After directing the people to unload everything from the carriage, Granny Wen chatted briefly before leaving with them.
Su Yun'er was left at home pondering how to reciprocate, while the villagers chatted curiously.
As soon as the carriage entered the village, people saw it immediately. Some stood at their doorsteps watching, while others followed it for a while, until the carriage stopped in front of the Chen family's house.
The same carriage always comes from the Sun family. In the past, only one carriage would come, but today they brought a whole cart of things together.
Soon, the news that "the Sun family sent a cartload of things to the Chen family" spread throughout the village.
"This young widow from the Chen family is really something, she actually managed to marry into such a wealthy family."
"With such a carload of good stuff, the Chen family is going to have a very wealthy New Year."
"Oh my, I'm so envious. How can she be so amazing?"
"No matter how capable she is, she's still just a young widow, burdened with an old man and a young child. What, does she think she can remarry a rich man? Tch~"
The gossip in the village was constant, and Su Yun'er couldn't pretend she hadn't heard it.
She turned around, picked up a large basin of water mixed with chicken droppings and feathers from cleaning the chicken coop, and splashed it all over the doorway!
Then he closed the courtyard gate and listened to the wailing of the person outside who had just said something unpleasant, yelling "Ouch, it stinks!" He felt a sense of satisfaction.
Bah! A foul-mouthed scoundrel should hang out with other foul-mouthed people.
Looking at the mess in the yard, Su Yun'er couldn't help but smile.
Judging from the types of items, Su Yun'er knew that Sun Wanqing must have prepared them.
"Mom, what are all these? I've never seen them before." The little tree and grass surrounded the pile of gifts, looking at this and that with curiosity.
Su Yun'er introduced everything to them one by one, and then led the children to pack up all the items.
Looking at the kitchen that was completely full, and the toys and clothes that covered half of the kang (a heated brick bed), Su Yun'er began to think about how to return the favor.
In this era, many of these items are rare treasures that money can't buy. The only thing I can offer is my cooking skills, so I might as well make some snacks and desserts and send them to her.
After some deliberation, Su Yun'er finalized the menu: salted plum tomatoes, candied hawthorn berries, snowflake sugar balls, French fries with ketchup, Thai spicy and sour lemon shrimp, and her specialty braised chicken.
There were snacks, desserts, cold dishes, and main courses, so it was quite a complete selection.
Su Yun'er had done the other dishes before, and she had all the necessary materials, so she was able to make them with ease.
French fries and ketchup are new additions to the menu.
I recently planted two plots of potatoes and some tomatoes in my online space, and we had a bumper harvest.
Crispy French fries and sweet and sour ketchup make for a popular snack enjoyed by people of all ages.
Tomato sauce is easy to make with just tomatoes, salt, rock sugar, and lemon.
"Mom, what delicious food are you making again?" Xiao Shu clung to the stove, watching Su Yun'er peel the tomatoes and crush them into small pieces.
Su Yun'er picked out a larger piece from the bowl and put it in his mouth: "Is it good?"
"Delicious!" Little Tree's eyes widened immediately as he savored the taste.
"Tomatoes are so delicious! They can be eaten raw or cooked in dishes. Mom, I'm craving your tomato and egg stir-fry again."
Su Yun'er said, "I'll make you something else today, ketchup."
As Su Yun'er spoke, she added the tomato chunks, rock sugar, and lemon juice to the pot and simmered them over low heat.
"Little Tree, come help Mom stir it. Don't let the tomato sauce burn, and be careful not to burn yourself."
After simmering over low heat for about 25 minutes, the tomato sauce in the pot gradually thickened. Then, add an appropriate amount of salt, and the tomato sauce is ready.
Xiao Cao has been tending to the stove fire, where a rich, dark-sweet braised chicken is simmering.
Little Shu secretly scooped a little tomato sauce from the bowl with her tiny finger and quickly stuffed it into her mouth: "Mom, how do we eat this tomato sauce? Do we mix it with noodles?"
Su Yun'er was taken aback: "I haven't tried mixing noodles before. If you're curious, you can try it yourself."
"How is Mother going to eat this tomato sauce?" Little Grass asked curiously, staring at the big bowl of bright red stuff.
"You'll find out soon enough."
After washing and peeling the potatoes, Su Yun'er cut them into strips about the thickness of a finger. After cutting the potatoes, each cut surface had a layer of fine, slippery starch liquid, which needed to be washed off. After washing, she put them directly into the pot to blanch them. She took them out when they were not yet soft enough to fall apart.
After wiping the potatoes dry, coat them evenly with a layer of starch and salt, and then they are ready to be fried in oil.
Fry until slightly golden brown and the surface of the potatoes hardens, then they are ready to be taken out of the pan.
The aroma of fried potatoes can be smelled not only in the kitchen but also in the yard.
The crispy fries were ready. Su Yun'er picked up two, dipped them in ketchup, and gave one to each of the two children.
Freshly fried fries are the most fragrant, with a crispy outer shell and a soft, mashed potato texture inside. Even without ketchup, they have a slightly salty taste.
Ah, the joy of a mixture of oil, sugar, and carbohydrates!
After working for more than two hours, Su Yun'er had prepared all the return gifts to be sent to the Sun family.
Apart from the French fries, everything else was already prepared. To keep the fries crispy, they needed to be fried and eaten immediately, so Su Yun'er prepared a portion of boiled potato fries, a portion of starch mixed with salt, and used a charcoal-burned twig to write the word "fried" on a piece of paper.
Su Yun'er didn't want to write too many words, lest she reveal that she knew too many characters. Explaining it later would be another troublesome matter. She thought the chef at the Sun family should be able to understand it.
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