Uz laukiem (In the countryside)

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So Lelde and I have just got back from spending two weeks at her grandparents' farm, deep in the Latvian countryside. 32 per cent of Latvians live in rural areas#.
I think that Latvians have strong and thriving traditions related to the land. Whilst there, we went mushroom picking, which Lelde's mum describes as nearly being a national sport in Latvia- you can often see people coming from the forest with a basket full of senes(mushrooms) after an early morning hunt. It makes me think how in Britain most people wouldn't know what they were looking at when it comes to fungus- perhaps we're more removed from the source of our food- harvesting it in the supermarkets.
So we got back to nature and experienced farm labour and farm life- mostly- and I like this, the day revolves around food. We were stufffed full of hearty Latvian food at all opportunities! We even managed to put a litlle back by creating a strawberry patch which will hopefully be fruitful next year!
Here are the pictures of an extremely fun and organic couple of weeks


#http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/latvia_statistics.html

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Photos

Me and an uprooted tree
In the forest on our first mushroom hunt

MMH
Latvian beer has real flavour, and is pretty cheap too!

Old Ligo crown
Lelde's grandparent's house

On the stoop
Lelde's family

Kitchen
So warm and churning out mouthwatering food all day. We eat so much each time we go to the countryside-it's great!

Poinchikie
Deep-fried cottage cheese doughnuts

Storks on water tower
This is part of the old cohos- collective farm from Soviet times that is near Lelde's grandparent's farm. The storks were few and far between, as they are heading to warmer climates at this time of year.

savoury cake
made of pancakes

Comments

[Agnija]

I mean - this is an amazing storie.. I am here in NYC and feel like I just have visited my own grandparents! Thanks guys!

[Jan]

Fried Cottage Cheese Donuts
My mouth was watering over the picture of the Cottage Cheese Donuts. Tell us all the recipe of ingredients and then how they are made. Yummy, I want to try some. I think I would like these more than pickle soup. Lelde, is that light blonde hair I see in the pictures?

[Felicia Wang]

Hi Lelde, Steven, you have been back to Latvia. Have seen your pics so nice and you look so happy! Lelde may color her hair~~ (beautiful) it seems a little cold there, take care & wish you will come to visit here again~