Traveling through the mountains and farming

The three of them were busy until the afternoon, and finally they were able to take a break and have lunch.

They were already very hungry and wanted to fill their stomachs quickly.

Lin Wan decided that the lunch dish would be mainly based on the lard residue left over from yesterday’s lard boiling, and a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables.

Lin Wan specifically asked Luo Dashan to help purchase twelve kilograms of pork fat.

This was considered a huge amount of money in this ancient mountain village. She also did this to stock up on more lard. She originally wanted to buy more, but there was not that much lard available in the market.

She also asked Luo Dashan to help buy:

A pound of sugar (100 wen per pound), a dou of flour (80 wen per dou), a dou of soybeans (70 wen per dou), a dou of mung beans (70 wen per dou), a rolling pin (4 wen), thirty clay pots (18 wen each), and pork fat (40 wen per pound), a total of one tael of silver and 344 wen.

At present, the prices of flour, soybeans and mung beans have not increased too much.

At this time, Li Ke chewed some oil residue and asked vaguely, "Sister-in-law, can the grass you just pulled in the valley be made into food?"

She noticed that her sister-in-law picked some grass and spread it on the sea buckthorn, instead of wild vegetables like she and her brother did, so she thought that the grass must be what her sister-in-law was going to use to make new food.

Now that my sister-in-law is finally free, I quickly seize the opportunity to ask her.

Lin Wan smiled and responded: "Oh, that's red and blue grass. It can be used to dye cloth and it can also be used to dye food."

Little foodies’ focus is always on food.

Li Ke's eyes lit up and he asked, "Sister-in-law, what beautiful colors can we dye food with this red and blue grass?

Lin Wan said with a smile: "It can dye food red."

After hearing this, Li Ke shouted with anticipation, "Wow, will it be used in the new food we are going to make this afternoon?"

"Yes, after dinner, let's take a break and then start making new food." Lin Wan said with a smile

After dinner, the three of them took a short rest and then began to prepare new food.

It was still Lin Wan who assigned the tasks first, and the two siblings carried out the tasks according to the orders, and then worked together.

Li Ke mainly moved all the tools she would need to the pavilion in the backyard, including wooden basins, bowls, rolling pins, etc. There was also a large rectangular wooden board, which she had been instructed by Lin Wan to wash and dry yesterday.

Li Chongle was responsible for washing the red and blue grass, putting it into the pot and boiling it with water, then filtering out the juice of the boiled red and blue grass and letting it cool.

Seeing that the two siblings had already taken action, Lin Wan also began to prepare the ingredients for making pink sea buckthorn cake.

She carried flour, lard, sugar, eggs, sea buckthorn pulp and sea buckthorn jam from the kitchen to the table in the backyard pavilion according to the corresponding amounts and placed them neatly.

Looking at the materials that took up half of the space on the side of the table, she felt that her decision to build a large table in the backyard was absolutely the right one.

Everything is ready. After washing her hands, Lin Wan prepares to start making the puff pastry. There are two types of puff pastry: oil dough and water dough.

Since Li Chongle had not yet processed the red and blue grass juice, she decided to make the oil skin first.

She first poured a bowl of flour onto a wooden board that served as a kneading pad, then added a tablespoon of lard and began to mix and knead.

Li Ke, who had been watching from the side, asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, can I just keep kneading it?"

"Yes, just keep kneading it until it becomes a smooth dough that doesn't stick to your hands or the board." Lin Wan lowered her head and kneaded the dough, responding with a smile.

Li Ke immediately turned around and washed his hands, then said, "Sister-in-law, let me try."

Because the operation was quite simple, Lin Wan agreed to let Li Ke take over the production of the oil skin.

At this time, Li Chongle brought the prepared red and blue grass juice in a bowl and placed it on the table. After informing Lin Wan, he turned around and started to light the fire to preheat the bread oven.

He thought that after preheating the bread oven, he could go over and bake the snacks as soon as his sister-in-law finished making them.

Lin Wan began to make water skin. Similarly, she poured two bowls of flour on the other side of the wooden board, added two tablespoons of lard and two tablespoons of sugar, and then added the cooled red and blue grass juice, and then began to knead it, just like oil skin, until it became a smooth dough that would not stick to her hands or the board.

