I won’t lie.  I still have leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving.  Even after I made another batch of Cranberry Conserve.  And Cranberry Almond Bars.  And Cranberry Broccoli Salad.  It seems those giant bags of cranberries from Costco are way more giant than I give them credit for.  So you know I was more than a little stoked when I saw this recipe for Nantucket Cranberry Pie on The Pioneer Woman’s website, adapted from a Laurie Colwin recipe.

I was planning to write about something else today, saving the pie for later in the week, but after my Mom tasted it and said she did everything but lick the plate, I figure I should share it right away.  You know, in case you are also left with cranberries from the giant bag you bought at Costco.

And, um, yeah, if you have any awesome cranberry recipes you’d like to share, I’m all ears, because, believe it or not, I still have a cup or so of cranberries left.  Whatcha got for me?

Project 365
December 7, 2010, Photos #248-256
Meg had a post the other day about “keeping it real,” and I thought it was a great reminder. Sometimes when visiting blogs, everything can look perfect … adorable kids, homecooked meals nightly, a from-the-pages-of-a-catalog decorated home, a big dose of Keeping Up with the Jones’, but the reality is, we all have dirty dishes. We just assume you know. This is what it looked like when I left the house this morning. We were on the verge of running late because someone had a meltdown about an outfit. On a day like today, a burglar could break into the house and think “oh shoot, someone beat me to it.” It was just the kitchen that looked this bad, but I hated dashing out on it just as much as I hated coming home to it.

And the other side of the kitchen? Piles of clean laundry that are waiting for the Magic Laundry Fairies to cart upstairs and put away. Real life, peeps.

“Mom, Eli is my best dog ever.” Had to get a picture when she said that. Too cute. (Of course, this was 4 hours after her grubby little tear-stained face left the house. Reality check and all.)

Breakfast. Whole grain deli flat, peanut butter, sliced banana, drizzle of honey. Fiber, protein, good carbs, slight sweetness, perfect.

Love this. A friend stopped over tonight to drop off a thank you gift in the form of two new additions to our kitchen food and drink tree.

“Mom, I’m a good helper.” Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much. This week, they are studying the letter H in school, and a cookie topped with a Hershey Kiss seemed like a perfect treat for her to bring in. A new recipe from the folks at Hershey, but truth be told, I’m not a fan. To the point that I’m debating about tossing them and making something else tomorrow.

Sometimes cute just isn’t enough.

Remember the Family Circus cartoons in the Sunday paper? The mom would find a huge mess and all the kids would yell “not me,” and there was a drawing of a little ghost figure wearing a shirt that said “not me” on it. That was us today. The Not Me Ghost visited our kitchen and accidentally spilled half a box of Wheat Thins on the floor and scurried away before being caught.