Today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. There is a folk song: "Children, don't be greedy, after Laba it's New Year. On the 23rd, sticky sugar melons, on the 24th, sweep the house, on the 25th, fry tofu, on the 26th, stew pork, on the 27th, kill the rooster, on the 28th, let the dough rise, on the 29th, steam buns, stay up all night on the 30th, and on the first day of the New Year, twist your body."
According to legend, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when the Kitchen God goes to heaven. In order to make the Kitchen God say a few good words in front of the Jade Emperor and at the same time keep his mouth shut, people eat sugar-coated melons on this day.
An Ning started to make sugar melon after breakfast. Making sugar melon is very simple. Just put malt sugar into the pot, boil until big bubbles appear, then turn to low heat, and turn off the heat when small bubbles appear. Let it cool down a little until it is not hot to the touch, roll the syrup into a ball, and then repeatedly pull it into threads until it turns white. After pulling, cut it into small pieces with scissors as soon as possible.
Because the weather is very cold now, An Ning puts the prepared sugar melons outside to freeze. After freezing, there will be many small bubbles in the middle of the sugar melons, and they will taste good.
Because making sugar melons took some time, they didn't make a long meal at noon, so they just made a pot of dumpling soup. After a simple lunch, the three of them went back to rest. An Ning rested in the house for a while, then got up to see how the sugar melons were frozen. An Ning picked up a piece of sugar melon and put it in her mouth. She chewed it and it tasted crispy and had a strong aroma of maltose.
An Ning pinched a piece of sugar melon and passed it to Gao, stuffed it into Gao's mouth, and then asked, "Mom, do you want to try the sugar melon I made?"
Gao nodded while chewing the candied melon in her mouth and said, "Mm, it's delicious, even better than what I made."
An Ning was very happy to receive the compliment and said, "I think it's delicious too." After that, the mother and daughter both laughed. It turned out that eating something sweet can make people feel better.
After laughing and joking, An Ning said, "Mom, I'm going to get the dumpling fillings. What kind of fillings do you want?"
Gao smiled and said, "Any filling is fine. Everything you cook is delicious."
An Ning thought for a moment and said, "Let's just eat the one with cabbage and meat."
Gao had no objection and said, "Okay."
After An Ning finished talking to Gao, she went to the kitchen. When she got to the kitchen, An Ning first mixed the dough before starting to make the stuffing. At this time, An Dashan also came in and saw An Ning chopping meat, so he said, "Let me chop the stuffing."
An Ning did not refuse and handed the kitchen knife to An Dashan, saying, "Dad, you chop the meat. I'll go wash the vegetables."
After the minced meat and cabbage were chopped, An Ning was mixing the stuffing when Gao came over and said, "Ning Ning, put the board on the table in the main hall and we'll make dumplings together."
An Ning nodded and said, "Okay, Mom, go to the main room and wait. I'll prepare the stuffing soon."
After hearing An Ning's words, Gao turned around and walked out of the kitchen, going to the main room to wait.
After An Ning prepared the dumpling filling, An Dashan helped to move the board to the main room. An Ning rolled the dough, Gao made the dumplings, and An Dashan also imitated Gao and made the dumplings clumsily. The three of them chatted and laughed and soon finished making the dumplings.
After making the dumplings, An Dashan went to the kitchen to boil water, while An Ning tidied up the main room in preparation for dinner.
While the dumplings were not cooked yet, An Dashan placed offerings in front of the Kitchen God and began to worship him. Because there was a tradition in ancient times that "men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the Kitchen God", when An Dashan was worshiping the Kitchen God, An Ning did not go into the kitchen, but talked with Gao in the main room.
After An Dashan finished worshipping the Kitchen God, the water in the pot boiled. An Dashan shouted, "Ningning, the water is boiling, bring the dumplings over!"
An Ning heard it, agreed, and went to the kitchen with the dumplings. After pouring all the dumplings into the pot, An Ning said to An Dashan, "Dad, you cook the dumplings here, I'll go make some cold dishes."
An Dashan nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead!"
An Ning cut the cooked pork elbow and pork head into a plate each, then minced the green onion, ginger and garlic, added soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar, and made a salad dressing, and the two plates of cold dishes were ready. An Ning also put out a plate of cold dishes mixed with celery and peanuts, and re-fried Wang's meatballs, making a total of four plates of side dishes.
An Ning brought the dishes into the main room, and An Dashan's dumplings were also cooked. An Dashan put the dumplings on the plate, and An Ning was responsible for serving them on the table.
An Dashan said to Gao, "Today is the Little New Year, I'll go set off some firecrackers!" An Ning thought to herself, firecrackers are indeed the favorite of all men.
Gao didn't stop him and said, "Go quickly." An Ning poured a jug of wine and put it on the charcoal basin to warm it up. Drinking cold wine in the winter is harmful to the body. When An Dashan finished setting off the firecrackers, the wine was also warm.
An Ning poured a glass of wine for An Dashan and a cup of cooked sour plum soup for herself and Gao. The three of them raised their glasses together and started to eat happily.
The next day was the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, which was the day for house sweeping according to tradition. However, An Dashan's house was a newly built house, so he just swept it symbolically.
An Ning took advantage of her free time to cut a lot of paper-cuts. Although she didn't know how to make complicated ones, she had no problem making simple ones. Seeing this, Gao also joined the team cutting paper-cuts.
Gao's hands were much more skillful than An Ning's. She could cut things like magpies on plum trees and lotus flowers quickly and beautifully. Mother and daughter worked together and soon cut a lot of window paper-cuts.
Seeing that it was almost noon, An Ning stood up and stretched her stiff body, saying, "Mom, go take a rest. I'll go make lunch."
Gao was a little tired from sitting, so she nodded and said, "Okay, I'm tired too, let's go lie down for a while."
An Ning went to the kitchen and was a little worried about what to cook. She looked through the ingredients in the kitchen and suddenly had an idea. She thought, "Let's make radish meatball soup. People often say 'eat radishes in winter and ginger in summer'. Radishes in winter are better than ginseng, and they are warm when eaten hot."
It is easy to make radish soup once you decide to make it. An Ning chopped the thawed lean meat in the morning into minced meat and put the minced meat in a large bowl. Dice the green onion and ginger and put them in a bowl. Then put salt, a little bit of soy sauce, beat an egg white, and finally add starch. After putting everything in place, stir it in one direction with chopsticks. After stirring evenly, start to light the fire. Add clean water to the pot. After the water boils, turn off the fire in the stove and turn it to low heat. Then squeeze the meatballs with your hands. After squeezing all the meatballs, cover the pot and cook for a while. While this is going on, cut the washed radish into thin strips. After the radish is cut, the meatballs in the pot are almost cooked. An Ning put the shredded radish into the pot and continue to cook. After the shredded radish is cooked soft, add salt and sesame oil to season. In this way, a pot of radish meatball soup is ready.
But eating only this was not enough to fill her up, so An Ning took some more noodles, added eggs and water, stirred them into a paste, and baked a few more egg pancakes. An Ning poured the carrot meatball soup into a porcelain bowl and brought it to the table.
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