If waking up was slow, trying to get moving was slower, but I finally went for my "morning" walk around 1:00pm. I was hoping to coax a mile walk out of my tired body. 1 hour and 3 miles later I dragged myself in the front door and collapsed on the couch.
I totally get Nike's slogan of "Just Do It". It's true. When I left for my walk I wasn't going to push, but as I got going I kept adjusting my route. When it was all over I had gone way beyond my expectations. One reason was simple. The start out route was all downhill and it was easy to motivate myself to going further. Half way through I realized that the remaining route was going to be all uphill! Too late now!
But there was a secondary reason. I knew what dinner was going to be and I needed to burn some calories!
We just finished dinner and it was worth it. Steak, cooked to perfection by my husband, corn on the cob, roasted on the grill, and homemade blueberry pie...my mother's recipe. I wish I had taken a picture, but nothing could have conveyed that taste! Oh my! It was the perfect summer meal. All that's left is the pie.
Of all the kinds of fruit pies, blueberry has a special place in my heart. Every summer my family went to our cabins in Connecticut. My uncle raised blueberries there and fresh blueberries were the prize on cereal, in muffins, or pancakes and the best...pie!
There is a beautiful photo of Mom taken many years ago holding a freshly baked pie. In our family, pie baking became a family skill that we all learned growing up. Of course, today when I went searching for that photo I couldn't find it. But I've always loved this one, too. It was taken in her later years, in the woods in Connecticut, near our cabins.
Tomorrow would have been Mom's birthday. The family often got together to celebrate her birthday. After my dad died, she often visited us over her birthday. Those days may be gone, but not the memories.
Happy Birthday, Mom.
OMG ... such memories.... Blueberry pie ... made by YOUR MOTHER ... in Connecticut, no less, and we sometimes ate it while looking out over the blueberry fields on that wonderful screened in porch..... Then (as you said) there were blueberries on cereal, or in pancakes (I remember gorging on those to your father's dismay!), and just plain snacking on blueberries...! What a life we had up there....!
ReplyDeleteI never learned to make blueberry pie -- or any pie for that matter. It was the crust that was the problem for me, and rolling out out and getting it "just so" on the pie pan. I just avoided the entire issue. Now that Mom no longer makes pies, I wish I had learned under my mom's watchful eye. She used to do the lattice work crust on the top of the pie, and I'd marvel at her skill...
I love that photo of your mother, but wish it was larger so I could see her more up close. I remember her more with her hair up in a bun - not short as it was there. I really do like her with her hair down like that. She was such a pretty woman! :)
By the way -- I also understand those sleepless nights. Been there. I have all sorts of things I do or don't do prior to going to bed to keep me from having insomnia, but sometimes it simply does not work.... :( Yeah -- sometimes you just have to jump into life even on those "mornings after"....
Blueberries bring back such memories. As for pie baking, my crust is always an iffy prospect for me. I think my sisters mastered it, but I can get anything from cardboard (not too often) to perfect(also not too often). This pie never had any steam holes cut into it. It was so flaky the top went on in pieces!! I just left a few holes there. The best part about making pies for us though, were the steam holes! It was a game to see if people could identify the design that was cut into it with a knife tip.
ReplyDeleteI may have a new solution for sleepless nights. Someone recently recomended trying Melatonin which I will do as soon as I can get it. It is used for people with jet lag. It is what the body makes to signal it is sleep time. I'll let you know if it helps.