By November and the semester is in its final weeks. I will finish the associate degree in December if these last classes go as planned, and I believe they will. I am good at school. I am not the student I might have been in a more stable childhood but I am the student I am now, which is focused and curious and willing to fail and try again. That is enough. That is more than enough.
The daycare transition plan for when I leave for UAB in January is something Miss Charlene and I have been discussing since September. I will be leaving the lead teacher position, which I do not love, but I will be leaving Amber in it, which feels right. She is ready. I have been preparing her all fall without announcing that that is what I was doing, giving her more decisions to make, more parent conversations to lead, more autonomy in the room. She does not know yet that I am leaving at the end of December. I will tell her this week. That conversation will be hard.
Made Thanksgiving dinner for the second time mostly on my own, Gloria guiding from the kitchen table. Turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, rolls, pecan pie, cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries for the first time. The cranberry sauce was simple: berries, orange juice and zest, sugar, cooked until the berries burst. It was bright and tart and James said: I do not usually like cranberry sauce but that I will eat. Highest praise from a man who means what he says.
That cranberry sauce — berries, orange juice, zest, sugar, nothing more — was the clearest thing I made all fall, and I think that’s why it stuck with me. When I started thinking about what to bring into the next season, the holiday gatherings that come after the hard work of a semester ends, I kept coming back to that brightness. These cranberry baked brie bites are built on exactly that combination: the tart snap of cranberry against something rich and warm underneath. James said he doesn’t usually like cranberry sauce — these, I think, would change his mind all over again.
Super-Easy Cranberry Baked Brie Bites
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 24 bites
Ingredients
- 1 package (17.3 oz) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
- 8 oz brie cheese, rind removed, cut into 24 small cubes
- 1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
- Fresh rosemary or thyme leaves, for garnish (optional)
- Flaky sea salt, to finish
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin or line with small paper liners.
- Cut the pastry. Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. Cut each sheet into 12 equal squares, giving you 24 squares total.
- Form the cups. Gently press each pastry square into a cup of the mini muffin tin, letting the corners fold up naturally to form a rustic cup shape.
- Mix the cranberry filling. In a small bowl, stir together the cranberry sauce, orange zest, orange juice, and nuts if using. Taste and adjust — add a pinch of sugar if your cranberries are very tart.
- Fill and layer. Place one cube of brie in the center of each pastry cup. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the cranberry mixture on top of the brie.
- Egg wash. Brush the exposed pastry edges lightly with the beaten egg to encourage golden browning.
- Bake. Bake for 13–15 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and the brie is fully melted and bubbling.
- Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and let cool for 3–5 minutes in the pan. Garnish with a small sprig of rosemary or thyme and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Serve warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 112 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 115mg