While sucked into the irresistible black hole that is the baking supply aisle at Michael’s craft store, I was mesmerized by the seemingly endless assortment of sprinkles, gel food colorings, pastry tips, cake molds, cookie cutters and cupcake cups. Thankfully, I periodically managed to snap myself out of the desire to purchase any and all of these oh-so-tempting baking accessories, decorations and tools.

What could be more classically festive than apple pie? Simple, homey and ultra delicious, apple pie is a family favorite, a dessert fancied by all family members — from the blithe toddler to the merry great grandparents, everyone will be angling for a slice of this luscious Dutch apple pie.

That’s right: s’mores in December. My inspiration for this confection came from a holiday special called Gingerbread S’More Boys, made by Two Hearts Bakery in San Francisco for Williams-Sonoma online. I’ve never actually tasted the Two Hearts Bakery variety, but was excited to try my hand at whipping up a kitchen made version of my own.

I wanted to put together a few words on the use of butter in baking: why it’s better than margarine, how it can actually be good for you, what kinds to use, how to store it, and how to bake with it. It seems that a few words have turned into many, and despite a temptation to edit it down, I’ve been indulgent and left it all on the page for you to absorb because, hey, it’s butter, one of the cornerstone ingredients of baking.

Alright, we are now full-swing into a somewhat manic phase of holiday baking. And no plate of Christmas treats would be complete without gingerbread cookies. I was thinking outside the gingerbread “man” cookie cutter… I have instead been inspired by my recent immigration to the twitterverse and opted for “gingerbread tweets” in the shape of twittering birds (and other shapes, too).  This gingerbread cookie recipe is a spicy variation with the standard ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and adds a little extra edge with a subtle dash of piquant cayenne pepper.