Chapter 145 Sophora japonica
I find removing the pits too much trouble, and the cherry jam comes with the pits on, so I have to be careful when eating it.
The cherry jam has a bright red color and a rich cherry aroma. It tastes sweet and sour without being cloying.
The mulberry jam is dark purple, not sour at all, and very sweet and fragrant.
Store in the refrigerator. You can mix it with water to drink, or use it as a filling or to dip bread slices.
I've been so busy processing cherries and mulberries these past few days that I didn't even notice the locust trees next to the ravine were in bloom.
When I saw it, I immediately grabbed my usual small basket and picked a basketful of locust flowers.
I picked a small bunch of chives while passing by a vegetable garden; adding some chives to locust flower dumplings will enhance their flavor.
The fresh pork that Aunt Liu gave me last year when she slaughtered the pig is still not finished, but today I can use locust flowers to make dumplings.
After arriving home, wash the locust flowers thoroughly, boil water in a pot, add a little salt and oil, and once the water boils, put the locust flowers in and cook them briefly.
Once the locust flowers change color and turn green, scoop them out with a slotted spoon, squeeze out the excess water, and chop them finely.
Clean and chop the chives.
Mince the pork using a meat grinder, then put the chopped locust flowers, chopped chives, and minced pork into a large bowl and mix them together.
Add some salt, chicken bouillon, thirteen-spice powder, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, and other seasonings to taste.
Once the meat filling has been mixed until it becomes sticky, start wrapping the dumplings.
Not long after the dumplings were put into the pot, the unique aroma of locust blossoms wafted out, making my mouth water.
Last year, everything was just beginning, and all our attention was on growing vegetables and fresh produce. We never thought about eating locust flowers.
I haven't had locust flower dumplings for many years. Now, smelling this aroma brings back a flood of memories.
After it came out of the pot, I couldn't wait to take a bite, even though it was still hot. The locust flowers were fragrant and slightly sweet, and the chives added freshness, along with the oily aroma of the pork. The taste was exceptionally good.
Dip it in aged vinegar and chili, and it becomes more and more fragrant with each bite, without being greasy at all.
I ate more than twenty dumplings in one meal, and there were a lot of dumplings left on the plate. I deliberately made extra to feed the dog.
In order to let these dogs, who usually eat dumplings whole, taste the flavor of dumplings, all the dumplings were broken up before being placed on the ground for them to eat.
The locust flowers smelled so good that even my burps smelled sweet after I finished eating. Before the flowers fell, I picked three more large buckets of them.
With limited space in the refrigerator, a small portion of the food was blanched, squeezed dry, and then frozen.
Most of the remaining flowers were laid out to dry in the yard. During the days the locust flowers were drying, the yard was filled with their fragrance. You could see the yard covered with white flowers at a glance, which made me feel great.
After drying, store them directly. In winter, you can mix them into minced meat and use them to make big meat buns.
The dried locust flowers didn't shrink much, and they filled more than half a sack.
Taking advantage of the fact that the summer crop hasn't come off the market yet and I'm not too busy right now, I'm planning to make a trip to the Baizhen base.
There are two things I need to do: first, thank the base manager for the coal donation, and second, thank Brother Liu and Taozi for their help.
Secondly, I brought a kitten home because the house started having mice, and I definitely wanted to keep a kitten.
I wonder how many cats there are at the White Town base, and whether they are as rare as dogs.
Last time someone came to exchange dogs, they took so many supplies. I want to bring back a kitten, so I can't take too little stuff.
Scarce resources, such as alcohol or medicine, should never be brought out openly. Salt and sugar should not be consumed in large quantities, so they should not be used for trade.
The big rabbit is about to give birth again, so we can bring two rabbits with us.
There's still plenty of rice and wheat flour; just grab a bag of rice and a bag of wheat flour.
Farmers need gloves to work, so they wear eight pairs of gloves.
These supplies are definitely enough, but I also plan to buy some milk tofu and milk skin, and I also moved two boxes of eggs and two bottles of cherry wine left over from last year.
After thinking about it, he went back and took the two bottles of floral water he had made.
This is enough for Dingding. We'll exchange the rest for Taozi and Brother Liu as a thank-you gift.
As for the base chief, you should cater to his preferences and bring him two bottles of liquor that you brought back from the basement in town.
The base chief's gifts weren't given for nothing; every time I tried to curry favor with him, the old man would reciprocate with something even better.
After packing what we needed to take and giving all the livestock extra feed, we were ready to set off.
I don't know why, but I felt uneasy about this trip. In addition to taking two crossbows, I also brought a hunting rifle.
We drove safely into the Baizhen base without encountering anyone along the way, and first parked the car in front of Brother Liu's house.
It's early morning now, and no one's home; they've probably gone out to do farm work.
As I walked out of the courtyard, I encountered a middle-aged woman.
"Excuse me, can I ask you something?"
That polite greeting—it's obvious he's not from the base.
The woman looked at me warily, somewhat defensively: "What do you want?"
Do you know whose cats live in this shelter?
The woman thought for a moment, then shook her head and left without saying anything.
It seems everyone is quite vigilant. I'll just stay obediently at Brother Liu's door and wait for an acquaintance.
Less than 20 minutes later, Aunt Liu returned carrying an empty bottle.
"Sister Liu!"
When I saw Aunt Liu, I jumped up excitedly and waved to her.
"Hey girl, what brings you here?"
"I want to take a kitten home to raise. We have mice in our house. Do you know anyone who has one, Aunt Liu?"
As Aunt Liu pulled me into the house, she was thinking.
"Yes, there is... I heard there's a family on the east side who just had kittens last month, but they don't have many kittens right now, so you'll have to trade something for them."
I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that it was available.
"I definitely need to change it. I've brought some things with me, as long as I can get a cat."
"Don't rush, don't rush, everyone's working in the fields right now. When everyone comes back at noon, Aunt Liu will take you there."
Why are you back before noon?
"Hey! Your brother Liu has a leaky mouth, he spilled all the water he drank, I'm thinking of getting a bottle of water when I get back."
"Haha, then let's go to the field together. I've never been to your field before!"
"Let's go, let's go take a look. Aunt Liu will cook you something delicious for lunch."
Seeing that I wanted to go for a walk in the fields, Aunt Liu filled the bottle with cool water from the water vat and led me outside.
When we passed the small truck, I made sure the truck door was locked before I felt comfortable walking out with Aunt Liu.
But the two had only walked a few steps from the Liu family's courtyard when they saw a group of people rushing back, mostly women and children, with few adult men.
Not only was I startled, but Aunt Liu was also very startled.
Aunt Liu quickened her pace and ran forward, catching up with someone and asking, "Hey, what's going on?"
"Quick, quick, quick, get home! Other bases are attacking!"
That one sentence transported me from one world to another. In this remote and impoverished place, I never imagined that two bases could be fighting.
I had a vague sense of unease when I set off in the morning, and I never expected that something would actually happen.
"Liu Fugui, have you seen Liu Fugui?"
Sister-in-law Liu would ask anyone she could find.
But everyone was rushing home, and no one answered her.
Aunt Liu hurriedly walked against the flow of people to leave, and I had no choice but to follow her.
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