resolutions and blueberry muffins

Gabriel and I have been planning our new year's resolution for the past couple of months.

You see, we have a problem. A TV problem. Even though we don't own a television.

Every night, once the kids are in bed, we drag the couch over in front of the computer and watch several hours worth of shows.

I don't think that watching shows is a bad thing. During my entire pregnancy with River, we were hooked on Law & Order SVU. And since Netflix has all of the seasons available for instant view, Elliot and Olivia became two of our dearest friends. Snuggling up on the couch every evening for another episode or two or three or four became a kind of comfort food for us. Entertainment without the mental effort of investing oneself in a new show with a new story. And once River was born, that chung-chung became a kind of lullaby for him while he dozed on the end of the couch before we all went upstairs for the night.

Good times.

When we decided we needed a break, and new years seemed just the motivation we needed, our initial reaction was But what are we going to do in the evenings?

And therein lies the problem. We have a hard time coming up with anything else to do besides plunking ourselves down in front of the computer every evening.

I am convinced that there is more to life than passive entertainment.

So what are we going to do instead?

We plan to read more books together. We plan to do more crafting. We plan to subscribe to yoga today and get in some evening exercise.

Mostly, we plan to find other things to do. For the next year. After that, we'll see.

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So now, here we are. New Year's Day. 2011.

And to celebrate the day, I made a favorite blueberry muffin recipe with the last of the summer blueberries we picked in Tontitown and tucked away in the freezer for later in the year.

Another thing I want to do more of this year is sharing the recipes I make and love because that is what is best about good food: sharing it with others.

Blueberry Muffins

The original recipe came off of a Hodgson's Mill flour bag, and it's my favorite for a Saturday morning breakfast or afternoon treat. They aren't heavy or overly sweet. And they use baking oil rather than butter. Gabriel prefers them with all white flour and sugar sprinkled on top, which is the way we went today. I sometimes substitute in whole wheat flour for some, or all, of the all-purpose flour, which turns out a heartier muffin. And sucanat sugar is good, too. You can also swap in other fruits for the blueberries (cranberries, cubed apples, peaches, even raisins or chocolate chips).

Makes 12 muffins.

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk or milk alternative (almond, soy, etc...)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.

Mix flour with 2 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl (I use my 2-cup pyrex measuring cup), combine egg, milk, 1/4 cup sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mix and stir just until moistened and combined. Fold in berries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.

Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown (it usually takes mine closer to 28 minutes). Remove from pans and serve immediately, or cool on wire racks.

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Happy 2011.

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