?
So she decided to challenge herself to make pine cone jam, which could not only help fulfill the little squirrel's commission but also satisfy her own curiosity.
Xiaoman and Mianbao were also very curious about this, and their two little eyes were wide open.
"Maomao, is this thing really edible, meow?" Bread rolled a big pine cone with his paws. It was the trophy (a small toy) he brought back from the forest.
"I'm not sure, but let's give it a try." Mingyue actually didn't have much confidence.
Pour tender pine cones into the pot, then add brown sugar in a 1:1 ratio and simmer over low heat. Mingyue also added a few drops of lemon juice and stirred gently to allow the aroma of brown sugar and pine cones to fully blend.
As time passed, the brown sugar solution in the pot grew thicker and thicker, becoming sticky. The tender pine cones had quietly transformed, their original tender green coats now stained a rich brown, as if weathered by time. The sticky syrup, like a transparent veil, gently enveloped the cones, sealing them tightly.
When the jam was finally cooked, Mingyue poured it into a clean jar prepared in advance, sealed it and continued to pickle it.
Unlike common fruit jams, the pickling process of pine cone jam is relatively long, and it takes a full 30 days to be fully pickled, so Mingyue pasted an acceleration talisman on the outside of the jam for catalysis.
This way the pine cone jam will be ready for use tomorrow.
With such complete preparations, Mingyue felt that the pine cone wine she made could be indistinguishable from the real thing no matter what.
At this moment, cheers and applause suddenly came from the tablet.
Mingyue looked up and saw Ms. Mei winning the first round. When the judges asked her how she had the courage to make changes, she smiled and said:
“Legends all begin with pretending to be brave.”
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