The Happy Life of a Duchess

Although apple pie looks very delicious and delicious, it can only be used as a snack and cannot replace the main meal itself.

Because Adele is still ill, she cannot directly eat the same meals as ordinary people. Her two or three meals are mainly light and simple food, with relatively little meat intake, mostly soup and vegetables, and the staple food is average. It is a potato that will never get tired of eating.

After arranging the snacks and desserts, she looked up at the ingredients on the table.

Different from the situation in the past where a sack of food was left all over the place, and some half-rotten fruits and vegetables might be disposed of casually and served on the table. After rectification, the kitchen no longer has such a messy scene.

At this time, there is no genetic engineering, and there is almost no research and development of hybridization or grain varieties. Breeding and taking seeds are just keeping seeds from a pile of food with better growth in the field.

In terms of the taste of the food alone, it is far inferior to the fine seeds that came out of the laboratory in later generations to form fruits after cultivation.

All I could see were two sacks of potatoes, the mouths of the sacks were open, and some were scattered on the ground.

The maids are handling the potatoes, which are limited in size, most of them no bigger than a baby's fist.

After all, nursing homes don't spend big bucks on the most common potato.

Wickham understood what she meant, and hastily motioned to the maid to bring another small bag of potatoes.

"This is a high-quality product." He motioned her to take whatever she wanted, and he started to cook soup himself, preparing dinner for everyone in the nursing home.

She was the only one with the highest status in the entire nursing home, and she spent a lot of money on food and beverages. Compared with this small bag of potatoes, it was really nothing.

This bag of potatoes tasted much better than that small potato.

It does not have the dry, astringent bitterness of small potatoes, but it has a comfortable and dense taste.

This is also the very floury potato variety that is best suited for mashed potatoes.

After confirming this, Adele motioned for Jenny to bring four or five potatoes.

Unlike the potatoes in the kitchen, which are simply washed to remove the mud, she always asks to peel them.

Peeling small potatoes is a lot of work, and if it is done sloppily, there may be nothing left. Naturally, it is impossible to do such an uneconomical and uneconomical thing in a large kitchen.

"I'll make buttered mashed potatoes, to my liking."

When Jenny heard this, she immediately sped up her hands, and the two of them quickly washed and peeled the potatoes together.

Put the peeled potatoes into clean water, then remove and cut into pieces, and then put them back into the water for cleaning.

The two of them had only been together for a few minutes, and the smell of apples in the air hadn't disappeared, but the slightly astringent smell of raw potatoes had also diffused with the movement of cutting into pieces.

Put the washed potato pieces into a pot that has been filled with water in advance, and the water can almost cover the potatoes.

"Put a knife straight into a potato, and if it just falls off, it means the potato is cooked."

Adele took a knife and poked two potato cubes with the tip to demonstrate to Jenny. The potatoes slid down the blade smoothly, and Jenny nodded obediently to show that she remembered it.

The boiled potatoes are taken out of the pot with a colander, butter and an appropriate amount of salt are added to the dehydrated potato pieces, and then mashed and ground into mud.

Adele used a spatula, and Jenny just took a large spoon and pressed the mashed potatoes in a large bowl.

"It smells good."

Cooked mashed potatoes mixed with butter turned a beautiful pale yellow color.

The fresh color and natural aroma no potato lover can resist.

"Is it okay to sieve it then?"

"Correct."

In order to ensure that the mashed potatoes have the most delicate and soft taste, Adele specially used a custom-made strainer.

It was also the first time Jenny saw her use this, so she immediately turned her head to look over.

This screening work is very simple, and Jenny actually knows it, but the first time I saw her use a new tool, it was just a novelty.

Put the crushed mashed potatoes on the sieve and scrape them with a scraper. Just such a small action can make a big difference between the front and back of the mashed potatoes.

Melt in the mouth is not just talk, the mashed potatoes after sieving will be more silky and refreshing.

Seeing that Jenny wanted to try it, Adele gave her the seat, and took a mouthful of processed mashed potatoes with a small spoon to try.

As soon as the tongue coating was lifted, it melted gently in the mouth, and the rest was the lingering aroma of butter and potatoes in the mouth, and a little bit of salt was just right.

Seeing that there were still apples and potatoes left, Adele thought about it, and decided to make another potato pancake with apple sauce, a popular snack in German-speaking Austria-Hungary and other places.

The sounds of pots and pans in the kitchen are mixed, and the aromas of various foods are also intertwined. The most obvious ones are the smells of mushrooms and onions, which are thick and fragrant.

"Jenny, keep doing it over there, and I'll make another potato pancake with applesauce."

"Ok."

To make applesauce, the first thing to do is to make caramel. There are remaining diced apples before, but this time it is not mixed with starch.

Add a lot of sugar to a hot pot with a little water, and keep stirring until it becomes caramelized. When the slight sweetness permeates, add the diced apples before, and then add the water submerged in the diced apples.

"Jenny, let this apple sauce cook, because it's diced apples, not chunks, and it should be cooked quickly. You can chop the potatoes, and I'll chop the onions."

"No, I'll get the onions." Jenny came over with three cleaned potatoes, and saw that Adele had peeled off the onion skin, and rushed over immediately.

"Just let me do it!" Jenny insisted.

"Okay." Adele had no choice but to obey.

Shred all three potatoes, add salt in a bowl, add an egg and continue stirring.

