We've been having a nice run of cold and rainy weather, which I've been loving. And the other night I realized that I've been letting the chilly weather go to waste by not making a cheesy beer bread. It's the simplest thing in the world to make and is so decadent that it's “comfort food” at its finest. Also, it's so ridiculously simple to make that you could literally prepare this bread with one hand tied behind your back. I don't think it even takes 5 minutes to put together.

As an adult I've baked bagels and dinner rolls, baguettes that required a homemade starter and savory no-knead breads with herbs, cheeses, and other indulgences. Oddly enough, though, I haven't made a simple loaf of sandwich bread since I first helped my step-mother bake as a young boy.

That was when I first fell in love with baking. The smell of developing yeast and the tactile pleasure of turning dry flour into a sticky mound of clay. And then the kneading and stretching, the flour dust on your shirt, and the science experiment of watching it rise. I love the whole process and recently I decided it was time to get back to my roots.

I made a simple sandwich bread, but couldn't keep myself from playing a little bit when it came time to add the sugar element; instead of using regular sugar or honey, the image of the smoke rising from a local sugarhouse on my drive home a few days ago inspired me to use maple syrup. I always forget to cook with maple syrup. It rounded out the flavor nicely without adding too much sweetness.

This week it's been so cold that the view out of our window has a been a prism of ice. And that means chili season has officially arrived.

Earlier this fall, our friends Alison and Ethan gave us cornbread baking pans, so this week seemed the perfect time to try them out. Jedd was dispatched to get us frozen corn while I rifled through the freezer to find our bag of Thai chilies. I figured that if jalapenos are good in cornbread, fiery hot peppers would be even better. When it's January in Vermont, you can't have enough heat.

I posted a year-end wrap up of our favorite appetizers from the year. But, as we head toward the new year, I have a few recipes that are new to us that I want to share too. First up, are these incredible pretzel bites.