Travelling in Latvia

Latvia has a wonderful train system that allows you to move between the major cities close to Riga easily and cheaply. It's not the VIA train system like Canada but more like the GO system around Toronto with less comfy seats. Jurmala to Riga and back cost 2.10 Euro and took about half an hour each way. There are passenger trains that go from one end of Latvia to the other but I haven't tried them yet.

There are also local buses that go from one city to another and stop all over the country. There are literally bus stops everywhere. Lithuania and Estonia are the same.

Latvia 100 Anniversary Bus Shelter on the way up the coast to Kolka.

Bus stop in Estonia close to the Latvian border taken on our way to Valga.

We travel by car because of our dog, and we travel a lot. Once you leave the major cities behind food and drink become a bit of a problem, unless you are okay with gas station food. I am not saying it is bad, as the gas stations have clean washrooms and great coffee machines, I just don't know the food. They have hot dogs but nothing I recognize and I just don't want to take any chances while I am travelling as the gas stations can be far apart. And we've grabbed food and discovered pickles on pizza-like disks and meat filling in what we thought was a dessert. (After that incident Chris said, "Why don't you make some sausage rolls?")  I expect this food problem would magically disappear if I spoke and read Latvian, but maybe not.

We also travel quite far by Latvian standards, often driving 3 or more hours to see something in the country side and I have been told Latvians don't usually drive that far. But we do and since we're Canadians we expect to be able to find fast food along the way (plus we don't want to leave the dog alone in the car). The cafe culture here, which I love, doesn't do fast food. It's quality food, and a meal is for relaxing here. I love that attitude, except when I am exploring. So many wonderful places to see! I have gotten back into the habit of making all of our food again. During the winter, I started making sausage rolls, samosas, small meaty tarts, cookies and cakes to take with us as well as water and fruit that we can eat without having to pull over.

Samosas have always been a little tricky (how hot is hot enough for the filling?) I have tried multiple types of wrappers (home made dough, filo pastry, egg roll wrappers, you get the idea.) I have tried to bake them and fry them.

My latest success?
I think I may have found the best  filling recipe, dough recipe and how to make them!
So for the filling I use this recipe: https://diningforwomen.org/recipes/easy-samosas-tested/ I make it as written except I add minced garlic to the ginger, pepper, onion mix.
Here is the recipe I use for the dough. https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/samosa-dough.html I use olive oil instead of canola. It is easier to get in Latvia and healthier.
And I use this video to actually make the dough work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtY8KXjAtko This is the first time it has been silky smooth and easy to roll. I knead it 8 minutes before I let it rest. How she makes the pockets is excellent. The dough is sturdy, flexible and stays together well. It fried up beautifully. You need two batches of dough for the amount of filling in the recipe I am using above.
Enjoy!

Samosas! I fried this batch. Next batch I will try baking.