Li Ke, who was kneading the dough, watched Lin Wan's operation. When he saw the dough turn dark pink, he couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "Sister-in-law, your dough is pink!"

Lin Wan smiled and said, "Yes, it's all thanks to the water boiled with the red and blue grass. We can also use it to make pink rice in the future."

Li Ke exclaimed: "This is amazing, let's eat pink rice tonight, and this is called pink dessert?"

Lin Wan smiled softly, continued to knead the dough attentively, and said, "Yeah, okay, I wanted to call it sweet pastry, so it seems that it can also be called pink sweet pastry."

"Listen to my sister-in-law and call it Sweet Crisp." Li Ke responded with a smile, without stopping the movement of his hands, as if he was already imagining what the pink sweet crisp would look like after it was finished.

Lin Wan nodded and increased the strength of her hands a little, kneading the dough at the same time as Li Ke. The next step was to roll the water skin and oil skin into crispy sheets.

She first rolled the water dough into a thin sheet, then rolled the oil dough into a sheet half the size of the water dough, then wrapped the oil dough with the water dough, pressed it firmly around to seal it, rolled them flat, cut off the uneven edges, and then folded the dough in half.

Repeat this process two or three times: rolling the dough flat, folding it in half, and then rolling it flat again.

In this way, she got a flat and smooth puff pastry with delicate texture faintly visible on it.

Finally, she wrapped the sea buckthorn jam and fruit pieces in puff pastry, brushed them with egg yolk liquid, and carefully placed the wrapped snacks one by one on the prepared stone slab.

Then they brought the wrapped snacks over to Li Chongle.

Lin Wan put it into the bread kiln and sealed the kiln mouth.

"Sister-in-law, how long does it take to bake this?" Li Ke asked curiously.

"About a quarter of an hour."

Lin Wan had previously used a bread oven to bake peach blossom cakes for the children on her farm.

That style was a little more complicated, so she didn't do it today.

After hearing Lin Wan's answer, Li Ke kept his eyes fixed on the bread oven, as if he couldn't wait to see the baked snacks.

Li Chongle next to him was also staring at the bread kiln. Although he couldn't see anything, he was curious. Could this thing called a bread kiln really make delicious food?

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Wan carefully opened the door of the bread oven, and a wave of heat mixed with the fragrance of sea buckthorn and baking aroma hit her face.

The three of them, either half-squatting or bending over, looked into the kiln at the same time, and saw a slab of pink sea buckthorn cakes neatly arranged.

Lin Wan wrapped the stone slab in old clothes and brought it out, placing it on a stool prepared nearby.

The two siblings couldn't wait to come forward and stare at these exquisite snacks.

The crust of these sea buckthorn cakes is light pink, and the part brushed with egg liquid turns golden yellow.

Lin Wan picked up a sea buckthorn cake and broke it gently, and the crispy crust shattered.

The sea buckthorn jam and fruit grains inside are revealed, and the sweet aroma spreads instantly.

Both siblings couldn't help swallowing, their faces full of desire.

"Wow, sister-in-law, this looks so delicious!" Li Ke said happily.

Lin Wan smiled and nodded, and Li Chongle beside her also nodded vigorously. Lin Wan picked up two sea buckthorn cakes and handed one to Li Chongle and Li Ke in each hand, then picked up one for herself.

Li Chongle happily took the sea buckthorn cake, looked at its tempting pink appearance, and couldn't wait to take a bite.

The crispy crust mixed with the sweet filling spread in his mouth, and he squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

Li Ke cheered, took the prickly pear cake and took a big bite. He didn't care that some pink pastry was stained on the corner of his mouth. He ate while mumbling:

"Wow, the sea buckthorn cake made by my sister-in-law is so delicious! It's crispy on the outside and tender and sweet on the inside."

After hearing what Li Ke said, Lin Wan laughed again, thinking that this little foodie's comments on food were always so accurate.

After tasting the sweet pastry, they continued to bake the remaining sea buckthorn pastry together. The busy and fulfilling day ended with the aroma of the sea buckthorn pastry.