After returning home, Lin Jincai, who went to the stonemason's house in a neighboring village, also returned. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info he was ordered to order a stone mill at the behest of Xiaohan, but he didn't expect that the stonemason's house happened to have a ready-made one, which was ordered by a guest a month ago, but he never came to pick it up. When he heard that Lin Jincai wanted to buy a stone mill, he was overjoyed, and he only needed 80 yuan, which was 10 yuan cheaper than the market price, and asked his son to put on an ox cart and send the stone mill to Lin's house.

Xiao Han was very happy to see the stone mill pulled back, tomorrow is the twenty-ninth day of the New Year, according to the customs here, every household has to beat rice cakes, evaporate cakes, and wrap zongzi. In this way, there is no need to go to the ancestral hall in the village to queue, and it used to take half a day.

Because of the small population, the He family can't make too many things like rice crackers, and when they heard that the Lin family bought a stone mill, they wanted to make it in partnership with the Lin family. As soon as Zhang came over and said, Chen agreed.

He Mu was the happiest in this matter, because pushing the stone mill was a man's job, and of course he had to get the Lin family to help.

The first step in beating rice crackers is to fry the rice. Early in the morning, Chen washed the glutinous rice with hot water, and then put it in a sieve to dry. After Xiao Han heated the cauldron, Chen poured the glutinous rice into the pot and stir-fried, and she instructed Xiao Han how to burn the fire while stir-frying, saying that the fire should not be too strong or too small. When the rice is fried and fluffy, the appearance is a little yellow, and the aroma comes out, you can turn off the fire, then use a spatula to shovel it out, put it in a basin, and grind it into powder with a stone mill after cooling.

After breakfast, there was a boy's laughter outside, Xiao Han went out to take a look, it turned out that He Mu and Lixia had already pushed the stone mill, and Huang Zhongbao's second son Huang Erhu and youngest daughter Huang Xiaolian were standing next to them. It was Lin Jincai who came over to inform them, because he had borrowed their ox cart before, and Lin Jincai had always been very grateful to Huang Zhongbao.

Huang Erhu is a simple-looking young man, about seventeen years old, when he saw Xiao Han come out, he only glanced at her, and then lowered his head with a red face and didn't dare to take a closer look. Huang Xiaolian is the same age as herself, but she is a generous girl, beckoning to Xiao Han with a smile on her face, revealing her neat white teeth, and her slightly dark face is showing a healthy flush.

Xiao Han walked over to greet her, and then greeted her brother. The two chatted about how many catties of flour your family makes, what kind of steamed cakes you want to wrap, how many zongzi you want to wrap, where to go to pay New Year's greetings during the New Year, and talked about some interesting stories about your peers in the village.

Since Xiao Han came to this world, he has no friends, and he used to be a shy person, so he didn't even have a girlfriend. Now I see that Huang Xiaolian's temperament and personality are quite in line with her appetite, and she intends to have more contacts with her and develop into her first best friend.

Several boys took turns pushing the stone mill while exchanging topics among the boys. also peeked at the two girls from time to time, Xiao Han and Sanshun were blue and red, both of them were young age, slender figures, bright smiles, and laughter like silver bells floated from time to time between their words. A few boys are very energetic and don't feel tired at all.

A few people were talking and laughing, when they suddenly heard a sharp voice say: "Yo, it's so lively here, look, these young men and girls are really daring." How dare we laugh like that at that time, won't we be poked in the back? Dad, don't you say?"

It turned out that Lin San and Liu Bapo came. Liu also went to the village ancestral hall to line up to grind flour today, because she went late, and it was not her turn to wait in line for a long time, so she began to complain.

The people behind couldn't help but sarcastically say: "If you are too slow, you go to Lin Liu's sister-in-law's house, their family just bought a big stone mill, and I just saw Erhu and Xiaolian go to their house with rice." Why, I didn't invite you? Come to think of it, the last time the two of you got into a scene like that, people didn't pay attention to you for a long time. ”

Since the last time he quarreled with Xiao Han, the Liu family has had nightmares for several nights, always dreaming that the ancestor of the Lin family pointed at his nose and scolded. finally got better under Lin San's guidance, but he became even more resentful of Xiaohan's family.

This time, she heard that Xiaohan's family bought a stone mill, and she felt a little unhappy when she heard others laughing at her. Then he said, "I am her elder, I am going, will she dare to out." ”

"Will it be, you will find out if you try it. ”

"Just try, who's afraid of whom!" Liu picked up the rice bag and left. But halfway through, I was stunned in my heart, so I pulled Lin San up, thinking that they were all relatives, so they would give some face. Lin San didn't want to go at first, but she couldn't help it, so she had to follow.

