On the tenth day of Zhongguo Gongzi's departure from Zhuangzi, the flower banquet of Liuhe Zhuangzi was prepared lively.

At first, when so many people began to get busy, and when the chickens, ducks, and fish were pulled into the kitchen in baskets, Wisteria didn't understand, there were only a few owners, and they were all their own families, what kind of flower mats to make. Later, when I gave Yu's mother the sweet roll I made for the first time, I found out what was going on with this flower mat.

It turned out that the Zhongguo Mansion was in the Zhuangzi near the capital, and there were four Zhuangzi in Liuhe. But whenever the master goes to which Zhuangzi to spend the summer or run errands, as long as he has time, he will hold a large-scale flower-viewing party, and the participants are not the prominent families in Beijing, but some squires and the daughters of local officials where Zhuangzi is located. The first is to show that they take care of their Zhuangzi on weekdays, and the second is to make the Zhuangzi also happy and happy, showing the kindness of the master's family. This habit began when Mrs. Lin's mother-in-law was there, and Mrs. Lin has persisted.

Of course, it is impossible for the owner of such a flower banquet to come forward to entertain them, but it is also a great honor for the ladies of these squires and local officials to be invited merely to be invited, and it is worth talking about for a few years.

Liuhe Zhuangzi's flower banquet was still held by the Duchess of Zhongguo, when Tan brought two young ladies five years ago. And this time, the old lady took the lead in organizing the flower banquet, but it was the first time for Liuhe Zhuangzi. Therefore, the whole Zhuangzi people were riveted to make colorful children to please the lord's family.

The kitchen naturally became an important place, and when these people were invited to the banquet, it was natural that the old lady's small kitchen could not be used. The big kitchen, which had just been idle for two days, began to get busy again because of the flower mats.

This time, the flower banquet was personally inquired by the wife of the prince, Xu, while explaining the list of people to be invited to the banquet, and at the same time sending people to Yongchuan County to invite back three chefs who specialize in the banquet, and set up a temporary stove in the outer courtyard to be responsible for the preparation of several dishes.

And the big kitchen where Wisteria is located has transferred several young daughters-in-law, all of whom are nimble. Wu Wenxiu would come over several times a day to check the preparation of the dishes. After all, it is said that it is a flower banquet, and flower viewing is just a reason, and the main thing is still in eating. Usually, it's just a little rougher, and it's all eaten by people, but the key time is to be meticulous, not only to make the dishes delicious, but also to be novel. Therefore, the menu of the wine at this table was revised again and again, and it was finalized two days before the start of the banquet.

Connected to the specialty dishes of the master of the big restaurant in the courtyard outside, plus the dishes made by the big kitchen himself, the statistics are 36. Ten hot dishes, ten cold dishes, ten dried fruits, and six special dim sum. The names of the dishes are also very good, and they are all festive and auspicious.

After finally deciding on the menu, Xu took Brother Yue to the old lady's Evergreen Garden. As soon as he entered the house, Brother Lang, who was sitting next to the old lady and playing nine links with the second lady, came down from the collapse, first greeted his mother in a proper manner, and then reached out to hug Brother Yue'er, and said:

"Brother has made you sad, why are you so lazy, you are a man, how good is it to be held by your mother all the time."

After listening to him, the whole room was happy. Brother Yue'er's nurse next to Xu's family is called Qin Niang, and she hurriedly took Brother Yue from Xu's arms. After a room full of people greeted each other, Brother Yue stepped forward slowly, still without speaking, holding the old lady's leg and laughing.

The old lady hugged him to her lap, nodded his forehead, and said dotingly: "You, you know everything, but you are lazy." See what you'll be like in the future? After speaking, he kissed the child's face again, Xu was afraid that the old lady would be tired after holding for a long time, so he glanced at Qin Niang, and Qin Niang stepped forward and gently hugged Brother Yue again.

"Sister Fang, take your nephews to the back room, just now your eldest brother brought cherries from the water Zhuangzi, all of them are good, go and taste them first."

"Okay~~, this is what we have come to catch up, otherwise, my grandmother will definitely hide it privately." After speaking, he hugged the old lady's arm and said coquettishly: "Now that the two nephews are here, they will put Fang'er in the back, and I don't follow." ”

"You don't suffer, this cherry has just entered my yard, and your sister-in-law hasn't even got one, and she hasn't been divided into your yard yet, but I'm biased. Go ahead, don't bother us here. After saying that, she pretended to reach out and pat Sister Fang, but Sister Fang dodged with a smile and led her two nephews to the second room with a group of servants Hulala.

Xu Shi stood behind the old lady at this time, pressed the old lady's shoulders with both hands, and kneaded it slowly. He said, "Grandmother, the menu for the day after tomorrow has been decided, I brought it and asked them to read it to you, okay?" ”

"Okay, let's hear it."

