The way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival here is also similar to what Miao He is familiar with, which is to admire the moon, eat moon cakes and glutinous rice cakes. Of course, there are also lantern festivals, but only lantern festivals, and only in places with a lot of people like towns or county towns, there are people who pay for them. In small villages like Miaojia Village, there are river lanterns placed on the riverside.
However, the lantern festival and the activities of putting river lanterns here also have a very important function. It is to let some single men and women who have not yet married can take advantage of this opportunity to admire the lights to catch a glimpse of each other intentionally or unintentionally. Although the elders have the final say in marrying and marrying in this era, some elders who love their children still hope that the object of marriage is the favorite of their children. So somehow, the Mid-Autumn Festival of Lanterns has the function of invisible blind date.
Men and women will also wear their best clothes and participate in the Lantern Festival on this day. Of course, those who are already married must also participate. The Lantern Festival was originally a prayer event. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will still bring bad omen.
This reminded Miao He that when grandpa took him in the past, the older generation would have the habit of drinking sweet-scented osmanthus wine in addition to appreciating lanterns. Only then did they realize that they had forgotten to plant osmanthus trees! ! Such a beautiful and fragrant flower, how could it not exist! ! Hurry up and let Yang Dalang go to the town to find seeds, and if he doesn't find some osmanthus branches, he will come back. According to Miao He's impression, sweet-scented osmanthus can be planted from cuttings.
Fortunately, around the Mid-Autumn Festival is the season of sweet-scented osmanthus blossoms. Someone in the town actually pulled out the branches of sweet-scented osmanthus for decoration, and Yang Dalang spent a few dollars to buy it home. Miao He got the cinnamon stick and buried it in the soil with uncertainty, and tried to plant it with the soil. ! Now there are two beautiful osmanthus trees blooming in the backyard. The bright colors of the yard against the golden birch trees that change with the seasons are the most beautiful colors of nature.
If someone else asked, Miao He planned to explain that Dalang got it together when he went to find the saplings. However, in this busy farming season, when families are rushing to harvest rice and plant wheat, no one will come to their house to hang out. Even Second Aunt Yang seldom came over in recent days because of the preparation of moon cakes. And Miao He couldn't make moon cakes. It was too difficult. He made an appointment with the second aunt to go to her house to learn firsthand this time. Before that, although there was no osmanthus wine to drink, he decided to make some osmanthus cold cakes to add a festive atmosphere to the home.
The method is to steam the glutinous rice until soft, add water and a little salt, then let Yang Dalang smash it with a stick, which is almost like a glutinous rice cake, and then press it into small pieces and cut into long pieces. The filling is made of red bean paste with white sugar and red beans, and boiled with sweet-scented osmanthus, caramel and honey to make sweet-scented osmanthus syrup. In the final combination of the three, the previous glutinous rice slices are coated with osmanthus syrup, then wrapped in red bean paste, rolled up, and it is a roll full of osmanthus aroma and delicious osmanthus cold cake!
It was so fragrant when I made it, and all five small animals were jumping and scratching outside the kitchen, so I was in a hurry. As a leader, Da Bai was equally anxious to come and go. But this kind of glutinous rice cake has a high sweetness and is not easy to digest. Miaohe couldn't do it, so he diluted the sweetness with sweet-scented osmanthus syrup, and then offered it to these furry children.
Although most of the cakes were made by Yang Dalang, Miao He only opened his mouth. After finishing, Miao He still proudly stuffed a piece into Yang Dalang's mouth, "It's delicious!"
Indeed, as soon as you enter it, the soft glutinous rice has some rice fragrance and salty taste, so you should mention the taste first. Biting down again, the rich aroma of osmanthus immediately spread out from the mouth. After the aroma, there is another simple sweet and soft red bean fragrance. The three are blended with each other, and the layers of salty and sweet are intertwined, and they all become a harmonious and wonderful taste in the mouth.
Now that Yang Dalang is influenced, the more he can appreciate the beauty in details, just like the little brother who nodded his head when he heard the words.
"It's easy to make this cake. Except for the second aunt's house, the shopkeeper Jin helped a lot when warming up the pot. He borrowed tables and chairs from him, and he didn't take our money. Would you like to use this gift?" Miao He tilted his head and asked.
"Well, the shopkeeper is absolutely delighted."
Even if the quantity is not enough to make dishes for sale, it is a thoughtful and surprising human feeling to give to frequent customers as a Mid-Autumn Festival gift. Yang Dalang gradually understood the operation of the teahouse, and easily thought of the purpose of this cold cake.
"Yeah, that's good! Even if you have to spend more money on sugar, that's a must!"
Seeing his little brother's happy expression with broken teeth, Yang Dalang wondered when he would go up the mountain to hunt again. However, neither of them expected that after the cold cake was made and sent to the teahouse, Yang Dalang, who came back, actually brought back a small wooden box.
"What, there are still dividends for the Mid-Autumn Festival?!" Miao He stared.
"Not all of them. The rest will be counted during the festival."
"That's great, too, it's like giving charcoal in the snow! Let's see how many there are?" Miao He's face lit up.
Yang Dalang opened the box, he had already counted it. "Fifty two."
"Five, fifty taels!? Fifty taels per red!?" Miao He took a deep breath.
Yang Dalang touched the round-eyed little brother, "Well, fifty taels. You earned it."
After hearing this, Miao He threw himself into his arms, "Where is it! We earned it together! If you didn't insist, how could there be any dividends to get."
