As the saying goes, "On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house." The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is the annual dust-sweeping day. Every household cleans the house and removes dust on this day.
On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Yan rose early. While her husband, father, and mother were busy in the yard as usual, Lin Yan and Yu Ge'er began preparing their morning meal. They cooked a pot of corn porridge with rice and some cornmeal. Lin Yan then scooped a bowl of sour beans, added a spoonful of chili sauce, a spoonful of lard, and a spoonful of soy sauce, and mixed them together. The porridge was so delicious that even without it, Lin Yan could finish half a bowl.
Dad and Shi Yun have big appetites, so they started making tofu early in the morning. They were not full after eating tofu, so Lin Yan heated up some vegetable rice cakes made yesterday.
This vegetable glutinous rice cake is made from glutinous rice flour. It's made here during festivals, but you can also make it anytime you want. Since Chinese New Year is a feast for fish and meat, Lin Yan made it a few days in advance. Two days ago, he went to the town grain store and bought three pounds of glutinous rice flour, enough to make about thirty glutinous rice cakes.
For the filling, chop the radish, chives, and pork belly. Mix them together evenly. Heat lard in a pan, add the mixed filling and stir-fry. Add salt and fry until cooked.
Add glutinous rice flour and warm water to knead into dough. Glutinous rice flour cannot be kneaded smooth like flour and will always be sticky, so leave half a bowl for later use.
To make it, rub glutinous rice flour on your hands. Then, pinch a small dough ball and flatten it until it's large enough to resemble a dumpling wrapper, but unlike dumpling wrappers, the vegetable glutinous rice cake wrapper is hand-kneaded. Once it's formed into a circle, you can add the filling. Once you're done, close the fold and pinch the edges tightly. Also dust the dustpan you place the vegetable glutinous rice cake in with glutinous rice flour to prevent it from sticking.
The finished vegetable rice cake looks like a crescent moon. If you want to eat it in soup, just boil it in water. If you want to eat it dry, just fry it in oil. Both are delicious.
Zhao Shiyun's family likes to fry rice cakes, and so does Lin Yan. Therefore, all thirty vegetable rice cakes are fried. After frying, the skin is golden brown. When you take a bite, the crispy dough and rich fillings are so delicious that Zhao Shiyun can eat three or four in one breath.
Yesterday, after we made it, the whole family devoured half of it and didn't eat much for dinner. Now, we've heated up seven for breakfast. Zhao Shiyun and Daddy have two, and Li Yuemei and Lin Yanyu have one. Then, they drink a mouthful of corn porridge and eat a bite of sour beans. This morning meal is quite rich.
After breakfast, the family started to get busy again. Lin Yan thought that since today was cleaning day, he decided to clean the kitchen thoroughly.
He found a clean rag and wiped the stove carefully. The grease on the stove gradually disappeared after Lin Yan's patient wiping. The rag was also dirty, so Lin Yan scrubbed it twice with bath beads before it was clean.
Then I cleaned the cupboard and found some dried goods in the corner, such as black fungus, mushrooms, day lily, etc. I thought I could use them to make soup in the evening and stir-fry the black fungus.
Li Yuemei moved the big pot to the yard, found a tile, and began to scrape the dust off the bottom of the pot. She simply scraped it a few times to remove the thicker and easily falling parts, and then rinsed it with well water a few times.
Zhao Qiming was sweeping away the spiderwebs on the roof and beams with a long bamboo pole tied with a cloth strip, while Zhao Shiyun stood on a ladder, sweeping the dust from the beams with a broom. There was a swallow's nest under the eaves of the Zhao family's house, and Zhao Qiming carefully avoided it, fearing it might stumble upon it.
Zhao Shiyun swung his broom vigorously, sending clouds of dust swirling down, choking Zhao Qiming and causing him to cough repeatedly. Seeing this, Lin Yan brought a basin of clean water and sprinkled it into the air, instantly settling much of the dust. Soon, the roof and beams were spotless.
After her husband and father finished cleaning the roof beams, Yu Ge'er began to boil pomelo leaves. Lin Yan prepared to sprinkle water and sweep the floor. Using pomelo leaves to wipe furniture and sweep the floor is considered auspicious and a ward off evil in southern customs.
During the cleaning process, people will also clean up the clutter in the house and get rid of some unused items, which means throwing away old and bad things to make room for the New Year.
The whole family was busy and tired, but when they looked at the tidy house, their faces were full of satisfaction.
After everything is scrubbed and cleaned, the room should be replaced with new sheets and bedding, and the windows should be pasted with new window paper after a few days by going to town.
It's a sunny afternoon in the south, with bacon dripping with oil hanging in the yard and freshly washed sheets still dripping with water. After sweeping the house, the family sits together, drinking hot tea, eating pumpkin seeds, and discussing preparations for the New Year's shopping in the coming days.
Li Yuemei planned to hand over the matter to Lin Yan. Lin Yan was surprised and felt that the responsibility was great.
"Mom, this is my first time preparing New Year's goods by myself. There are many things I don't understand, so I need your help." Lin Yan finished speaking and poured Li Yuemei a cup of tea. Li Yuemei smiled and said, "We are family. If you have any questions, just ask."
"In previous years, I would also prepare New Year's goods with my mom, but my mom did more of the work. I was afraid that I would miss something, so I wanted to ask more. After all, this is my first year after getting married, and my mom trusts me to take care of it. I am happy but also anxious, afraid that I won't do a good job." Lin Yan was a little embarrassed.
Li Yuemei seemed to remember something and a smile appeared on her lips: "Amo went through the same thing when she was young. In the first year, my mother-in-law, Shi Yun's grandmother, asked me to prepare. I went to the town to buy things and bought a lot of things, but later I forgot to buy the word "Fu". I didn't realize it until New Year's Eve. I quickly cut the red paper at home and asked the scholar in the village to help write it." So many years have passed, but she still wants to laugh when she thinks of this.
Zhao Qiming was reminded of his wife's embarrassing moments when she was young and laughed out loud. "Yeah, it's a good thing your mom didn't blame you, otherwise you would have felt guilty for a long time."
The others laughed along.
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