The big girl next to Xu's side is called Baoping, who has been holding the menu in her hand, and when she heard the old man say this, she read it according to the list listed. Not only read the name of the dish, but also explained in detail the ingredients used in this dish, and the old lady nodded vigorously.

After hearing this, the old lady patted Xu's hand, Xu stopped moving, picked up the green snail cup on the coffee table and gave it to the old lady, the old lady took a sip slowly and said: "I am always at ease when you do things, meticulous and thoughtful, so it will be good." ”

After drinking the tea and handing it back to Xu, he said, "The stickers have been sent down, and the bamboo curtains for shading the sun are ready, right?" ”

"Yes, the granddaughter-in-law has been arranged, and my grandmother can rest assured that she will definitely satisfy the people who come to participate in the flower banquet."

"That's good, that's good."

Then he asked a few little things, such as the arrangement of the carriage, the color of the tablecloth, etc., and he was even happier when he saw that Xu's arrangement was satisfactory.

After Xu finished saying everything, the old lady asked her to go back, saying that there were many things, so let her go and be busy, and the children would be here with her, waiting for Xiang Wu to eat together. Xu Shi answered and was about to leave, but was stopped by the old lady.

"I just remembered one thing, our Liuhe Zhuangzi is the most famous is the Broadway Spring, on weekdays, everyone can't drink it, wouldn't it be better if you could use this water to make a dish, it's best to match it with the vegetables grown in our yard, and it shows our attention and sincerity."

"Grandmother has a good idea, I'll let Baoping go to the big kitchen and let them think of the dishes."

"You don't need to go with the people around you, they just came here and are not familiar with the people in the kitchen." Turn around and "Winter Pattern." ”

"Yes, old lady."

"Go to the big kitchen and tell the steward about the idea, and let them make a special dish so that everyone can taste the water of this Broadway Spring."

After speaking, he added: "You don't have to come back in a hurry, you want to come to this dish in a hurry, you are guarding there, what do you need to carry water and negotiate with the outer courtyard, you can be faster there, wait until everything is done and you will come back." Go ahead. ”

After the winter pattern saluted, he hurried to the big kitchen. When they arrived at the big kitchen, Wisteria and Cai'er and the two rough mothers-in-law were choosing vegetables under the shed they had built outside. A large pile of different vegetables in front of one person, with a big blue at his feet. Wisteria sat facing the courtyard gate, and when she saw a neatly dressed and well-dressed girl walk in, she knew which courtyard she must have had a good face. Sure enough, before she could speak, Cai'er beside her had already stood up and stepped over the pile of vegetables to greet her with a smile.

"Why did Sister Dongwen come here at this time, but what did the old lady command?"

It turned out to be the winter pattern around the old lady, although the wisteria didn't know the people who served around the master, but the name was known, this winter pattern was one of the four big girls around the old lady, and it was the most relied on except for Mama Wang. I didn't dare to slack off, patted the fine vegetable leaves on my hand, and followed the two mothers-in-law to stand up.

Dongwen waved his hand at them and said, "Don't worry about me, you guys are busy with you, I'm here to talk to the Ma Wu family, and I have something to explain." ”

"I'll take my sister there, Aunt Ma is frying the fruit now." Cai'er opened the curtain and walked in first.

When Wisteria and the other two mothers-in-law saw the winter pattern entered, they sat down and continued to choose vegetables. After a while, I saw Cai'er come out alone, but I didn't see the winter pattern. Cai'er sat back in her place, approached Wisteria and said, "Why don't we make a dish with the water of Broadway Spring and the greens in the yard?" The day after tomorrow will be opened, don't say that if you add another dish, it is still a dish that has not been decided, and you may not be able to serve it to the table safely and properly just by looking at these few things? ”

"Why do you suddenly add vegetables again, isn't that too much?"

"It is said that the old lady means that it is not included in the dishes of the table, but as the last dish to be served. I heard my mother say that since this Bailao Spring was given to the Zhongguo Mansion by Emperor Taizu, the people in the vicinity can't drink it. The old lady also wants everyone to feel the benevolence and love of Zhongguogong. ”

"Then Aunt Ma is worried."

"Isn't it, after listening to Sister Dongwen, she will count it with a few cooks? Sister Dongwen didn't leave, saying that she was helping to come up with an idea! ”

Wisteria carefully picked the vegetables, and at the same time thought to herself: This old lady really quietly gave such a problem to the big kitchen in the late autumn. This is finally on the table, and it is important to mention that the old lady is particularly rewarded, the difficulty can be imagined, just by the Ma Wu family's few chefs who make a big stove, how can they come up with such a fine dish overnight, depending on the old lady's meaning, this winter pattern is here to see that the dish is set, and people can only leave when they are satisfied.

Maybe it's an opportunity for you. Although Wisteria couldn't cook in her previous life, it was her favorite thing to go into those food worlds when she had nothing to do, and she was a typical foodie. She couldn't help but start remembering if there were any light and distinctive dishes.