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.

Inspired by Saturday’s power outage thanks to Hurricane Earl — and the browning bananas camping out in the cupboard — my mind conjured up a culinary mash-up that I’m fondly referring to as the “blackout brownie”: a moist, chewy, cocoalicious brownie mellowed out with a little kick of the irresistible flavor of banana bread.

I had forgotten how much I loved to bake. That is, until I left ordering a large batch of cupcakes too late and was left to my own (once quite practiced) baking devices on the eve of my daughter’s third birthday party. Three kiddies tucked neatly into bed, hubby out for a couple of hours with the guys, and donning a black-on-black embroidered cotton summer frock, I hoisted out my dust-covered Cuisinart mixer.