However, the ancient method of oil extraction requires a lot of wooden tools. There is no time now. Late autumn is approaching, the trade fair is coming, and then comes the snowy winter, so there are many things to prepare for.
So she planned to tinker with the oil extraction tools when she had nothing to do in the winter. She just had to stock up on wood in advance and put away the rest first.
In the end, of these nuts, acorns are the most versatile.
Sift out the unwanted thin acorns and leave them for the cubs to use with slingshots. The full-sized acorns are spread out in the sun to dry. Then they are shelled and impurities are removed. They are then pounded into powder in a stone mortar, rinsed with water, filtered and precipitated until rinsed. Remove the bitterness and dry it in the sun to make the best acorn powder.
Acorn powder makes a great meal.
Xu Yin taught the women who worked quickly to make pancakes with acorn powder and flour.
It just so happened that the pheasants raised in captivity laid a lot of eggs, so the cubs carried baskets to pick them up, beat a few eggs into the batter, and then sprinkled a handful of chopped wild onions and a pinch of salt. The aroma was spread out. Rich chive and egg pancakes.
"smell good!"
"So beautiful!"
“I can’t even bear to eat it!”
Everyone held the small triangular pancakes they were given, swallowed their saliva, and exchanged various words.
When the pancakes entered their mouths, who had time to talk? Their taste buds were fully satisfied and enjoyed by the delicious food.
After eating it, I smashed it in my mouth and savored it for a long time before letting out a sigh of satisfaction: "It's so delicious!"
“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
Xu Yin smiled and said nothing.
Later, he took the women to make acorn tofu using acorn powder.
Acorn noodles without any bitterness are poured into boiling water, stirred continuously, and cooled after being cooked, condensing into a delicious, elastic, soft and chewy acorn tofu.
Xu Yin used fried minced meat and chopped wild onions as condiments, sprinkled with salt and poured a little butter refined from butter, and with a "sizzling" sound, the aroma spread.
Mix the seasonings and serve.
"What is this? It's delicious!"
"Mom, I want more!"
"Father, I still want to eat!"
The kids seem to prefer acorn tofu to pancakes.
Xu Yin also likes this dish because it is very refreshing. It would be better if some vinegar and butter could be added instead of plain oil.
Others didn't care at first, but after taking a bite, a new world of taste buds opened up:
"really tasty!"
"The best thing I've ever eaten in my life."
"You said this yesterday."
"Ha ha ha ha--"
A few more days passed...
As soon as Xu Yin took out a bag of unground acorns from the cave, women and children gathered around: "Witch, what are you making delicious food today?"
"Just leave it alone, Great Witch. You tell us what needs to be done and we will do it."
"right!"
Just have something delicious!
Xu Yin couldn't help laughing: "I'm not making food today, I'm making wine today."
Acorns have high starch content and can be fermented to make wine. The wine yield is higher than that of grain.
She was going to try.
When I dug Panax notoginseng tubers, I found Polygonum spp. along the way, which can be used to make distiller’s yeast. With it, I can make homemade distiller’s yeast and make wine.
Speaking of wine, I don’t know if the yellow-pipe fruit wine I made earlier is finished.
Calculating the time, it has been more than three months.
"Ah Chun, help me take out the jar in the corner of the storage cave."
"Okay, great wizard."
While Xu Yin was pounding acorns and drying the hard shells, Ah Chun brought the wine jar.
Xu Yin finished her work, washed her hands, and opened the wine jar. Before she could take a closer look, she smelled a faint aroma of wine.
Although the aroma of the wine is not strong, it is brewed at least.
She couldn't help but laugh.
The women gathered around and said, "Great witch, you made this when you first came here. Did you order some wine?"
"Yes! Wine, this is fruit wine made from Huangpi fruit."
Unfortunately, I wasn't too sure at the time. I tried it a little, but I didn't make much wine.
But there is still some food at the bottom of a bowl for each person.
Therefore, that night, the Xu tribe toasted, drank, sang and danced to celebrate the brewing of the wine.
Although I only had this small amount of wine, I wasn’t completely happy with it, but I was happy! Being able to brew one jar means being able to brew many jars.
No, the next day, Ah Chun led the women in the collection team, carrying self-defense bows and arrows, to pick all kinds of wild fruits. As long as they were ripe, they picked all the fruits, regardless of type.
The great witch said that it is okay to be sour. On the contrary, the more sour the wine, the better it will taste.
Therefore, everyone picked very diligently, and bags of wild fruits, whether sweet or sour, as long as they were fresh, were picked back to the tribe. If you can't finish it, you can soak it into preserves like olives and make fruit wine. It's better than rotting on the branches.
Xu Yin did not go with them this time. She was thinking about the wintering of the farmed animals.
Years ago, I had to kill a few chickens and sheep, and I also planned to have a New Year's Eve dinner, but the population was only so small, and I couldn't eat them all if I killed them all.
So she was thinking about how to build a bamboo shed and cover the roof with dead branches and hay to keep warm. When it snowed, she would drive them into the shed.
Daying came to her: "Dawu, the trade fair will be in less than a month. What should we bring to trade this year?"
After hard work in summer and autumn, the tribe has stocked up a lot of supplies, and there is no shortage of necessary salt.
In previous years, they went to the trade fair mainly to exchange salt, but this year there was no such pressure.
But the people wanted to exchange some high-quality long-haired animal skins for their great witch, so they urged the big eagle to ask.
Xu Yin didn't care. If you wanted to participate, just go. Anyway, there were a lot of bargains to be had.
Salt, pottery, dried meat, straw sandals... Oh, by the way, there is also the hemostatic powder she prepared by grinding Panax notoginseng tubers, and packed them into mini pottery bottles made by the kids, each bottle weighing about 30 grams. Let Daying and the others watch and come back in exchange for something valuable.
"Great witch, the magic medicine is too valuable." Daying looked at the bottles of hemostatic powder with great reluctance.
Anyway, the tribe is not short of food and salt this year. They bring salt and pottery with them, which is enough to exchange the big witch for a piece of long-haired animal skin.
As for them, they have rough skin and thick flesh, so there is no need for them.
We have come here to a cave that was so small before. We moved this year. The cave here is warm in winter and cool in summer. It is so big that everyone can gather together and make a bonfire in the cave to keep warm. It will not be more difficult than before.
Xu Yin looked at his expression a little funny: "We have better ones. These are the most common hemostatic powders. Take a few bottles to the trade fair and bring back something you are interested in."
She also has a high-grade hemostasis powder mixed with deer antler, angelica root, black grass root, angelica and other rooting and hemostatic herbs. It is the Jinshuang hemostasis powder that is highly sought after by martial arts masters.
But this is reserved for your own tribe. Take it to trade, ordinary hemostatic powder is enough.
After hearing what she said, Daying stopped feeling entangled and started arranging the transaction.
Xu Yin thought for a while and said: "Daying, I will lead the team to this trade fair. You stay behind. Don't go out hunting recently. Lead everyone to set up the breeding shed. We will come back as soon as possible."
"..."
What? Dawu wants to go to the trade fair?
(End of chapter)
