Cold Soup

A summer favorite in Latvia is cold soup. It is fast and easy, with just a little planning ahead. No one here likes to eat anything heavy when it is really hot out. So this soup usually goes like hot cakes ;) There are other variations, without beets, but this is the version I usually make.

2-3 boiled potatoes (peel when cool) shredded or chopped
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
2-3 cucumbers, shredded or chopped.
1 -2 quarts kefirs (this is like buttermilk, but thicker)
1 pint marinated  (pickled) beets (shredded) You can chop them if you can't find them shredded.
1 bunch of dill, finely chopped.

When your boiled items are cool, shred them and mix with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve. If you can't use it all the first day then it is just as good the second. I use only one quart of the buttermilk, I like a thicker soup. 

Strawberry Parfait

We recently had a ton of strawberries, and I was tired of doing the same things with them. I decided to look up some recipes in my Fannie Farmer cookbook. This is the first one I tried, and we REALLY enjoyed it. It is tasty right out of the freezer, sort of like icecream. But it is far better if you let it soften up a little, simple divine.


1 quart strawberries, pureed.
1 3/4 cups sugar ( I used a bit less)
3 egg whites
1/2 cup water
2 cups sweet cream

Combine strawberries and 3/4 cup sugar, refrigerate. Beat egg whites till stiff. Put remaining sugar and water in pot. Bring to boil without stirring. Cover and steam the sugar crystals down the sides and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and boil without stirring until syrup is apx. 115 degrees C. Slowly pour syrup over beaten eggs whites while beating. Beat this mixture until it is room temperature. Whip the cream to soft peaks and gently fold it in. Fold in the cold strawberry mixture. Freeze until ready to serve.