In order to make the New Year more lively, Xia Manni suggested that the three families celebrate together at the Xia family's.
The main reason is that the Xia family is large and has the most complete ingredients and cooking utensils.
Preparations for the New Year's Eve dinner began on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. Over the past two months, they have had some spare money.
Because everyone says we should have a good new year.
The food prepared for the Chinese New Year mainly includes meat dishes, dumplings, fried foods, snacks, and lucky money for children.
Xia Manni was wielding a machete to chop half a pig. Jin Zian and Zhang Cuiling, who had never seen this before, were both stunned.
She separated the meat from the bones and shaved off the large bones to prepare the soup.
The pig's trotters and head were put aside, and the ribs were chopped into small pieces and placed in a large bowl.
Xia Manni didn't even throw away the pig's offal and liver.
The pig skins were even cleaned up and put into a jar.
"Manny, if we can't finish the big bones and pig's trotters, we can use them to make noodles. But how are we going to eat the pig's head, offal, and liver?"
Xia Manni looked at Zhang Cuiling's disgusted expression and said with a smile, "We can make pig tripe soup with pig offal, roast pig intestines and eat them, and we can braise pig hearts, livers and ears."
Jin Zian listened with great interest. He didn't know that there were many other ways to eat a pig besides its meat.
At this time, Erwa also became interested and asked, "Mom, how do you make braised food?"
"In my mother's hometown, everything can be braised. The salty and fragrant taste is so delicious that you'll become addicted to it."
Zhang Cuiling also asked curiously, "I know they can be braised, but do you know how to braise these?"
Xia Manni nodded. They had seen people selling braised food in Cuiwei Lane, but very few.
It’s not even available in restaurants. I guess people don’t like the taste.
"When the time comes, I'll make it for you to try."
Zhang Cuiling was busy frying various foods, including fried meatballs, fried dough sticks, fried cakes, fried eggplant boxes, and lotus root cakes.
There are three kinds of fillings for the meatballs alone, and it was Xia Manni who told Zhang Cuiling about the fried cakes. She had never heard of them before.
In addition to this, Xia Manni also asked Da Wa to kill two chickens, and then coated the two chickens with eggs and flour and fried them.
When frying, you are not allowed to fry the whole chicken, only the chicken legs and chicken racks. The remaining meat is used to make smoked chicken.
The children were asked to prepare dumplings, with four kinds of fillings in total.
The children can now make some dumplings, and those who can’t will just take on the job of washing pots, chopping wood and making fire.
Jin Zian was not idle either. He was not good at chopping pork or slaughtering chickens, but he was good at cutting and preparing vegetables.
Even Zhang Cuiling felt inferior to her.
They made a lot, not only for the Chinese New Year, but also because even if there were any leftovers at this time of year, they wouldn't go bad and could be used to make noodles.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xia Manni's braised food was ready.
There were both meat and vegetarian dishes, and she let everyone try them.
Except for Jin Zian and Sini'er, everyone else thought it was delicious.
Xia Manni thought about it and thought that maybe the two of them could not accept the taste.
The two kids who liked to eat it the most were Erwa and Sanwa. Sanwa even suggested that this thing could be sold at the market.
"This isn't easy to preserve, but if we have our own store in the future, we can take a look at it."
At this time, Zhang Cuiling laughed and said, "Sanwa is really a money-grubber. He thinks about making money all the time."
Xia Manni also laughed, and suddenly thought: "Oh right, let's take some to the village chief and ask if we can give the children names."
The naming had already been decided.
After the New Year, Da Wa was ten years old, Er Gou was nine years old, Er Wa was eight years old, San Wa and Sinier were six years old.
It's time to give them names. Besides, they are now in the capital of the Great Qi Dynasty, and it would be embarrassing for the children to always call them by their nicknames.
Watching the children grow up day by day and going to school after the New Year, they must have a name.
When you reach a certain age, your name will be given by the elders in your family.
But Xia Manni took into consideration that they had just arrived and the village chief was a highly respected person. If the village chief was willing to give them names, it would mean that the village would recognize these children in the future.
Of course, if the village chief is too lazy to take care of it, it’s not a big deal.
With this mentality in mind, the two of them took some braised meat and fried food and went to the village chief's house.
Unexpectedly, when the village chief heard that he wanted to name several children, he agreed immediately.
The village chief's wife was curious and delighted to see the food sent by Xia Manni and others.
Because the eldest child's name had already been decided, Xia Hongda, the village chief only named the remaining four children.
It’s not that easy to come up with a name, so the village chief asked them to come back tomorrow to get it.
When they left, the village chief's wife packed some fresh fruits and melons for them.
This is a rare food. The winter here is much colder than that in Shizai Village.
Fruits are also limited in winter, but they are still available.
Xia Manni and the others didn't buy any because there were very few for sale.
As for these at the village chief's house, they were placed in the ice cellar by the villagers themselves during the autumn harvest.
Xia Manni and Zhang Cuiling thanked them and then returned home.
Sure enough, the five children became excited when they saw the fruit, and they had eaten all of it before the next day.
It was the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month and it was still dark.
There was a sudden bang in the Xia family's yard, followed by Potato's low roar.
The eldest child was awakened. He slept with the second and third children.
After he woke up, he did not wake up his younger brothers, but since Erwa started practicing martial arts, he was very sensitive to external sounds, so he also got up.
The two of them came to the yard. When Potato saw them, he wagged his tail and bit something on the ground with his teeth.
At this time, the second child was still holding a sword, and the eldest child was holding a wooden stick.
With the dim light in the sky, they saw that Potato was holding a large bag in his mouth.
The bundle was nearly half a meter wide, like a large basin stuck in the yard.
Big Boy poked the bundle with a wooden stick, but there was no response.
Okay, just make sure it’s not a living thing.
When Erwa saw that he couldn't move, he immediately grabbed the bag.
The eldest child was too late to stop it, and the second child was actually having trouble holding him.
"So heavy?"
The eldest boy also came to help and found that it was indeed not light.
No wonder it makes a sound, it turns out it’s something inside that makes the sound.
Erwa: "Brother, what is this?"
Da Wa thought about it and felt that although this thing was a bit mysterious, it should have been done by someone who knew them.
It's either something good or something that harms them.
Big Brother went to the door again and saw that the bolt was intact. Potato next to him looked like he had just been woken up.
I opened the door and heard a dog barking outside, but there was no sound around.
It was still dark, and even for work it was still early, so no one was up yet.
What's more, today is the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the highlight is in the evening.
The eldest child said, "Second child, you stay here and watch. I'll go wake up mother."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
