The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 170 - 159: Candy-coated hawthorn (Additional update due to 120,000 recommendation votes from Yunqi)

Chapter 170: Chapter 159: Candy-coated hawthorn (Additional update due to 120,000 recommendation votes from Yunqi)

"Oh, how much sugar that would need, let’s not make it!"

Manbao was stunned for a moment and then said, "But sister-in-law, I want to eat it."

She felt that since she had promised her nephews and nieces, she had to deliver. After all, she was an elder and should set an example.

Upon further thought, Manbao was even more determined, "Big sister-in-law, let’s do it, I’ll buy the brown sugar."

Datou stopped running and lay at the door, gazing hopefully at his mother, while Junior Ms. Qian seemed to reconsider her initial refusal.

Even the youngest, Sanya, and the fourth child, Datou, ran over and looked up at her with yearning eyes.

Junior Ms. Qian thought it over and decided that since winter was upon them, and the children rarely relaxed, it was okay for them to have some snacks.

She agreed reluctantly but asked Manbao, "Do you know how to make candied hawthorns? I sure don’t."

Manbao immediately said, "I’ll go look it up in a book!"

Keke had already carefully searched and compiled the relevant records for her, and in fact, the production of candied hawthorns shares a similar technique; the yam beans simply have one more step than fruits.

That is to cook them until they’re done.

Junior Ms. Qian had a natural gift for cooking. Many delicacies that Manbao wanted to eat were made under her guidance. Sometimes, Manbao’s instructions were vague, not specifying the exact amounts for ’a little salt’ or ’a little oil’, but Junior Ms. Qian always knew how much to add.

Ms. Feng, Ms. He, and Zhou Xi took turns cooking, but if the entire Zhou Family, both young and old, had to choose, they would prefer the kitchen to always be managed by Junior Ms. Qian.

Unfortunately, she was busy, and Ms. Qian didn’t want her daughters-in-law to be fixed on just one task. In her view, if Junior Ms. Qian only took care of the kitchen, once they, the old couple, were gone and the sixth branch split off, she wouldn’t be familiar with the other household matters, and the culinary skills of the other daughters-in-law surely wouldn’t be good either.

So even though Junior Ms. Qian was the best cook in the house, Ms. Qian did not allow her to stay in the kitchen all the time.

This time was no exception. Manbao didn’t know how to make candied hawthorns, and had never even seen them being made, but as soon as she mentioned that the yam beans needed to be cooked first, then cooled, and then skewered on sticks, Junior Ms. Qian knew what to do.

She had Daya and the others wash the yam beans and then boil them.

They had already eaten yam beans several times at home, and she had figured out her own way of peeling them. Scalding them in high-temperature water, cooling them down, and scraping the skin lightly with a bamboo knife helped. With a gentle rub, the skin of the yam beans would come off very easily.

This method was much simpler than peeling them with a knife when they were raw, which could easily cause itching.

Manbao’s mouth watered at the sight of the yam beans, so she dashed off to borrow some brown sugar from the village chief’s house.

It was too late to buy sugar at the big market, so borrowing some first and returning it after buying her own the next day was the plan.

As Manbao ran, she asked Keke, "Are candied yam beans really delicious?"

Keke remained silent.

Manbao didn’t need his answer and talked to herself, "If they’re tasty, then I’ll eat two skewers. Yam beans are so delicious, their candied version is likely to be good too..."

With that thought, Manbao began to look forward to them even more and ran even faster towards the village chief’s house.

By the time she brought the brown sugar back, Junior Ms. Qian had already chopped the chicken and was stewing it with the yam beans. Datou and the others were energetically peeling the yam beans — the good thing about having many kids in the house was that there were people to do these scattered tasks without the adults wasting time.

Then Junior Ms. Qian watched the fire while bringing Manbao into the kitchen to figure out how to coat the skewers with sugar.

Of course, Manbao read according to the information Keke had provided, while Junior Ms. Qian listened as if she were reciting a book. Many of Manbao’s instructions were not very clear and required explanation.

By the time she finally understood, the chicken and yam beans were done.

Junior Ms. Qian served the dish and boiled some cabbage before carrying everything outside and told the excited kids who were peeling, "Okay, let’s eat first. We’ll make the candied hawthorns after dinner. Datou, go call Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, the uncles, aunts, and big cousin to come eat."

The children, already enticed by the aroma, couldn’t help but salivate. Although they had been able to eat meat frequently this year, they still drooled at the prospect.

Datou immediately ran next door, while Daya and the others stopped to set up the tables and fetch the dishes and utensils.

Manbao was responsible for standing by and waiting to eat. Of course, she was checking how well the yam beans were peeled.

Although Junior Ms. Qian had agreed to make candied hawthorns, she didn’t want to spoil the kids. Of the two big baskets of yam beans, she put away a large portion and only cooked and peeled the rest. The ones peeled earlier were stewed with the chicken.

She had never made candied hawthorns before and wasn’t very confident, so she unhesitatingly added a lot to the pot, thinking that if the candied hawthorns didn’t turn out well, at least they weren’t wasted if stewed with chicken, right?

She believed that anything stewed with chicken was delicious; just looking at everyone at the table eagerly eating yam beans after finishing the chicken proved it.

So of the remaining yam beans, after Junior Ms. Qian cooked them, she found there were only seven skewers. She glanced at the children and decisively peeled off a bean from each skewer, placing it on another stick. Hmm, there were eight skewers now.

Eight kids, and not one was left out.

After Manbao finished teaching Daya and the others the characters they needed to learn that day, she came over and said, "Big sister-in-law, why is there so little on each skewer?"

"It’s not too little, there are seven or eight beans on each skewer."

Junior Ms. Qian began to boil the sugar.

Sugar was not cheap, and brown sugar was even more expensive than maltose. Junior Ms. Qian was so afraid of spoiling the sugar that she kept the flame very low. If she really couldn’t make it work, her plan was to add a spoonful of water to turn it into a syrup for everyone to drink.

Brown sugar is blood fortifying.

Manbao, who knew nothing about the process, squatted next to her and drooled at the pot of brown sugar.

For ease of handling, Junior Ms. Qian didn’t use a large pot, but rather a small one.

While swallowing her saliva, Manbao said, "It smells so good, way better than the sugar we normally eat. Big sister-in-law, from now on I won’t eat maltose or candy anymore, is it okay if I only eat brown sugar?"

Knowing that Manbao didn’t really like sweets, Junior Ms. Qian thought for a moment and nodded, "That’s fine, from now on, I’ll boil a chicken egg in brown sugar for you every morning."

Manbao asked, "Will it taste good?"

"Of course," Junior Ms. Qian naturally replied, "Chicken eggs are tasty, brown sugar is also tasty, both tasty things put together will surely be even more delicious."

Manbao wasn’t convinced that chicken eggs were tasty, but seeing that the brown sugar looked really good and since she couldn’t possibly stop drinking egg water, it didn’t sound bad to eat eggs boiled in brown sugar.

Manbao happily agreed.

The brown sugar grew increasingly thick. Junior Ms. Qian guessed it was almost ready, and somewhat awkwardly dipped the skewered yam beans into the pot, stirring and lifting them up to find the brown sugar dripping off and not sticking to the beans. She scooped some more on them with a spoon.

The first skewer was not easy, and it made Junior Ms. Qian sweat.

But she did not dwell on it and quickly picked up the second skewer...

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