今年はちょっと出遅れて、取りにいったときには全ての栗がすでに地面に落ちていました。それでも結構拾えましたよー。ま、野生なので、質は、、、ですけど、栗拾いはいつやってもものすごい楽しいものです。
We were a bit late this year to go there and all the chesnuts were already on the ground. But we could collect quite some... they are wild, therefore, we don't expect super quality.... But picking is always so much fun!
でもメインの仕事は拾った栗を持ち帰ってから始まるのです。そう、皮剥き。。毎年この仕事に義務感を感じて、毎夜毎夜夜なべをしてせっせと剥いていたのですが、今年は私なんだかお疲れで。ちょっと長く放置しすぎました。結局半分以上は質が悪く、若しくはダメになっていて捨てざるを得なかったのですが、何度かは栗ご飯を楽しむことができました。Boy１は勿体無いと怒ってましたけどね。
The main job will start after we bring them back. Yes. Peeling.... Every year I feel the duty to do this job and I stay up late every night to finish it. But I was a bit tired this year. I kept them too long... In the end, I needed to throw about the half away due to the quality issue (or too long storage issue), but we could have chesnut rice at least several times. Boy1 was a bit angry because I needed to throw so much away...
もう一つの情熱はアップルムースなるものを作ること。毎年庭に大きなリンゴの木がある同僚から大量のリンゴをもらっていたのです。でも今年はお天気に恵まれなかったのか、そんなに大量には採れなかったそう。でも子供達は手作りのアップルムースを食べたいとせがみます。仕方ないので、フルーツ農家に行ってムース用リンゴを５kg買ってきましたよ。野生ではないけど。。５kgでたったの３ユーロ。
Another passion is making appelmoes. I tend to get a lot of apples from my colleague who has big apple tree in her garden. But probably due to the weahter, not so many apples were available this year. But our children want to eat hand-made appelmoes. We went to a farm shop and bought 5 kg of apples for moes-making. Not very wild, but it cost only 3 euro.
アップルムース作りは非常に簡単。りんごを剥いて大匙一杯ほどの水と一緒にでっかい鍋に入れて弱火で加熱するだけ。砂糖は全く入れず、シナモンをちょこっとだけ入れます。リンゴに完全に火が通るまで結構時間はかかりますが、時間だけの問題です。
Making appelmoes is actually very easy. Just peel the apples and put them in a big pot with a tablespoon of water and heat up. I don't add any sugar or so, only a bit of cinnamon. Takes some time before the apples are completely cooked, but it is just a matter of time.
これが出来上がり。ちょっと急いで作ったので、潰しが甘いですが・・・。
This is the result. I was in a bit in a hurry so the mushing is not entirely done properly though.
この両方の家庭料理、結構な手作業がいるんですよね。栗を剥くのはものすごい時間がかかりますし（野生だから小さいし、渋皮も入り組んでいて・・・）大量のリンゴを剥くのも結構しんどいのです。実は私、皮膚が弱く、毎年この作業の後は手が酷いことになるのです。皮膚を守るために趣味を諦めるか、皮膚を犠牲にして趣味を続けるか。ジレンマですわ。
Both of this home cooking needs a lot of hand work. Peeling chesnuts takes enoumously long time (since they are wild, the size is very small and the inner skin is also going in the main fruit part) and peeling so many apples is also intensive. I actually have a skin problem and my hands are destroyed every year after this work. It is a dilemma: should I give up this hobby to save my skin, or I just sacrifise my skin for my hobby?
最も有効策は子供達にやってもらうことでしょうね。。教育しなきゃ。
The best solution could be train my children to do it for me.