The Perfect Weekend at Home...

It started with dinner Friday night at the Hardy's house.  The Hardy's have two adorable dogs, Buster and Tess, who came from the same shelter as our dogs, Moose and Dixie.  We have a running joint theory that Buster is the father of Moose and Dixie based on looks, intellect, and the fact that Buster would have been the perfect age to mate with a bloodhound and produce our two dogs.

Me and "the twins"

Buster, Dixie's twin doggie pal!

Moose!

Saturday was the perfect fun filled spring day.  Becca and Chris joined us in Tehachapi for a morning of shooting at the gun range.  I shot my first rifle (twice) and even hit the target on both shots!  I was pretty pleased with myself.  We also taught Becca how to shoot her first hand gun.  We only spent an hour or so at the range but the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and shells went flying!

We loaded up the car and headed to Murray Family Farms, just ten miles or so down the road from Tehachapi. The four of us picked about fifteen pounds of blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and apricots.  The farm was a little cheesy but it was a ton of fun to pick our own fruit and the prices were extremely reasonable.  Our hands and legs were covered in berry juice and smelled like fruit and our shoes were muddy and stained purple from all the juices. Kenneth dubbed himself the "blueberry princess"  because he managed to pick the most blueberries of the group.

We took the fruits home and began the process of making blueberry jam and a mixed berry pie for the impromptu pot luck we hosted that evening.  I made homemade pie crust on Wednesday and we used the hand picked berries to fill the crust.  I taught myself how to make the lattice top (for a double crusted pie) and we baked that sucker until the inside of our oven was splattered with exploded berry juices.  I also made blueberry jam from our U Pick blueberries and canned the batch of deliciously sweet and juicy jam.  Finally, Becca and I made "luxury" vanilla gelato.  Unfortunately, the gelato called for regular sugar and we only had brown sugar, we substituted the sugars and it still tasted delicious after coming out of the ice cream maker!  

Making the pie crust...

You can freeze the crust and then thaw it when you are ready to bake your pie!

Home made blueberry jam with hand picked blueberries!

Taught myself how to weave the lattice top on our mixed berry pie!

The boys ventured out to our local butcher shop and came home with delicious carne asada, which we grilled with peppers and onions.  Other families brought ingredients for me to make guacamole with chips, one family brought pasta salad and hotdogs, and we provided the desserts!   Ten adults, nine kids, and five dogs feasted on our last minute pot luck!  Kenneth built a fire in the fire pit and the dogs and men sat out and smoked cigars on our porch until the sun set.  After guests left, Kenneth and I sat outside until midnight with the dogs and our drinks enjoying the fire and watching Moose and Dixie chase the embers.  It was the perfect way to end a perfect day.