After thinking for a while, he said, "However, if you can buy beef, you can take a piece back. At that time, I will chop it up and make it for you, or make it into sauce and bring it to the palace to eat. It is better than mutton."
The eyes of the three were bright, Man Bao looked at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang and said, "I'm going to be on duty in the palace tomorrow."
Bai Shan said: "I'll go find Yin Yu."
Bai Erlang: "I'm going too, I'm going too!"
The three of them just stood by the kitchen door for a quarter of an hour, and finally left under Xiao Qian's repeated urging.
Daji had already handed over their things to the servants to take them back, seeing them running back in a hurry, he couldn't help but glance at the kitchen.
The three of them washed and changed their clothes as quickly as possible, and then ran to the kitchen in the west courtyard together.
Xiaoqian happened to turn on the steamer, and she tried to poke a piece of meat with her chopsticks. After confirming that it was soft, she wrapped her hands in a cloth and took out a bowl for them. Then she stopped the fire and let it savor slowly.
She put the steamed meat on a small table in the kitchen, let them sit on the small stools to eat, and said with a smile: "It's not the best time to eat it yet, let it be suffocated slowly, wait It was still warm when eating dinner, and the steamed meat that was taken out at that time was the best."
The three nodded in unison, Bai Shan took three pairs of chopsticks from the side and gave them a pair, then looked at Xiao Qian and asked, "Would you like to eat some with us, sister-in-law?"
Xiaoqian shook her head with a smile, and said, "Eat it, I'll eat it at night."
He looked at the sky outside again, and then said: "Eat quickly, they will be back in a while."
Man Bao stretched out his chopsticks first to pick up a piece of steamed meat, followed by Bai Shan and Bai Erlang. While eating, the two of them thought, Li Xue is so pitiful, that is the sister-in-law's own son.
Seeing that they ate with bright eyes, Xiaoqian was also happy, and said to the three of them: "After dinner in the evening, I will take out three bowls and put them outside the house to freeze. You can try to bring them into the palace to eat, don't you mean Do you have fires in the palace too?"
Man Bao said while eating: "Sister-in-law, we will be on the seventh day of the holiday. These must not be enough for the family to eat."
Xiaoqian smiled and said: "Then I will do it again when you are about to enter the palace, but meat is expensive during the Chinese New Year..."
Bai Shan waved his hands grandly and said: "Let's figure out a solution for the meat, sister-in-law, don't worry."
It's not much for three people to share a bowl of steamed meat, that is, three yuan per person. They not only finished the steamed meat, but also finished the white radish under the steamed meat.
The three of them were a little unfinished, but Xiaoqian said: "Save your stomach for dinner. We will have dinner together. Aunt Rong is already cooking. I'll go over and help later."
And Mrs. Liu, who couldn't wait for her grandson to come over from the east courtyard, smelled the faint fragrance in the air, and said with a smile, "This kid must have gone to the west courtyard to eat meat."
Not to mention, even Mrs. Zheng was a little greedy.
She said: "Our side is far away. I heard from the servants who came back that the streets near the west courtyard are full of meaty smells. There are already several houses wandering around the side entrance today."
After thinking for a while, Mrs. Liu smiled and said: "This is a way. Doesn't the Zhou family know what gifts to give to the neighbors? It's not good if it's too heavy, or too light. Just give some homemade things. It's over."
Xiaoqian's craftsmanship is not very delicate, at least the color is worse than the chef's, but the dishes she cooks have a special taste, people want to eat them after eating, just feel that the taste is right as long as they are eaten.
Even Mrs. Liu has seen Xiaoqian teach Aunt Rong to make meatballs, but it is the same meat, the same flour, and the steps are the same, but the meatballs made have two different flavors.
What Xiaoqian made is to be more tender and more vigorous.
This year is the first time for the three families to celebrate the New Year in the capital, and Lao Zhou has a lot of family members, so they prepared a lot of good things.
As early as before and after the heavy snowfall, Little Qian's began to prepare for the New Year.
They smoked bacon and sausages in Zhuangzi, and made a lot of jar meat and jar fish. After the new year, she even made meatballs in Zhou's house...
Even Aunt Rong was hooked by her to show her housekeeping skills, and the two brought the people in the kitchen and the old Zhou's sister-in-law to cook a lot of delicious food.
It can be said that the most indispensable thing in Zhou's house now is food.
Although, with the family background of the three families, it is not necessary to prepare these delicacies in advance, and you can eat ready-made ones, but Mrs. Liu still expressed her support.
It is enough to see these children wandering around the kitchen excitedly every day.
When the sun was about to set, Lao Zhoutou and Qian came back with a group of children and grandchildren. When they saw Manbao, Lao Zhoutou was overjoyed, and said to her: "The restaurant is closed, we will take all the things in the restaurant. Pack it up, you can go out to play tomorrow, where do you want to go?"
Man Bao had a look of pity, "Father, I'm going to be on guard in the palace tomorrow."
Old Zhou was not disappointed either, and asked with a smile, "It's all right, shall we go play later?"
Man Bao nodded hesitantly, "If I'm not very sleepy, I can get up."
Mrs. Qian stopped Old Zhou and asked Man Bao, "How long will you be on duty?"
"I will be on duty tomorrow and the 30th day."
Qian frowned slightly, "Are you still on duty on the night of thirty?"
Old Zhou Tou is also a little unhappy, it's Chinese New Year.
Man Bao sighed and said, "Physician Liu said that our Xiao Yuanzheng has not been home for the New Year in six years, and he is on duty every year at thirty."
When the old Zhou heard it, he felt a little sympathetic, "Six years? The last time I saw Xiao Yuanzheng was not too young, did he have any grandchildren?"
Man Bao nodded, "Yes, it seems to be six or seven years old?"
For a moment, old Zhou Tou didn't feel that it would be a bad thing for his daughter to go on duty once for thirty, he sighed and said, "Then go, this is because my grandson hasn't celebrated the New Year together since he was born."
Pitiful.
Mrs. Qian glanced at Old Zhou, and said to Man Bao, "Talk about what you can bring into the palace with your mother. Then I will ask your sister-in-law to make something for you to bring, and you can eat it when you are on duty at night."
Man Bao swallowed his saliva and said, "Steamed meat?"
Qian Shi smiled and nodded her nose, "You are greedy, eat it at night, your sister-in-law cooks so much, you can eat it for two days at a time, why bother taking it to the palace?"
That's what he said, but Mrs. Qian also agreed.
In the evening, everyone had dinner together. Because of the large number of people, three tables were divided directly. Man Bao and the younger ones sat at one table, and Mr. Zhuang sat at the same table with Mrs. Zhou, Mrs. Liu and so on.
He also missed Xiaoqian's craftsmanship very much, especially this steamed meat dish that could only be eaten during the Chinese New Year.
Because Mr. Zhuang is Man Bao's husband, he is the only one who can give a bowl of steamed meat to their family. Even the Bai family does not have this honor. Both Bai Shan and Bai Erlang can only follow Man Bao to Lao Zhou's house. eat.