"If you face the fear that keeps you frozen, Chase the sky into the ocean, That's when some

Today begins the month of pies, and so it can only begin with one person. This particular person has been very supportive of my baking throughout this whole process, to the point where she gets upset when there are no bake goods for her that day. Tara Wisbauer is the OT that works with me, and so this pie is not only blueberry, which is her favorite thing, but it is a home study in OT exercises. In honor of her trying to help fix my weak hands, I will be making the pie crust completely by hand, and not using my faithful and amazing kitchen aid stand mixer. People may say beauty hurts, but baking hurts even more!

In the short time I have known Tara, I have come to learn many wonderful things about her. The first is that she is willing to abandon her car at the drop of the hat. Tara's car is called Carl, and poor Carl went on our first adventure. Tara and I should never be left to go on adventures alone, as we both are wiling to make decisions that may not be considered intelligent or even safe at times. With this in mind, Tara and I were driving to a little island near Iwakuni to try a cafe that Tara had found on Facebook (this is how we find places to eat), and on our way back there was a random road that looked interesting, so we collectively decided to drive up it.

As we reached the top of this large hill, we quickly realized that we were faced with some desicions. One, we could turn around and go back down the narrow, yet safe, road we had just driven up. Two we could continue down the road into a valley, but the road appeared to narrow to the point where Carl would not fit down it. Then there was three, we could take the road less travelled, which we had barley seen due to the over growth of vegetation at the entrance. Now Tara walked down to scout out the second road a little and decided it was fine. She should have walked further and we should have turned around, but we made the adventurous choice to drive into the forest. We quickly discovered that the forest had taken over the road and there was no way through, and the way back would be difficult to back up.

I had every faith that Tara, eventually, would pull off the feat of backing up, but Tara did not share this confidence and so she said, "Well Carl, it's been nice knowing you." She was fully ready to abandon him right there, without even trying to back up. She let me try to back him up the road, which I managed....eventually, and we drove out of there and gave Carl a break.

This story, while funny, is a reflection of Tara's best qualities. She is willing to try anything, to go anywhere with friends, and then she is ready to turn around when things fail and find another way home. She doesn't get upset, and she doesn't get angry. I appreciate a person who can laugh at their mistakes, and I really appreciate that she didn't get angry because it was partially my idea that got us into that situation.

There are few people in the world with a willingness to expand beyond their own comfort and take risks. Whether it is trying new foods, watching scary movies, when you have to go home alone, or driving down a random road with a person you just met, a person like Tara is someone who can make an adventure out of the mundane. There will always be laughter when she is around, and you know that when you need someone to support your insane ideas, Tara is there to back you up.

This pie is for Tara. It is the beginning of a great pie adventure, and hopefully no Carls get left behind!

Blueberry Filling

In medium bowl mix together

1/2 tsp cinnamon

4 cups blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

3 tbsps cornstarch

*Mix it well (By hand) and then pour into the pie crust. You are going to allow the oven to do all the work with this filling!

*Pie will bake at 425 F/220 C for about 50 minutes

Pie Crust

1/4 cup butter-soft

1/4 cup crisco

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

4-5 tbsps ice water

*in medium mixing bowl, cut in butter and crisco until looks like this

*Add in extract and 1 tbsps of ice water at a time until a ball begins to form. Dough should come together easily and not be tacky.

*grease pie tin and roll out dough. It is easy to do between two sheets of plastic wrap!

*Baker's notes:

Chilled dough is a little easier to work with, and cuts a little easier too. If you are making multiple pies, this recipe makes enough for one crust and one top. Double, triple, quadruple as needed. If you are making pies for Thanksgiving, do yourself a favor and make the crust one day, let it chill over night, roll it out the next day and put into pans, then cover with saran wrap and let chill again over night, then on Thanksgiving fill and bake. Enjoy the pie, I know Tara did!