"Her second aunt, please teach me how to make it. I will dry some more when I get back."
Li Cuiying explained the whole process: "It's very simple. Do it quickly while the weather is good. It won't work if it gets cloudy later. I'm afraid it will get moldy."
"Okay, I have to go back and cook. Everyone in my family will be off work soon, so I'll go back first. When you have time, you can bring your niece-in-law to my house to play. I'll be home every day." Old Lady Zhang was ready to go back, carrying the dried sweet potatoes in the biscuit box.
Li Cuiying and Jiang Mengxue both stood up to see her off: "I won't keep you here, so drive slowly."
He turned around and said to Jiang Mengxue and Xie Sheng, "It's almost time. You two go back to the house and do what you need to do. I'll go cook. Tonight we'll have mutton bone soup and noodles, and we'll also cut up some mutton."
"Second Mother, I'm going with you. I brought some dried seafood that my sister brought me last time. Her colleague helped her bring it out. I also canned some peaches and pears that I brought back from my hometown last time."
Xie Sheng also brought a bag of food, which was her food ration for this month, and Li Cuiying took it with a smile.
In this time of year, even when visiting someone's home, one has to bring one's own dry food. If she doesn't want it, Xie Sheng might not feel comfortable living there.
"Wow, Xiaoxue, the canned food you made is really good, just like the ones you buy. How do you make it? Do you cook the fruit in a pot and then put it in canning jars? I've cooked pears before and wanted to can them, but they would go bad after a few days. Later, I just boiled them in water and drank them."
Jiang Mengxue found it a little funny. Wasn't this the same as before? At that time, she also wanted to make canned food by herself. She just put the fruit in the pot and boiled it, and then put it into the cans. As a result, the cooked fruit was a little black, and the water was not clear. It looked wrong no matter how she looked at it.
Later, thanks to the development of the Internet, she searched for tutorials online when she was in college and learned that canned food can be placed directly in canning bottles and steamed in a pot. After taking it out of the pot, the bottle can be tightly closed so that it can be preserved for a long time. She also searched for methods of canning meat and found that they were all done well.
Li Cuiying put the bones and meat in a pot and rinsed them with boiling water. After washing them clean, she added water to cook them.
Seeing Jiang Mengxue looking at her with surprise, Li Cuiying smiled triumphantly.
"What? I thought your Second Aunt was the kind of woman who wouldn't let go of anything. Meat washing water is meat washing water. I won't keep it for cooking.
Don't think I know nothing just because I'm old. I found a few recipe books at a scrapyard a while ago, and I'll learn from them whenever I can. Let me tell you, your uncle's cooking skills are nowhere near as good as mine. We use the same ingredients and methods, but his cooking isn't as delicious as mine, and he still refuses to admit it. I can always beat him with just any recipe I make."
Jiang Mengxue didn't expect that her second uncle and second aunt were both quite lively. In the few times she had met them, her second uncle was not very talkative, and it was basically her second aunt who communicated with others outside. She could be said to be the representative of the family.
But it is understandable that one cannot judge a book by its cover. Sometimes, a person's true character is revealed only in front of their family.
Xie Sheng helped knead the dough.
Although she usually eats in the cafeteria, that's because it's inconvenient to cook in a single dormitory. In fact, her cooking skills are quite good.
After adding some firewood to the bottom of the pot, there was no need for anyone to watch it. Li Cuiying took out a few bundles of wool from the room.
Let Jiang Mengxue hold on and let her roll the wool into a ball.
"Are you going to use this yarn to make a sweater or a scarf, Er Niang?" The yarn was milky white and soft to the touch, unlike the blended yarn sold in department stores, which made clothes made from it stiff.
"I'll knit you a sweater and pants, and a scarf and gloves. I'll make them wide and big so you can wear them when you're older in January. You'll have mostly cold weather throughout your pregnancy, and by the time you're due, it'll be warmer, so you won't need to make thick clothes or blankets for the baby. There are still several months to go, so I'll take my time."
In fact, there are a lot of things to prepare when having a baby. At least you need to make enough clothes to change for several months. Children grow up quickly, so a suitable small piece of clothing needs to be replaced with a larger size after just a few days of wearing.
I have to change more than ten or twenty diapers a day, including thin blankets for home use, slightly thicker blankets for outdoor use, and diapers.
It's not like their family doesn't have the means, so there's no need to make clothes several sizes larger for the children every time, as they will wear out before they get smaller.
Jiang Mengxue planned to use the newly bought cotton cloth to cut diapers and wash and dry them several times.
If she is alone, she will use diapers for the baby and put the used ones directly in the space trash can.
But if the second mother comes to take care of her during the confinement period and help take care of the baby, she definitely cannot use diapers. Otherwise, if the baby uses fewer diapers a day, she might suspect that the baby is feeling unwell.
"Second Mother, you don't have to help me weave. I have enough clothes to wear. Or you can weave it yourself when I'm not busy at work."
"I see you're busy working all day, but I just sit there reading and drinking tea all day at work, so I'm just sitting there doing nothing.
By the way, the sewing machine you bought when you got married is still in your hometown house. You won’t need it there. Next time your second uncle comes back, can you have someone send it to you? Things will break if they are not used for a long time. With a sewing machine, I can make clothes for my children and mend them conveniently.
Jiang Mengxue then remembered that she had a sewing machine at home, but she had never thought of it because she didn't use it often.
"I totally forgot about it. It won't be very convenient to wait until it snows later. If it really doesn't work, I'll just wait until next year. I won't need it now anyway."
Li Cuiying's expression was a little strange: "I'll take a break in two days. Your uncle and I are going home. We'll see if we can hire a tractor to bring it over."
Jiang Mengxue naturally didn't miss Er Niang's expression: "Is there something wrong at home? Do you want me to go back?"
Li Cuiying shook her head and glanced at the door. Knowing that Xie Sheng was resting in the room, she whispered, "There are some things about the family that you don't know yet. In addition to a younger aunt, he also has an older aunt whom you haven't met yet. The older aunt is only one year older than your younger aunt.
In fact, she hasn't been back to her hometown in many years. Her story is quite complicated. When she was young, I remember your grandmother cut off all ties with her."
Li Cuiying was too embarrassed to talk about this girl. If she mentioned her in front of the entire Feiyue Brigade, they would spit at her.
"Your eldest aunt's name is Gu Meilian. I have to say she was really pretty when she was young. She couldn't refuse any young man who came to the Gu family to propose marriage. Originally, your grandparents wanted to show her a young man who had a job in the city. That young man wasn't particularly good-looking, but he wasn't ugly either. His family was very well-off, and he liked your eldest aunt very much. He would send her delicious and fun things every now and then."
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