At this time, Jenny had already shredded the onion with red eyes, and Adele looked at her amusedly.

"Go ahead."

Jenny waved her hand.

Mix the flour into the shredded potatoes and onions, mix evenly, and keep a sticky texture.

"The hot oil pan is ready." Jenny said.

Adele scooped up a portion of the batter with a large spoon and put it into the pan, keeping it roughly round and the same size, and frying it until golden.

At this time, the applesauce is almost cooked, use a fork to crush the diced apples that have become soft, and finally add lemon juice and stir well.

Drizzle applesauce on the potato cakes that have been taken out, fried, and let cool. If you are more particular, you can strain the applesauce. However, Adele saw that the time was almost up, and she ate them all by herself, so she didn’t do it again. This is an extra step, after all, the apple juice is just poured on the cake to taste.

Jenny is in charge of the follow-up cleaning.

In fact, after Adele demonstrated, she was "asked" out of the kitchen.

As everyone opened fire to prepare dinner for many people, the smell in the kitchen became stronger and stronger, and the longer they stayed, the more likely the smell would remain on their bodies, even if the windows were opened to ventilate.

Adele stopped being reluctant, and went back to her room to tidy herself up.

On the shelf by the door of her room, she picked up the newspaper, the only way she knew of the outside world.

It was not so smooth at first, but after a proper struggle, she finally had the opportunity to study and learn about the outside world.

For her, newspapers such as "News" and "The Century" are more meaningful to read, and these newspapers that smell like ink have greater reference significance. One of the newspapers that still exists.

Of course, some gossip tabloids are also valuable, at least let her know a lot of aristocratic gossip and folk customs.

Not everyone can afford even cheap tabloids.

For ordinary people who worry about food and clothing, reading books and buying newspapers is really a luxury petty bourgeois behavior, and a considerable number of people are even illiterate.

But for Adele, it's a necessity, and a must for her to continue living in this day and age.

In this way, Adele enjoyed the food, counted the days, and finally waited for the carriage to pick her up.

Mrs. Armand Rudder, the housekeeper, spent many days on this matter and implemented it, for which she was very grateful.

"Sister Burns?"

It was not Jenny who knocked on the door, but her aunt, Sister Burns, and Adele was a little surprised.

"What you said earlier..." Sister Pence was wearing a black nun's attire that had been washed a little faded. Her expression was as calm as ever, but there was some anxiety in the depths of her brown eyes similar to Jenny's.

"Yes?" Adele stood up, not showing off.

She and Sister Burns did not speak a few words before and after.

But whether it was from other people's mouth or her own observation, she only regarded her as a nun with a gentle attitude, strict behavior, and strict observance of the rules, and even hesitated to speak about her previous adventures.

"I think Jenny has the right to go out and have a look. I like her quite a lot, and she's old too..."

"Would you mind having an extra maid?"

Sister Burns' blunt words caught her by surprise.

Adele originally wanted to take this simple and lovely girl to see the outside world, but unexpectedly, Sister Burns was willing to let her follow her as her maid.

"Are you serious?" Adele had to ask back.

"During this period of time, I have witnessed your changes and growth. I believe that you are an outstanding noble lady with good conduct. By the side of a kind person like you, Jenny will not end up in such a bad end. Compared with being by my side , die of old age here, maybe you can win a future as a maid, and with the protection of the Duke's Mansion..."

This is the first time that Adele saw in Sister Pence, besides the unreal tolerance, gentleness and meticulous adherence to dogma, the calculations and emotions that are truly human emotions, but she does not dislike or hate .

"That being the case," Adele said nonsense, "I can assure you that I will treat her well. She can stay by my side as my personal maid. If there is a need in the future, I will also arrange for her to marry A nice family."

"Then, thank you for your generosity, and may God bless you." After hearing this, the nun said goodbye and left without any unnecessary communication, as if she came here just for this one thing, and she was the one who wholeheartedly served God. year nun.

Adele watched the back of Sister Burns leaving from the window.

The moonlight shone on her body, as if she had been coated with a layer of silver moonlight.

She seemed as devout, calm, and selfless as ever.

Adele was still a little silent until she got in the carriage going back and heard Jenny's surprised voice.

Sister Burns never showed any reluctance on her face. She just gave Jenny a few serious instructions, and then she and the priest, doctor, and dean smiled and said blessings and watched them leave.

The luxurious four-wheeled carriage with gold patterns on a white background moved forward, and their figures that remained in place gradually became smaller in her field of vision until they disappeared at all.

Adele wondered in her heart what kind of mood and kind of person Sister Burns was.

In the end, it was impossible to figure out the curious truth, and there was no clue from Jenny's innocent smile.

"Miss, we are going back."

Mrs. Rudder reminded her.

"Yes, we are going back."

Adele nodded with a smile.

The author has something to say:

About the newspaper of the century: The newspaper of the century was founded on July 1836, 7. Like the newspaper of the press, it was the product of the government's relaxation of publishing control after the French July Revolution in 1.It was founded by Dutac and priced at 1830 francs. The founder of Le Monde, Dutac, once co-founded a magazine with the founder of La Presse, Girardin. After parting ways, he founded Le Monde independently. The circulation once surpassed that of La Presse, ranking first among cheap newspapers in Paris. (The above content is taken from Baidu Encyclopedia)

选这份报纸是因为：1838年5月3日到6月23日，《世纪报》连载了大仲马的中篇小说《保尔船长》。