Dirty Little Secret #75

My children each have their own Leapster.

I am by no means a Luddite (who, incidentally, destroyed sewing machines...). Or a sanctimommy. We eat our share of processed foods and plenty of our toys have lights and bells and whistles.

However, after reading this article, I am glad that my Christmas shopping included this:



and this:



But keep in mind, my kids each have their own Leapster.

Dirty Little Secret #74

I can't bake the Thanksgiving pies ahead of time.

It would make sense to do some of the work today, wouldn't it?

But I would start by just nibbling at the caramel-y drippings of cherry overflowing out of the flaky crust. Then I would pick at the crumbly, sugarey goodness of the top of the apple pie. I would move on around 4 pm to snapping off the irregular edges of the pumpkin pie crust, just to see how it turned out. By 10 pm, I'd be sitting in bed, setting my empty pie plate on the nightstand.

So I can't bake the Thanksgiving pies ahead of time.