Yesterday was just splendid, I can't think of another word that would more effectively describe it.
After meeting with a representative volunteer from the Montana Loon Society and sending him and one of my new neighbors down the south end of the lake to do their loon census activities, I got to the business of the day, berry things.
The raspberries in the garden enclosure decided to pop off this week, I picked two bowls full!
I also, took a cup and a half of them and made a raspberry tart for the hubs and I to enjoy as a bit of an inaugural celebration for our impending week of vacation. I found a recipe Tantalizing Raspberry Tarts on Food.com that piqued my interest as it was from The Anne Of Green Gables Cookbook. As I don't have a big or mini tart pans here, yet, I took what I did have and improvised, hello spring form pan!
Before too long, I had a tart that I was drooling over cooling on the counter. It was a task to ignore its sweet buttery existence while I rinsed, trayed, and froze the remaining berries and whipped up some tacos for dinner. The struggle was definitely real.
After dinner we did berry picking part two. Huckleberry season is winding down, at least here it is, as I noticed a lot of the berries are starting to get overripe. So, we are going out at least every other day as I want all the huckleberries I can gather!
This time we went up the hill on a spur road to this lonely cabin at the top of a ridge. I hadn't been to this particular cabin before, it's a bit of an eerie setting tucked at the top of a ridge in the belly of another granite crag. There's a bit of a pond to one side and a larch covered, bunch grass carpeted forest to the other. Right out of the gate I found some wild raspberries in bloom. Those were tasty, I then walked up to the cabin for a bit of exploration with the hubs before we got to huckleberry picking. The hubs stepped inside the cabin to check it out while I walked around to the back and stood a few feet from the cabin to take in the view of the rock slide mountain side and the little pond.
I then got one of my, feelings.
I turned around and a little skunk was slinking up behind me. It was very small little creature. Before I could talk to it further, the hubs stepped out of the cabin and my little skunk friend scurried back underneath the lonely building.
Mission skunk buddy will eventually engage.
But I was on huckleberry acquisition mission, so I left that realm and got to work.
On the ATV ride up the hillside I reconned all of the patches that I wanted to visit, and the hubs and I filled our bags in record time, in one patch no less, as it was just loaded. I think I will get out at least one or two more times before the berries are done!
We then rode back to the house, and before you could say purple power petals on a portulaca I had the hucks all washed, laid out on trays, and in the freezer.
It was then tart time.
Oh my dear taste buds on happiness steroids! I wish I could share a slice of that tart with you all, it was just beyond delectable. I ate a very large square and I am not ashamed of it at all. The buttery shortbread crunch of the crust slathered in the silken raspberry essence of each bite was just magnificent. That I got to eat it with the hubs while sitting on the porch overlooking the lake was an added bonus. The sounds of the loons put the whole experience over the top into shangri-la status.
A blissful day indeed.
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's now in hucklberry smash stain and scent iPhone.