Joe's Farming

They agreed to make milk tofu, and as soon as the milk from Xu's house was delivered the next day, Qiao Yu gave it all to Hongxiu.

Hongxiu placed the milk in a warmer kitchen and waited a day for it to ferment naturally.

Fermented milk will form milk residue similar to tofu dregs, and the steps for making milk tofu are very similar to pressing tofu.

“There are two types of milk tofu: raw tofu and cooked tofu.”

Hongxiu boiled the milk residue, stirring it constantly and scooping out clean water while cooking.

"You don't need to cook raw tofu. Just pour it into a sieve, squeeze out the water, and press it with something. I'm going to make cooked tofu first."

Qiao Yu nodded, and Bai Lan and the children beside her looked at her curiously.

Hongxiu waits until the milk residue becomes thick before pouring it into gauze. She then tightens the gauze and puts it in a winnowing basket, and places a heavy large ceramic basin on top of it.

"Okay, wait until the water inside is pressed out, then hang it out in the sun."

"Okay, sister-in-law is awesome. Once the bread oven is ready, I'll use this milk tofu to make delicious food for everyone."

This step is much simpler than Qiao Yu imagined, but I don’t know how it will taste.

However, he thought the taste wouldn't be too bad. After all, he heard the children swallowing their saliva when the curd was being cooked.

Hongxiu washed her hands, looked at the milk that was delivered today and said, "There is another way to eat it, but it's very laborious."

Qiao Yu perked up when she heard this: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, just tell me."

"After heating the milk, stir it continuously and oil will come out. The oil is delicious when scooped out. We call it ghee. But we use special wooden barrels to make ghee. It is more convenient. The milk residue after making ghee can also be used to make milk tofu."

Qiao Yu's eyes lit up. Isn't this butter?

"Brother Gu, Brother Gu."

Qiao Yu turned around and shouted.

Bai Lan reminded awkwardly: "Boss, Boss Gu and Master went to the mountain to burn charcoal together."

Qiao Yu blinked embarrassedly.

"Sister-in-law, is there any other way to cook this milk?"

Qiao Yu was thinking that since he already had butter and cheese, could he also make light cream?

Hong Xiu shook her head: "That's all I know. What else do you think, Brother Qiao?"

Qiao Yu said embarrassedly: "No, I just think milk is magical. It can be made into so many kinds of food."

When Gu Feng on the mountain saw the pile of burnt charcoal, he once again felt his brother's desire to make money.

"Brother, how many trees do you cut down every time you go up the mountain?" Gu Feng sighed.

Gu Gang touched his nose and said, "I didn't cut them randomly. I only cut them in places where the trees were densely grown. This way, the trees will grow better next year. Take a look and see how much these can be sold for."

Gu Feng made a rough estimate: "It's hard to say. The price of charcoal has increased a bit this year. I think the price will increase faster in the future. If you are not in a hurry, you can stock up and sell it in the two days before the Chinese New Year."

Gu Gang nodded with a smile: "Okay, I'll listen to you. I think it will snow heavily in the next two days. Come with me to carry the charcoal back today."

Gu Feng wanted to help even without his brother telling him, but he didn't expect there were so many, and the sackcloth bag was not enough.

Fortunately, the place where Gu Gang made charcoal was not too far from home. It hadn't rained in the past few days, so the road was easy to walk on.

Gu Feng and Gu Gang first carried the coal once, then went to Aunt Shi's house to borrow more burlap bags, and then went to the mountains to continue carrying coal.

When Qiao Yu saw them carrying back four bags of charcoal and heading out, he insisted on following them.

Wait until you get there and take a look.

My goodness, this will require at least thirty more bags.

Qiao Yu made a prompt decision and said, "No, it will take you a long time to carry it all. Big brother, go home and get some ropes. Bring us all the ropes at home. Brother Gu, go cut some bamboos. Three should be enough. I'll put it here first."

The two brothers of the Gu family did as they were told.

As Qiao Yu was loading charcoal, he sighed: "This big brother is really doing great things quietly. He burned so much charcoal quietly. Charcoal is expensive in winter, and a bag can easily sell for 500 coins. Big brother has earned 15 taels in less than a month, which is considered a high income."

