Chapter 654: A Beautiful Childhood
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“The children like it, and so do the adults,” Lin Tongtong said.
“l thought my culinary skills were good,” Su Fengzhi added, “But I finally know what it means to be good at cooking after watching my niece. Binglan always develops new foods, and they’re consistently delicious.”
Shen Qiuhua did not expect her daughter to make a cake with the cream. She thought the fragrance was unique compared to other desserts. Moreover, the cake was incredibly soft.
It even melted in her mouth. It was much thicker and softer than rice cakes. The whole family ate the cake and praised it.
However, one piece was insufficient, so Grandaunt Su continued cutting more for them to eat. Still, the cake was big enough to feed the whole family.
Su Binglan saw everyone’s smiles and felt a warmth inside her. “It’s nice to see everyone eating so happily. I’ll go and make the candied hawthorns now.”
Su Wenwu quickly finished his two pieces of cake and said, “Wait, let me help you.”
Liu Yinyin also wanted to help, but Su Wenzhe said, “You take care of the little ones while 1 go and help my sister.”
He felt he had to dote on his wife and could not ask her to help since she had already done so much in the afternoon. Still, Liu Yinyin wanted to see how Su Binglan made candied hawthorns.
Everyone scrambled to help because they knew Su Binglan’s food would be delicious. “I’ll just need my brothers to help me. Everyone, eat your cake and wait, okay?”
Su Wenzhe and Su Wenwu followed their sister into the kitchen to help. Su Binglan had already prepared the hawthorns, and the potatoes and sweet potatoes were still in the pot. There were peanuts in the basket beside them.
Su Binglan looked at her brothers and said, “Let me show you how straightforward it is to make candied hawthorns. You’ll learn quickly.”
“Sister, it might be easy for you to say. We don’t know the first thing about making those.”
“Yeah, we could’ve made them at home if we knew how.”
Su Wenzhe and Su Wenwu had never tried candied hawthorns, even during childhood. They thought it would be great to have delicious foods like that when they were younger.
Su Wenzhe envied his two sons because their childhood was better than his.
Su Xuexuan and Su Xuehai could eat unique foods and play with fun toys.
Gongsun MO had made toys for the little ones while living with the Su family. Su Xuexuan and Su Xuehai loved their toys and could not bear to put them down.
“Do you like where Xuexuan and Xuehai are now? They can eat so many delicacies,” Su Binglan asked.
After some thought, Su Wenwu said, “l realized they’ve grown so much in the past six months.”
Su Wenzhe added, “That’s because of all the nutritious food they eat. I always cook various foods for them daily. I also like eating a lot. Of course, they’ve grown up faster.”
He wondered what his life would have been like if he had grown up with an aunt like Su Binglan to cook food for him. He had to admit that he envied his two sons.
But after carefully considering it, he felt having a sister like Su Binglan was good. He could also eat plenty of delicacies daily. His brothers and uncles were envious of him.
Su Wenzhe smiled when he thought about it.
Su Binglan wondered what her two brothers were thinking. She said, “I’ve already washed and cleaned these hawthorns. Help me string them up with bamboo. Oh, and cut off this part of the hawthorn before skewering them.
“That’ll make it easier to put them in the pot. After skewering them, do the same to the potatoes and sweet potatoes.”
Su Wenzhe was a little confused. “Sister, can we eat potatoes and sweet potatoes like this?”
“Yes, you can. They taste even better after dipping them into sugar.”
Su Wenzhe and Su Wenwu felt she was right. They no longer had doubts and focused on helping their sister.
“One of you can handle the skewers while the other prepares the fire for the stove.”
“l can help with the fire,” Su Wenzhe said. He often handled the cooking fire at home and had learned to control the heat perfectly.
Meanwhile, Su Wenwu continued to skewer as Su Wenzhe started the fire and heated the pot.
Su Binglan added rock sugar and clean water to the pot. After boiling the mixture over high heat, she told Su Wenzhe to lower the temperature. The mixture’s color changed slightly and turned into a thick syrup.
Soon after, she added a suitable amount of sesame seeds. She had also found those seeds at the back of the mountain.
Su Binglan planned to use them to make candied hawthorns because they would taste more fragrant. Su Wenxian and Su Wenchi came to the kitchen while Su Binglan made the hawthorns.
Su Wenzhe looked at the duo and asked, “Why are you two here?”
“We had nothing to do, so we came to help.”
Su Wenwu said, “You two were just curious and wanted to sneak a peek,
Su Wenxian patted Su Wenwu’s shoulder, sarcastically saying, “That’s nonsense.”
Su Wenxian’s words made everyone laugh.
“Well, since you’re here, help me with the skewers. We have a lot to do.”
“l wonder what these will taste like. Will they be sour?” Su Wenchi asked as he looked at the washed hawthorns.
Su Binglan knew everyone was curious about the taste of hawthorns, so she said, “These are of excellent quality. They’re not sour, so you don’t have to worry. The candied ones I’m making will be sweet.”
Su Wenchi scratched the back of his head embarra.s.sedly. “If my cousin says it’ll be sweet, I believe her.’
Su Binglan looked at the almost cooked syrup, dipped the skewered hawthorns in it, and then gently turned and coated them in the syrup. She did the same with the other skewers.
Afterward, she placed the finished products on parchment paper to let the desserts cool.
Su Wenchi looked at the skewered hawthorns on the parchment paper and said, “They look delicious.”
“If you have fruits at home, you can cut them up and do this.”
However, most households did not have fruits during winter. Su Binglan had placed the fruits she bought for the cream cake into her pocket dimension. It would be great if she could find more fruits at the back of the mountain.
“What about the watermelons we get in the summer? Can we make them like this?” Su Wenxian asked.
Su Binglan’s eyes lit up when he mentioned watermelons. She said, “Of course! You can use watermelons to make drinks and desserts.’
She craved watermelons just thinking about them. However, they were not in season, and there were no greenhouses for fruits and vegetables in this era.
‘Should I build a greenhouse?’
While thinking, Su Binglan put the skewers on the plate and said, “We can eat now. Take them to the hall, and let’s eat together.”
“Yay, we can have more food!” Su Wenxian said, “I’ll get more firecrackers and set them off again.”
“I’ll follow you,” Su Wenwu added.
‘My sister has done a lot. It would be okay if I went to set off firecrackers before eating.’
Su Wenwu and Su Wenxian went to the door and set off the firecrackers..