Time passed so leisurely that Pei Yunzhi was able to continue his studies as he wished, and he didn't need to worry about the shop.
It's already December, and Pei Yuezhi's savings have reached over two thousand taels. After more than half a year of hard work, she can now be considered quite wealthy. It's truly inspiring!
There's less than a month left until Chinese New Year.
Pei Yuezhi was already getting excited. She loved celebrating the New Year, but the modern New Year was losing its festive spirit. This was her first time celebrating the New Year in ancient times, and she was incredibly excited.
There are fewer customers in winter, and the Lunar New Year is all about family reunions, so there will definitely be fewer people. Even if there are still quite a few, Pei Yuezhi doesn't plan to open for business during the Lunar New Year period.
I need to have a proper New Year.
The sense of ritual was maximized; what was that nursery rhyme again?
Little child, little child, don't be greedy, after the Laba Festival comes the New Year.
Laba porridge, drink it for a few days, and then it's the 23rd of the lunar month.
On the 23rd, sticky candy is served; on the 24th, the house is swept.
On the 25th, make tofu; on the 26th, cook meat.
On the 27th, kill the New Year's chicken; on the 28th, prepare the dough.
On the 29th, steam buns; on the 30th, stay up all night.
Twist and turn on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The Laba Festival has just passed, and the 23rd of the lunar calendar will be here in a few days. Pei Yuezhi has cooked Laba porridge and pickled Laba garlic.
The 23rd is the Little New Year. The nursery rhyme says to make sticky candy, which means to make candy and offer it to the Kitchen God. But I don't really know how to make candy, and I don't make offerings to the Kitchen God, so I'll just make some other sweets instead.
On the 23rd, early in the morning, Liu Yuanyuan arrived with her family. Everyone had already agreed to celebrate the New Year together.
Pei Yuezhi also prepared a lot of New Year's goods and was just waiting for the New Year.
"Yueyue, we're here! It's the Little New Year today, what should we do?" Liu Yuanyuan excitedly rushed over.
"Let's make some sweets today. You guys can handle the cooking. Good luck, Liu Xiaokui!" Pei Yuezhi was browsing her online space when she was startled by Liu Xiaokui's sudden entrance.
Upon hearing that she was to cook, Liu Yuanyuan eagerly said, "Then I'll make a stew of soybeans and pig's trotters. I've been working on it for a while now, and I'll make this one."
Having cooked for Pei Yuezhi so many times, Liu Yuanyuan no longer dislikes cooking as she used to. Now that she knows how to cook, it's not so annoying anymore. She just doesn't like cleaning up, but now other people do the cleaning in the kitchen.
Then it's even less annoying.
Liu Yuanyuan went straight to the kitchen to soak the soybeans.
Pei Yuezhi then began preparing the candy she was going to make.
I'm planning to make candied hawthorn skewers because I don't really like the feeling of just eating candy; it's too sweet.
It's winter now, so I'll make some candied hawthorns and freeze them outside.
Fortunately, Pei Yuezhi had prepared some fruit when she was preparing for the New Year.
Unfortunately, there were only some apples and oranges, but also some hawthorns, which were originally intended to be used to make candied hawthorn skewers.
In ancient times, there weren't many fruits available in winter, and only a few that were easy to preserve. Although they were available in the market, they were not easy to buy. It's so presumptuous of us to bring so many fruits that we don't have.
I plan to make more flat hawthorns and fewer round ones.
The flat ones are steamed and won't taste too sour, while the round ones are raw, and will be more sour and harder.
"Dad, I have a task for you. Find a stick and some straw, and make a straw frame for a candied hawthorn."
Pei Yuezhi now takes it very seriously to order her father around. If she asks him to do something, he doesn't even ask questions and just does it, showing him great respect.
"Okay, shall we make candied hawthorns?" Pei's father agreed as he went to get some straw. "Then let Yunzhi cut the skewers."
Yes, and there's also this assistant number two.
"Yunzhi, go and cut the skewers, I want to make candied hawthorns."
The three children inside ran out of the house as soon as they heard about candied hawthorns.
"Mom! Make candied hawthorns! Mu'er hasn't had candied hawthorns in so long!" Fan Mu ran over excitedly.
The other two boys, though not as excited, were also looking at Pei Yuezhi with longing eyes.
Few children dislike candied hawthorns. Although these three children have been eating well for the past six months, I haven't been able to give them many snacks as I've become busier.
"Yes, today is the Little New Year, so we should eat something sweet. Let's make candied hawthorns."
Pei Yuezhi patted Fan Mu's head and said.
"Mother, is there anything we can do to help?" Fan Chao asked from the side.
Li Nian'an nodded and said, "Aunt Pei, let's make candied hawthorns together in a little while."
"Okay, I'll prepare the rest first, and you can come and help me later."
Pei Yuezhi first prepared the hawthorns. She removed the seeds from the hawthorns and steamed them, but not for too long. They were just slightly soft enough to be flattened; if they were too ripe, they wouldn't taste good.
Apples and oranges are easy to handle. First, wash the apples. For making candied hawthorns, the surface of the fruit must be completely dry.
Otherwise, the sugar won't stick, which is why they don't wash the ones sold outside!
The hawthorns were all prepared, and Pei Yunzhi came over with a large handful of skewers.
"Sister, I've finished sharpening the skewers. I'm going to chop wood and fetch water now, so I won't be able to help you with this for now."
Pei Yuezhi took the slip of paper: "Go, Yunzhi, I'll call those three little guys over to help."
Call the children over and have them skewer the hawthorns. They need to be air-dried first, otherwise there will be too much moisture on the surface.
Pei Yuezhi cut the apple into pieces and peeled the oranges.
They put on their clothes first, and then they started boiling the sugar.
To make those crispy, glassy candied hawthorns, the sugar syrup is crucial; it needs to coat the fruit in a thin layer for a very crisp texture.
Normally, the ratio of sugar to water for candied hawthorn is two to one, but this recipe requires a one-to-one ratio.
When boiling sugar, use medium heat and do not stir. Let it boil, thicken, and turn yellow on its own.
After the syrup changes color, dip a little with chopsticks and put it in cold water. If it becomes brittle, it's ready; if it's too runny, it's not.
Then quickly remove the firewood; a small fire will suffice.
Next comes coating with sugar.
Do not shove it directly in; instead, circle it around the sugar bubbles on the surface, but not too much.
After cooling, the surface is smooth and it tastes crisp like glass.
Not to mention kids love it, Pei Yuezhi can eat two skewers in one go.
As Pei Yuezhi turned around, Fan Mu handed her the leftover skewers that Fan Chao and Li Nian'an had worn.
The four of them worked together very well and finished in no time.
Tie the finished candied hawthorns to straw and put them outside to cool.
It only takes less than ten minutes to freeze some.
The three children kept looking at it and touching it, they were so excited.
When it was finally time to eat, Pei Yuezhi led them over, and the three of them stood in a row, waiting to eat candied hawthorns.
"Look how anxious you are. You can eat now. Help yourselves to whatever you want, but you can't eat too much in one day."
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