New Year's Resolutions and Blueberry Pie

First off, I am sorry that I haven't written in a while.  One of my new year's resolutions is to blog more often, which is going to be tested as I going to be living at a friend's house while she's away for about a month and her internet isn't currently working.  I'm going to try blogging at places with free wifi, but I cannot guarantee anything.  I will be glad when my life gets back into its regular routine and I'll be able to blog without tons of effort.  Then again, its the things in life that take effort that are often worth doing.  For some reason, I often buy into that statement kicking and screaming as I generally prefer things easy and instantly gratifying...

Another resolution I have is to get back into yoga.  When I did yoga on a semi-regular basis almost a year ago, I found that I felt a lot better about my body.  It's not that I weighed any less, because I couldn't at the time practice it more than once a week and the only kind of yoga my body can handle is the most relaxing form called Hatha Yoga, but I did feel more in tune with my body.  It felt good to be more active, especially as there are not many kinds of athletic activities that I can do, due to my fibromyalgia.  I felt more productive and I want to feel that way again.  I am hoping that by posting this, I will be more motivated to go.

Finally, I want to live more into the moment and to be more sure of myself.  Typically, I am very preoccupied with myself and am painfully self-aware, which leads to me feeling very awkward and uncomfortable.  My brother and his girlfriend were at my parent's house for several weeks-another reason why I was not blogging!-and for the first time I can remember, I had several weeks where I felt comfortable in my own skin.  I felt accepted and almost normal, as we hung out and went to movies, museums, and shopped together.  I really liked feeling that way and I decided that just because they are now gone does not mean that those feelings have to be gone.  I often feel like I do not fit in, but I am coming to the realization that that may be just my perception and not actually the truth.  There are places where I am accepted and it is up to me to internalize that and to stay involved in the places and groups of people where I am accepted and loved-to stay more in the moment and to not dwell in the negative.  I feel like I have grown a lot this year, even though this new year is only a few days old and I am excited by the fact that I have been mostly happy and satisfied so far this year.  I am excited that I am actually looking forward to living out this new year, to growing and becoming a happier, more satisfied and self-assured person.

I had a good holiday season and one thing I love about the holidays is that it usually gives me the chance to cook with someone.  Cooking can be such a joyous art and I just love sharing that joy with someone else!  My mom and I made a fabulous blueberry pie.  It didn't quite congeal the way ones from the store do, but that didn't affect the taste!

From Allrecipes.com, here is a blueberry pie recipe that has been altered slightly to make it deep dish.

Blueberry Pie

Ingredients

1cup white sugar

5 T cornstarch

1/4 t salt

1/2 t ground cinnamon

5 cups fresh blueberries

1 pkg. of Pillsbury roll-out pie crust (My mom says they're just as good as making your own crust!)

1 T butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon and sprinkle over blueberries.

3. Line pie dish with one pie crust.  Pour berry mixture into the crust and dot with butter.

4.Put other pie crust on top and make slits in the top piece.  Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about fifty minutes, or until crust is golden brown.  Let it stand about 1 1/2 hours before cutting.

5. Enjoy!

It's a very simple recipe and it tastes great!  The holidays may be over, but make it your new year's resolution to share pie with plenty of people...