Russian Season

Yesterday Ivanka finally allowed me to go veggie-shopping to the farmers’ market. She is learning to walk and she refuses to stay in her stroller for more than 15 minutes. The farmers’ market, however, is located in a 25 minutes walk from our home. She can make a few steps on her own or walk for a longer time holding my hand, but this distance is still too long for her. Besides, where would I put all my bags if not into a stroller? I missed the splendid farmers’ market so much. The small market we have across the street just doesn’t compare with it - giant carrots, stinky garlic (last year’s leftovers?) and wrinkled blueberries are some of my anti-favourites.  So I was extremely happy when Ivanka graciously allowed me to take her to that further market! We bought as much fruit and berries as I could squeeze into the baby-stroller bags.

It’s pretty amusing actually that our daughter already has her own opinion on a lot of things. She thinks, for example, that food crumbs that fall on the floor are the best delicacies ever. I just can’t stand the sight of her digging a tiny clot of yesterday’s omelet from under the stove and trying to eat it. I even started to mop the floor every other day: Sisyphean efforts, as a true foodcrumb connoisseur will always find something delicious even on a freshly cleaned floor :)

Some other things Ivanka thinks are cool include eating toilet paper, destroying flower pots and chewing shoe sponges. But of course there’re also a lot of good, and beautiful, and exciting things she likes. We were surprised to note that she prefers cats to dogs. She does like dogs, but when she sees a cat… she sings serenades, she’s in love! She loves to listen to music and dance and sing along. She loves flowers. Her favourite colour is yellow. I just think that’s so tremendous to discover her new preferences, likes and dislikes!

The sea buckthorns that I bought at the farmers’ market are also yellow. So I hope Ivanka will enjoy the juice. I plan to make a few jars of concentrated sea buckthorn juice for winter - the oily and acidic juice rich in vitamins C and E is a true elixir for the skin and hair. I think that wild blueberry and sea buckthorn are two of the most healthful and nutritious berries that grow here in Latvia. This variety of sea buckthorn has larger, juicier berries than the wild one; each berry is filled with turbid, oily, astringent liquid that need to be be mixed with generous amounts of sugar and water to become edible (drinkable?).

I’m not going to call this a recipe, but my suggestion is to use almost equal amounts of berries and sugar for a concentrated juice. Just a little bit less sugar - like minus 1 tablespoon for each 1/2 cup. A good idea is to dissolve sugar in a small amount of warm water before adding it to berries. I mash berries and put them through a sieve to get rid of skins and seeds. Then combine them with sugar - and that’s it. Note that this is a very strong and thick juice that just makes you gasp as you drink it. It’s an elixir, don’t forget.  So of course you will need to add water - I find the 1:4 proportion pretty perfect (1 part juice and 4 parts water).

Now I wonder if these berries are available in your country?