Chapter 148: Sweet Wine
In addition to the whole picked flower buds, she also broke off a branch of plum blossoms and put it in the room.
When I was in the snow, my nose turned red from the cold and my sense of smell seemed to become less sensitive.
After Zhao Yeqing entered the room with the plum branch, the faint fragrance of the plum blossoms spread throughout the room.
Due to the enclosed space and the warming of my nose, the fragrance of the plum blossoms I smell now is more real than before when I was standing under the plum tree.
She was already looking forward to the taste of plum blossom tea as she smelled the aroma.
After inserting the plum branch into the vase, the sound of Mu Xi sawing bamboo came from outside.
The bamboo poles were very long. Except for the walking area in the yard where the snow had been swept away, the rest of the yard was still covered with snow.
The cylindrical bamboo is hard to control on the ground as the surface is somewhat slippery and it always moves when sawing.
Zhao Yeqing walked over and stepped on the bamboo. Only with the weight of both of them did the bamboo settle down.
The bamboo was sawed into small pieces. She had no experience in making a sled, and the only images she could recall in her mind were the cartoons she had watched as a child.
The one that Santa Claus sits on.
Zhao Yeqing drew the image of a sleigh on a piece of paper and handed it to Mu Xi.
The two of them shook off the snow on their bodies, carried all the materials into the kitchen, and pieced them together according to the blueprint while warming themselves by the fire.
There are two slide rails at the bottom of the sled, and a chair for people to sit on is nailed on top.
Not sure if it can slide.
It is still snowing outside, and the accumulated snow is still relatively soft. We have to wait until the snow stops. After a few days of exposure to wind and sun, the accumulated snow will become hard.
Only then can we try whether it can be rowed.
The sleds can either be played by sliding down a hill or by finding an animal to pull the sled.
I don’t know if the four dogs at home can pull her.
If there is no other option, we can only send Xiaohong.
Zhao Yeqing walked to the stable to give Xiaohong a snack.
The stable is like the chicken coop, with some ventilated areas on all sides wrapped in plastic sheeting, and the temperature inside is still relatively warm.
Xiaohong was feeling a little bored staying in the stable, and when she saw her come in, she stuck out her tongue and started to lick her head.
Zhao Yeqing quickly stopped him, "Why do you want to lick the snow? There is still water in the sink."
It stamped its hooves, indicating that it wanted to go out and play.
Zhao Yeqing fed it the extra grass and said, "I'll take you out to play in two days."
I don’t know when the snow will stop.
Going in and out, there is always snowflakes falling on your head.
In the past, you had to hold an umbrella when it snowed in Meishan, because the snow would melt halfway as soon as it fell, and if you didn’t hold an umbrella you would get wet.
Although it is snowing now, it is dry snow. When it falls on your hands and head, it is dry. You can just pat it off with your hands.
The temperature has dropped a little in the past few days, and Zhao Yeqing stretched out his hand to catch a snowflake.
She found that the colder the temperature, the smaller the snowflakes. Now the snowflakes are no longer hexagonal, but instead have sharp icy edges.
"Close the door and come in to warm yourself by the fire. Be careful not to catch a cold."
Mu Xi took out the glutinous rice that had been soaked last night for making sweet wine, covered it with old cotton wool and it was frozen.
Scoop out the glutinous rice with a thin layer of ice on the surface and place it in a woven basket to drain the water.
"Maybe I forgot to close the windows tightly last night. I have to close the windows tightly today, otherwise the sweet wine won't ferment."
Zhao Yeqing muttered to himself as he took out the steamer and placed it on the pot.
Mu Xi poured the glutinous rice into the steamer lined with a cloth, spread it evenly, and poked a few small holes in the middle with his fingers to allow the rice to be steamed more thoroughly.
The water in the kettle on the stove has boiled, gurgling against the lid.
Zhao Yeqing poured boiling water into the basin and sterilized all the tools that would be used to make sweet wine at high temperature.
The steam from the hot water rises up, and your hands feel warm without even touching the water.
Mu Xi had already processed the plum blossoms she had picked, washing them, removing the stems and stalks, and absorbing the surface moisture with paper towels.
Zhao Yeqing was afraid that the plum blossoms would be tainted with smoke if dried directly, so he covered the plum blossoms with gauze and slowly dried them with the red charcoal fire left over from burning firewood.
"The glutinous rice is almost ready, do you want to eat it?"
Mu Xi poked the glutinous rice with a sterilized rice spoon. There was no rustling sound, so he grabbed a little and put it in his mouth to check if it was undercooked.
Zhao Yeqing shook his head, "I won't eat it anymore. I'll make it all into a sweet bar."
Mu Xi held the edge of the cloth and poured the glutinous rice into the sterilized basin, stirring it with tools that had also been scalded with high temperature.
You also need to add some boiled water to cool the glutinous rice down so as not to scald the koji.
The koji was still in the form of gray balls. Zhao Yeqing took one, crushed it with a rolling pin, ground it into powder, and sprinkled it on the slightly warm glutinous rice.
Mu Xi put the glutinous rice into the jar and pressed it tightly, then made a hole in the middle and covered the jar with plastic wrap.
Zhao Yeqing brought in a basket full of straw. The middle of the basket was empty, and the surrounding areas were filled with straw for insulation. Mu Xi placed the jar in the middle.
He also covered the glutinous rice with the old cotton wool that he had used before. He carried the basket into the room and placed the basket containing the jars next to the burning fireplace.
Zhao Yeqing looked at the pea tips on the windowsill next to the fireplace. He said he wanted to eat them a few days ago, but he didn't expect that he couldn't stop eating them after eating the spicy soup.
She cut off the tips of the peas because if she didn't eat them she would get old.
The two pots yielded a large handful of pea tips, which were just right for eating when blanched in soup.
We have been eating mutton for such a long time, but the mutton offal has not been touched at all.
Mu Xi sliced the mutton into thin slices, put the mutton offal into the pot to stew first, and when it was almost cooked, added two pieces of sheep's blood.
Finally, add the thinly sliced meat.
The staple food is rice cooked with highland barley rice.
Zhao Yeqing found the food a little bland, so he ran to the bottom of the cupboard and dug out a jar of pickled chilies he had made.
This jar contains chopped peppers. After the peppers were harvested, some were picked, chopped and put into the jar, mixed with garlic, white wine, salt and sugar.
The bright red chopped peppers are now fragrant, and just smelling it makes me feel like I can eat three bowls of rice.
She made it according to the Hunan recipe, but unfortunately there was no fermented black beans.
Zhao Yeqing scooped out a small bowl of chopped pepper and walked over to let Mu Xi taste it. "Is it delicious?"
Mu Xi nodded. He looked at the amount Zhao Yeqing scooped into the bowl and thought he wanted to use the chopped pepper to make a dipping sauce.
"I want one too."
Zhao Yeqing readily agreed. She was very knowledgeable about dipping sauces. After all, every time she ate hotpot, she had to spend a few to more than ten yuan on the condiments, so of course she had to study them carefully.
The slightly bland mutton offal is instantly elevated in flavor after being served in a dish with chopped peppers as the base.
There was too much mutton offal, and the two of them ate too much but couldn't finish it. Looking at the dog drooling on the ground next to them, Zhao Yeqing simply mixed rice with the mutton offal and fed it all to them.
The dogs were all fat and plump. Zhao Yeqing patted their heads and said, "I'll take you to lose weight after the snow stops in a few days."
The thought of having a few dogs pulling her sled makes her happy.
But the snow kept falling and didn't stop until the sweet wine was ready.
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