Yesterday evening we had dinner with a beautiful view. The weather was calm, the kind of evening that makes you want to stay outside just a little longer. After dinner, I wandered over to the vegetable garden with a handful of seed packets. It might be July, but there’s still time to sow a few … More A Little Bit of Hope for Autumn
June is one of my favourite months in the vegetable garden. Everything suddenly seems to wake up and start growing faster every single day. The leeks are getting bigger and stronger now. They still have a long way to go before harvest, but it’s always satisfying to see them thriving after such a slow start. … More Garden in July
The greenhouse has changed quite a bit over the past few weeks. The first photo shows what it looked like when I finally decided it was time to tackle it. There were boxes, bags, old cardboard, and all sorts of things that had accumulated over time. After a good clean-up (apart from washing the greenhouse … More Progress in the Greenhouse
My very first harvest from the garden this year! I stepped into the greenhouse and suddenly realized how much the salad had grown already. And dill! And the best part — it had self-seeded. Without much planning or effort from me, there it was: soft green salad leaves and dill. Peaked at my rased beds … More My First Harvest This Year
The weekend was supposed to be lovely… and to be fair, it really was — right up until 2am on Sunday morning. That’s when everything went downhill. I got sick. Properly sick. The kind where you spend the entire night running back and forth to the toilet. And not even in the comfort of your … More Surviving the Weekend, Starting the Garden
Last week was full of outdoor work. It felt like the garden was slowly waking up after winter. At the beginning of the week there was still plenty of snow around. It’s always funny how quickly things change at this time of year — one day everything is white, and a few days later you’re … More Cleaning the Greenhouse and Starting the First Seeds Outdoors
You know how some people say “put a cherry on top”?We say, put some dill on it. Because if you’re Latvian, you know:Dill isn’t a garnish.It’s a way of life. Potatoes? With dill.Cucumbers? With dill.Eggs, fish, cottage cheese, rye bread spread with something mysterious and creamy? Yup—dill. Dill is comfort. It’s summer in a handful. … More I’m Latvian—Of Course There’s Dill
There’s something magical about the first chanterelles. They always catch me by surprise — that golden pop in the moss, that earthy smell that says, yes, summer has truly arrived. It’s a small joy, but one I wait for every year. This time, I didn’t go to the forest; these beauties came to me thanks … More The First Chanterelles of the Season!
Yesterday I had enormous breakfast (don’t know why I thought 1 cup uncooked CousCous is OK for 2, it’s not)! There was too much couscous and since it was delicious, I ate it all! Yes, all that BIG breakfast portion of couscous :). I know that oats are better but I can’t eat oatmeal all the time. … More CousCous with Garlic dip for breakfast
Sometimes Janis brings such “terrible” thing as crab sticks… which doesn’t have crab in it at all! But… when he did, I’m happy to make a bowl of salad or eat it “terribly” unhealthy on bred with mayonnaise :). Don’t say anything… I know… I know 🙂 If you are interested in the recipe, here … More Crabstick salad with Chinese cabbage
This is my favorite winter breakfast recipe! I love how leek gives “spring taste” to the quark/cottage cheese. Simple & quick breakfast idea. If you ask me I prefer savory breakfast and it’s hard to find inspiration online. It feels like everyone else love sweet breakfast. Ilze
This recipe requires cooked barley. I like to cook a bigger pot of barley and keep it in the fridge when I’m feeling too lazy to cook. I love a simple Latvian kitchen that includes onions, salt & pepper. Ilze
How to prepare dill for winter? My favorite way is to freeze them. I don’t know why, but I don’t like the taste of dried dills. It’s completely something different. To freeze the dill you need only a few minutes! I’m buying bulk from organic farmers and they usually are clean. If choose to wash: leave … More How to Store Dill for winter
Another tagine recipe from our kitchen is with minced pork. We are buying pork from local certified Organic farm Purmalas and cooking together with Latvian winter vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions. The same here I start this after a breakfast and it’s ready for lunch.