Soon, the two brothers brought back everything Qiao Yu wanted.

Qiao Yu asked Gu Feng to make a large bamboo raft in the shape of a Chinese character "目", then pile the bags of charcoal neatly on top and pull it down the mountain with a rope.

Although it takes two pulls to complete the transportation, it is better than Gu Feng and Gu Gang running back and forth.

And with the two of them working together to pull the car down the mountain, it wasn't difficult at all.

Gu Gang carried the rope effortlessly: "Your husband is really smart. I have to admire you."

Gu Feng raised the corner of his mouth: "He has always been very smart."

Qiao Yu did not follow on the next trip.

He has not used the glutinous rice flour he bought last time, and today he wants to eat rice dumplings with the children.

Just at this moment, Su Qing and Da Zhuang also came back, and Qiao Yu quickly assigned them tasks.

Dazhuang peeled walnuts, Suqing and Hongxiu peeled peanuts, and Bailan used glutinous rice flour to knead the glutinous rice ball skins.

Qiao Yu was surrounded by several children, watching him scrape the brown sugar with a knife.

Qiao Yu used a machete to scrape off the brown sugar in thin layers. The scraped brown sugar broke into fine powdered sugar when touched.

Qiao Yu's movements were not fast, but each cut was of even thickness, and the brown sugar scraped off was stacked layer by layer with beautiful colors. It would be very relaxing if it were recorded in real life.

Gu Xiaoyan couldn't help but pinch a little and put it in her mouth: "So sweet."

Qiao Yu was so scared that he stopped and scolded: "There is a knife! What if it cuts you?"

Gu Xiaoyan whispered, "I'm sorry, little daddy, I forgot."

"It's okay. Remember next time, stay away from the knife."

Gu Xiaoyan nodded vigorously, and Qiao Yu continued to shave with peace of mind.

When I was almost done shaving, I went to see how others were preparing.

Half a basin of peanuts has been peeled, a small basin of walnuts, and the dough has been kneaded.

"Okay, everyone wash your hands, and we'll make dumplings together later."

The children shouted happily: "Yes, yes."

Qiao Yu first fried the peanuts and walnuts, then asked Su Qing and the others to peel them and pound them in a stone mortar.

Next, I fried some sesame seeds and put them in the bowl.

After the walnuts and peanuts were ready, he started to heat the lard. When the white lard was hot enough to smoke, he scooped it out and poured it over the mixed brown sugar, walnuts, peanuts and sesame seeds.

"Fuck-"

The strong nutty and sweet aroma instantly wafted out of the kitchen.

Gu Feng and Gu Gang, who had just entered the yard, paused.

"What's that smell?" Gu Gang asked.

Gu Feng shook his head. He didn't know. His husband rarely made desserts at home, and he had never smelled this smell before.

When Gu Xiaoxue saw her father, she shouted happily, "Daddy, uncle. Go wash your hands quickly. Daddy said he wants everyone to make glutinous rice balls together."

Gu Feng and his elder brother looked at each other and smelled the fragrant glutinous rice dumpling filling for the first time.

Qiao Yu mixed the lard and stuffing thoroughly, and the smell was very good. He made a large pot of it. If it was not finished, the lard would solidify, and it would not be a problem to keep it for a month or two in this weather.

It was cold, and the filling of the glutinous rice balls solidified soon after being made.

Qiao Yu asked everyone to carry the chopping board to the main room.

Then everyone stood at the table and started preparing to make the dumplings.

Bai Lan took the initiative to share the task of distributing the glutinous rice ball skins.

It is actually very simple to make glutinous rice balls. Press the glutinous rice ball skin with your palm, then scoop a spoonful of glutinous rice ball core, close the skin, and knead it into a round shape with your palm.

If you just want the wrapper to be thin and the filling to be large, the filling will easily come out.

This is how Qiao Xing’s first glutinous rice ball broke. He looked at Qiao Yu embarrassedly.

Qiao Yu smiled and said, "It's okay, just add some more leather and patch up the broken part."

In the end, the dumplings everyone made were big, small, round, and flat.

But it doesn’t matter, everyone is looking forward to eating the dumplings they made themselves.