Just got back from the rehearsal dinner/BBQ at Laura’s parents’ farm. Their place is about 20 minutes outside Liepaja just past the big wind farms (so cool to see up close). Their house reminded me a lot of my grandparents’ farmhouse in Pennsylvania, you could tell the house grew as the family grew, with little rooms added on here and there. They have cows and 10 hectares of land. There are four farm cats around, three dogs, and a rabbit, plus a very adorable dark brown and white kitten (spent a good amount of time this evening playing with him).
When we arrived one of Laura’s bridesmaids was already there, she speaks English very well so we went outside with her to peel cucumbers and slice pickles (both fresh from the farm) for dinner and chatted the whole time. All the while American pop and rock music was playing in the background, it was a very interesting moment, feeling like I was on my grandparents’ farm, listening to Nickelback, slicing homemade pickles and chatting away with new Latvian friends. Once the rest of Laura’s bridesmaids arrived (they all had to work until 1800) we began dinner around 1930.
So the food, oh the food. Laura’s mom had marinated pork overnight and her father grilled it on skewers over a fresh cut birch-fueled wood fire, amazing, and so much of it! It seemed like there was an endless supply of meat coming from the marinating container. Jim said he thought it was better than anything we got at the Brazilian steakhouse in the States, and I may have to agree. Then there was fresh watermelon, huge green grapes, chips and a yellow-rinded honeydew-tasting melon, not sure what it was called, but it was quite good.
And then there was dessert, a homemade layer cake with three different fillings, one between each of the four layers, a vanilla custard, whipped cream and bananas, and a great citrusy honey layer on the bottom, all of it frosted with a light whipped cream and topped with freshly shaved chocolate. And as if that wasn’t enough I then discovered my new favorite dessert. I have no idea what it is called but it was some heavenly combination of a heavier angel food cake-tasting later on the bottom, topped with a layer of vanilla custard, topped with slices of rhubarb (yum!) then a cinnamon sugar mixture sprinkled on top and baked until the sugar was caramelized and crunchy.
I had three and a half (three inch square) pieces. Soooooo good!
Around 2200 we decided to head out so Robert could drive us back while it was still a bit light outside (yes it was still dusk and not pitch black that late in the evening). Tomorrow will be our day to explore town a bit more, hopefully the weather will hold out for us, it’s supposed to be thunder-stormy tomorrow but it was supposed to be that today too and it ended up being a gorgeous day, so here’s hoping the weather-luck continues!