But when she arrived at Xiaohan's house, she saw several young men and women talking and laughing, and she couldn't help but say those words for a while.

Xiao Han looked up, and his face sank: There is a way in heaven that you don't go, and there is no door in hell for you to enter.

"Isn't this the famous Liu Bapo in the village who loves to chew the root of her tongue?" Xiao Han was not polite as soon as she spoke, she was deeply disgusted with this old lady.

"Oh, is your boar okay lately? Did your son marry a daughter-in-law? Was it a dog or a chicken? Did your ancestors go and talk to you? Xiao Han said unceremoniously.

Several children laughed, and Liu's head jumped with anger, this was the biggest joke in her life.

"You shameless little slut, you're talking nonsense again, and you're hooking up with other men, this time it's not one, it's two!" she scolded.

Chen in the back room had already heard the voice, and pounced on her with a broom, waving his head and covering his face, while scolding: "Where did the mad dog come to my house and bark, and he won't let me go." I curse you to have a rotten tongue and pus-bones, and when you die, your tongue will be plucked out and you will go to hell. ”

The Liu family was bombarded and couldn't parry, so Lin San had no choice but to pull her out and run out.

After driving them out of the door, Chan slammed the door shut.

Several children were stunned when they looked at the mighty Chen, but Chen, throwing down the broom, clapping his hands, and said casually: "You go on, don't worry about her." When the old lady is a bully, I will beat me once if I dare to come again in the future. ”

Xiao Han gave her a thumbs up: "Mother, there is progress, to deal with this kind of person, you have to do this, the reason doesn't make sense at all." ”

And the Liu family outside the door then scolded the Xiaohan brothers and sisters for not being ashamed. After scolding a few words, a bowl-sized stone was thrown over and smashed on the surface of her feet, she shouted "ouch" in pain, raised her head to look, and saw that the Lin family, He Mu and the Huang family brothers and sisters were all standing there glaring at her, and there was a tendency to rush out to fight. She was a little stunned and didn't dare to speak again, Lin San saw this and pulled her home.

This incident made everyone's mood suddenly low, and several people stopped talking. The rice of the Huang family brothers and sisters was also polished, and they were about to leave and go home.

Xiao Han took Xiaolian's hand and said sincerely: "I wronged you just now, don't mind, Liu Bapo's stinky mouth is famous, just let her fart." I really want to make you a friend. ”

Both brothers and sisters shook their heads and said they didn't mind, Xiaolian smiled and said, "It doesn't matter what others say, we just have a clear conscience ourselves." Don't worry, I'll come over to play after the Chinese New Year, and I like to talk to you. Everyone said that you were awesome before, but before I came to your house, I was still a little drumming in my heart, afraid that you would ignore me. But when I chatted today, I found that you are also quite easy-going, interesting to speak, and more knowledgeable. ”

Xiao Han was very happy to hear this, and said with a firm face: "There is a saying that 'go your own way, let others say go!' and another sentence says, 'Go your own way, let others have no way out!' Treat people like Liu Bapo, it is not enough to just ignore her, you must fight back fiercely, so that she is afraid when she sees me, so that she will not dare to chew the root of her tongue again." ”

"You have a point, better than me. Xiaolian said appreciatively, it was the first time for Erhu to hear such remarks, and he looked at her and smiled, his eyes were full of admiration. He Mu's eyes were full of tenderness.

After the Huang family brothers and sisters left, He Mu stayed here, and he still had to help make rice cakes. Although what happened just now was very annoying, with Xiao Han's intentional adjustment and the cooperation of the spring equinox, everyone quickly forgot about it and began to happily prepare to beat rice cakes.

At this time, Zhang's also came over with sugar, peanuts, sesame seeds and other things, and together with Chen, he was ready to boil sugar water.

The sugar used to boil the syrup can be white sugar or brown sugar, depending on each person's preference. Boiling sugar water is a technical job, you can't put too much water, you can't put too little, put too much, it can't form a sugar shred, put less, it will be burnt. If the juice is too thin, the rice crackers will stick to the mold and will not be shaken, and if the sugar juice is too thick, the rice crackers will not be able to be squeezed into shape. This Xiao Han couldn't intervene, just took a small stool next to him and sat and watched, occasionally helping to hand over something.

When the sugar water is boiled to the point where it can be pumped into shredded sugar, it is ready to go.

After the sugar water cooled slightly, Chen took out a large chopping board, washed it and dried it with a cloth, scooped two bowls of rice noodles with a bowl and poured them on the chopping board, making a nest in the middle of the noodles, and then scooped up a spoonful of sugar water and poured it into it, stirring it quickly with both hands. This step should be fast, if it is slow, the juice will flow out. After stirring well, the rice noodles are grabbed by hand and formed into a ball, and the rice crackers can be beaten.