Yang Dalang didn't want to divide you and me, he just reminded himself how precious the gentle and soft little brother in his arms was, no matter how weird he appeared, he didn't want to get into it. He just wants people to stay by his side.
"If you have silver taels, continue to spend." Yang Dalang kissed Miao He's ear.
Miao He nestled in the arms of people, didn't understand people's mind at all, bent his eyes and laughed. "Really?"
The little brother who can spend money and wants to save money is very cute even if it is contradictory. Yang Dalang responded.
Miao He counted his fingers with bright eyes, "Then buy a donkey cart first, I've wanted to buy it for a long time! Now the more and more vegetables are delivered, you don't want to ride in Uncle Ma's car and carry too much. It's hard work, it's convenient to have a car!"
"Besides, if there is enough money, I would like to dig a well. The courtyard outside the bath room has space, and the master also said that the water should be no problem. With a well, you don't have to go to the stream every day to carry it. water."
… and the rest are additional, what is really irresistible is the constant care and warmth.
"it is good."
"I need to make more clothes for autumn and winter. Not only the baby's clothes, but also yours. Now you have to go to the teahouse, make sure you are neat, and don't let people laugh at you behind your back. That is, you tried on the clothes made by the second aunt before. The new clothes are really good-looking! You used to pay too little attention to your appearance, and you are obviously good looking... "
Yang Dalang hugged him even tighter.
Then he found the little brother's babbling mouth, suppressing the madness and grinding it finely.
The ground Miaohe's bones were crisp, and her face was hot.
Between heaven and earth, only Yang Dalang's temperature and taste remain.
—
The next day, Miao He, who was stuffed with sauce the night before, but instead became the protagonist of a shameful PLAY because he didn't come true, got up with a red face, and hurriedly kicked Yang Dalang out to buy a donkey cart.
Soon, another small donkey was added to the animals at home.
The self-proclaimed leader, Dabai, almost couldn't handle it. After all, the newcomers are too big!
The little donkey was slick and smooth, very energetic, its fur was gray and black, and its mouth was white. Miao He decided to call it Xiaobai (Dabai & Xiaobai: ... ). But even if it came, Miao He could not enjoy the treatment of a car for the time being. Yang Dalang said that he had to drive more, and let Miao He get in the car when he was proficient.
At this time, even though the village was busy, there was an atmosphere of joy. The weather this year is not bad. Although the rain is a little less, it barely affects the harvest. During the autumn harvest, everyone is tired, but their faces are full and happy.
Miao He also followed the agreement and went to the second aunt's house before the Mid-Autumn Festival to learn how to make moon cakes. The moon cakes of Er Shenhui are similar to Cantonese-style moon cakes. The pie crust is a dough kneaded with white flour, sugar mussels, lard and lye water. Alkaline water is a kind of seasoning extracted from plant ash, and it is also used to make alkaline rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival. Miaohe did not expect it to be available at this time.
The moon cake skin is baked and the surface is fragrant and golden, and it looks appetizing. The fillings are both salty and sweet. The sweet ones are made of jujube puree egg yolk and mung bean pine nuts, and the salty ones are a layer of glutinous rice cake sandwiched in the meat floss, similar to mandarin duck cakes. Miao He took three large moon cakes home that day, which means that he will not use any cakes this year.
But just when he thought he could easily spend the last Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Dalang, who came back from the teahouse, brought back a new business.
There is no doubt that the shopkeeper Jin wanted to add osmanthus cold cake with full of apology and pleading. This kind of cake is more delicate than the mung bean cake, and the taste is more varied. In addition to the occasion, the cold cake that was originally sent out as a mid-autumn gift, the regular customers who received the gift turned back and expressed their strong willingness to order! !
Ah, did you open the home delivery business so soon? !
"Okay, okay, no problem!" Miao He's eyes lit up. "But first, we have to think of a pattern to print on the sweet-scented sweet-scented osmanthus cake!"
"Pattern? Why?"
Miao He smiled and said, "In the future, as long as you look at the pictures, you will know if it's something from our house! And customers who have bought it will definitely be more willing to buy it if they see something with a picture. In the future, the fruit pulp will come out of the mountain. Or other food, you can do it like this."
Yang Dalang touched Miao He, who had a confident face, "Okay. You draw it, and I'll make the big copper engraving."
After that, the two got busy again. Fortunately, I brewed some sweet-scented osmanthus honey before and saved it. After this most troublesome task was saved, the other things like making glutinous rice cakes, cooking red beans, and cooking syrup were not a problem. Yang Dalang could handle it himself, only Miao He was by his side. Guidance will do.
On the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first batch of sweet-scented sweet-scented sweet-scented sweet-scented osmanthus cakes with patterns came out, and there were ten boxes in total! They rode the newly bought donkey cart and were sent directly to the Yangshui Teahouse. There is a pattern on the top of each cold cake, which is a circle with three small leaves. It symbolizes that the three soils are the source of everything. Look carefully at these three leaflets, the angle is not three points, this is also a design to prevent counterfeiting in the future.
Shopkeeper Jin could not see the intention behind these details. I found that there was a mark on the pastry, which actually made it look better. I took it away without even thinking about it. I smiled and packed it in the highest-grade wooden box in the teahouse, and sent it to the noble family.
The next day is Mid-Autumn Festival.
During the day, Miao He followed Yang Dalang to eat moon cakes at the second aunt's house for the festival. They played with Yang Datong's two sons, one was three years old and the other was almost one year old, eating and drinking, lively. In the evening, the two changed into new clothes made by the second aunt, held the river lanterns bought in the town, held hands, and walked to the river to set the lanterns.