昨日は大晦日。こちらでは大晦日は日本と違って、大勢のお友達や家族、またはボーイフレンドやガールフレンドと過ごし、日付が変わったらシャンパンを飲んでお祝いという過ごし方をする方が多いと思います。わたしたちはこれまで、日本を離れて以来家族がすぐそばにいるという生活ではなかったので夫と２人が多かったですが、一昨年はタイでお友達と過ごし、去年は義弟夫婦と過ごしました。家から１時間半の距離なので、比較的気楽に行き来できます。
Yesterday was New Year’s Eve, which is spent very differently here from in Japan. Here I guess the majority of people would spend it having a party with friends or families, or with their girlfriends or boyfriends I suppose. (In Japan you would be cleaning and cooking like mad at home – exhausting just thinking about it, (although of course things are changing and many people would now go away or just buy in their New Year food these days.) Since we left Japan we didn’t have any families nearby so we spent most of the New Year’s Eves on our own although we have an odd one or two that we were with friends like the year before last year in Thailand. Yesterday, we were at my husband’s brother’s, he and his wife invited us to stay with them. It’s just an hour and a half from us so we can visit each other easily.
４時ごろに到着し、ミンスパイトお茶をいただきました。ミンスパイは、手作り以外美味しく感じません。もちろん、これは手作り。
When we arrived we had tea with homemade mince pies- I’ve found that I don’t like any store-bought ones.
テーブルは、クリスマスらしいセッティング。
The table was looking lovely and Christmassy.
食前酒のスパークリングワイン（わたしたちが持って行った、ローカルのスパークリングワイン）とおつまみ（フィロペーストリーに無花果とスティルトンチーズを入れて焼いたもの)、とても美味しかったです
Before dinner we first had sparkling wine (the one we gave them for Christmas, a local Sussex wine) and some nibbles, which were phyllo pastry filled with fig and Stilton, very nice
ディナーは、Mary Berry の「Merry Berry のビーフシチュー」、セロリアックが入っていてホースラディッシュなどで調味したちょっと珍しい味付けでしたが、これも美味しかったです。セロリアックは買っても余ってしまうことが多いのであまり買いませんが、シチューに入れても美味しいのですね。
The dinner was Mary Berry’s Beef Stew – which had celeriac and was seasoned with horseradish and some other spices. A bit unusual but very nice. Although I’ve bought celeriac before for a salad I couldn’t use it up all, so it’s a good idea to use it in a stew like this.
付け合わせは、ポテトのドルフィノア（ミルクだけの軽めのもの）とブロッコリー。
Side dishes were potato Dauphinois (I think with only milk, no cream, so it was quite light), and broccoli.
デザートは、Waitrose の「Mincemeat, cranberry and almond Eve’s pudding」。Mulled Wine のような香りがして、熱々で、美味しかったです。(レシピはWaitroseのもの、奥さんの手作りです。)
And the dessert was Waitrose’s Mincemeat, cranberry and almond Eve’s pudding. It smelled like mulled wine somehow. Very nice. (The recipe is fromWaitrose website but it was homemade.)
食事の後は、Frustration! というゲームをして、
We then played a game, “Frustration!”
しばらくテレビを見ながら年が開けるのを待ち、ハッピーニューイヤーと言って寝ました（笑）。楽しい、大晦日でした。
Then watched TV waiting for the New Year to come in, said “Happy New Year” and went to bed! We had a lovely evening.