Zhang also fried the peanuts at this time, and then crushed the peanuts, stirred them with brown sugar and black sesame seeds and put them in a small basin to prepare for rice cake filling.

Next is the rice crackers. To beat rice cakes, you need to have a cake mold, which is a long wooden block with various shapes on it. It is usually round, and there are patterns engraved inside, some are engraved with the words "Fu", "Shou", etc., and some are carved into shape patterns such as chickens, ducks, and fish.

Before putting rice noodles into the cake mold, Chen asked Xiao Han to wipe the cake mold with oil to prevent the rice cake from sticking and not being able to break down when the rice cake was put later.

Chen first showed everyone how to fill the rice crackers: first put half of the rice noodles into the mold, then put some filling, then fill the mold with rice noodles, roll back and forth on the cake mold with a round wooden stick and press it twice, after compacting, use a knife to scrape off the rice flour around the cake mold, and then get a flat cake. Then put a small scoop (spoon) with peanut oil on the back and rub it vigorously on the cake until the back of the cake is smooth, and it is done.

Finally, with a stick on the back of the cake mold, the rice crackers will be demolded and fall onto the sieve set up in advance, and then the rice crackers will be neatly arranged.

This is why it is called "beating rice crackers" instead of "making rice crackers", because after the rice crackers are finally formed, the rice crackers need to be gently knocked out of the mold with a wooden stick. The word "type" vividly reflects the process of making rice crackers, and also contains the joy of people welcoming the New Year.

Xiao Han felt that it was not difficult to see it, and rolled up his sleeves and prepared to make rice crackers. So Chen and Zhang were responsible for stirring rice noodles, Xiao Han and Chun Equinox filled rice cakes, Lixia wiped rice cakes, and He Mu knocked rice cakes.

Several people moved quickly, and during this time, Chen also pinched some rice noodles for several children to eat to relieve their hunger.

Soon, the four sieves were about to be filled, and Lin Jincai had already filled the cauldron with water, boiled it over high heat, and prepared to steam the rice crackers.

Put a few sticks of firewood in a large pot horizontally and vertically, then put a sieve on top and steam it, and after about ten minutes, it will be cooked, and then steam the next pot. The steamed rice crackers are ready to eat after a little drying. Xiao Han picked one up and took a bite, it felt very sweet, soft and glutinous, and fragrant.

After eating two in a row, Xiao Han still felt unsatisfied, but he also knew that it was not appropriate to eat more. Lixia and the three boys ate a lot of food, and they all ate three, while the Chen adults only tasted one and then stopped eating.

Eating the rice crackers made by myself, I felt much sweeter than the ones I bought. Here, during the Chinese New Year, every household makes rice crackers, and the children in the village always have rice crackers in their pockets.

And when relatives pay New Year's greetings, you also send me a bag of rice crackers, and I will also give you a bag of rice crackers in return.

Rice crackers have become a bond to maintain family affection and a bridge to share happiness.

After putting the steamed rice crackers into a cloth bag, the Chen family continued to beat the rice crackers, and after a busy afternoon, they finally finished beating the rice crackers.

The mother and son of the He family stayed at the Lin family for dinner, because after dinner, they had to evaporate the cake.

There is an interesting legend about the origin of the cake: it is said that one day, a farmer's daughter-in-law accidentally knocked over a bowl of sake lees resting on the stove when she was mixing flour and steamed cakes, and saw that the sake lees flowed into the rice noodles, and the little daughter-in-law was so anxious that she wanted to cry, but she did not dare to make a noise, for fear of being scolded by her in-laws, so she had to mix the rice noodles stained with sake lees and put them in the steamer to steam. Who knows that due to the fermentation of sake lees, this rice cake is steamed very soft and delicious, and there is a slight aroma of wine. As a result, the famous hair cake spread, which is also a beautiful mistake.

There are two kinds of hair cakes that Chen want to steam, one is corn cake and the other is white flour cake.

Corn cake is made by mixing cornmeal, millet flour, flour with sugar and dry yeast, then pouring water into a batter with moderate thickness. Then apply a thin layer of oil to the inside of the round mold to prevent staining.

Then pour the batter half the height into the mold and let it rise in a warm place. After about forty minutes, the batter was 90% full.

Then put some washed red dates and raisins soaked in warm water on the surface, and finally put them in a steamer and steam them for about 40 minutes to cook.

White flour cake is to beat a few eggs, mix with flour, sugar and water, add yeast in the process of stirring, and the rest of the process is the same as corn cake.

Both types of cakes were steamed in two pots each. After steaming, it was too late, and it was too late to make zongzi, so I had to wait until tomorrow night. Zhang's mother and son said goodbye and went home with the hair cake.