Dear Fellow Bakers and friends,

Happy December 2025 and welcome to the newest issue of BB!

I always review my past newsletters to see what recipes I’ve previously shared as well as check out my editorial addresses to see where I was in mood, season and circumstances when I wrote them. For close to three decades I’m happy to see my newsletters reveal an enthusiastic voice (me biased?) that’s brimming with to share something with her readers. You might not agree with my spin on things but you can’t fault me on good intentions.

What stands out to me is that after 28 years of BB, regardless of the ups and downs of any given month or time in my life, I still show up. As we all have and do, I’ve weathered storms mini and major, personal and global. But by any given month’s end there’s a new issue of Betterbaking. I’ve kept writing, I’ve kept baking. Frankly, the moment my fingers start typing or dig into dough, I feel grounded and better, no matter what is going on. What makes me strong is commitment to something, versus courage. Commitment is a head trip that breeds emotional ballast.

By my editorials, you’d never know where I’ve been and what I’ve been dealing with but  to me that’s what publishing for a public audience is about. Being a boomer, or at least compared to the generations that have followed, there’s an old-school credo about never ‘let them see you sweat’. Like the British royal family’s motto, ‘never complain, never explain’ I think one can allude to things so that you appear honest and accessible but there should be a limit.

Before the Internet and certainly before the pandemic and the blossoming of social media and AI, maybe only your family and a best friend knew of your inner world. True, in those days, more of us had real best friends versus virtual Facebook ones but there was a social deference to not spilling the tea to everyone or making your angst a consumable content. A personal story went into a journal or a published memoir but now everyone’s a writer or rather, content provider. Content is no longer just sharing a talent or expertise for cake decorating, photography, or make-up. It’s all that plus it’s framed in personal over-sharing because popular culture calls full transparency and clicks, hits and Patreon accounts thrive on all that. I have full-disclosure-envy but not enough to tempt me away from this middle path I’ve always adapted of keeping things somewhat light and bright.

The second part of all this over-sharing is that people are documenting their lives as their lives are happening. I’ve seen women in labour on Instagram, giving a play by play as they’re being wheeled in for a C-section. I’m not sure what the end game is aside from the 15 minutes Andy Warhohl fame and five years supply of free Pampers but I know from many decades on the planet that our personal loves need space. Wine doesn’t taste good unless you let it decant. Musical notes without space are just percussive sounds void of melody. And there’s a certain intimacy or resonance to not sharing it all and in virtual time.

The second part of all this over-sharing is that people are documenting their lives as their lives are happening. I’ve seen women actually in full, active labour on Instagram, giving a play by play as they’re being wheeled in for a C-section. It must be generational because the end game eludes me. Aside from the 15 minutes Andy Warhohl fame and five years supply of free Pampers one forfeits a never-again-repeat moment by sharing it with the world's strangers. What I do know (for me at least) that many decades on the planet has shown me that our personal loves need space. Wine doesn’t taste good unless you let it decant. Musical notes without space are just percussive sounds that are void of melody. There’s a certain intimacy or resonance to not sharing all it, all of the time. Keep a little something for you. Be present in your own life -it's sacred.

Which brings me back to baking and what I said earlier. Nothing is more grounding than creating sustenance out of primal ingredients like flour and water. It’s not an intellectual calling – it’s an instinctual one. I’ve probably been a baker in several other lifetimes as I am sure many of you have. Bakers, among other trades, feed and uplift the world. We are the original light-bringers. And in this season of sugar and spice, also bringing the light is, to quote Martham a ‘good thing’. This is our time to shine so get your Nutcracker Suite apron on and let’s get going.

You can read about my Hanukkah Christmas Miracle here and enjoy a bonus recipe for a Yule log! I'm also happy to suggest some other holiday recipes such as:

Hanukkah Jelly Doughnuts
https://www.betterbaking.com/recipe-items/hanukkah-jelly-doughnuts/

 Classic Sugar Cookies
https://www.betterbaking.com/recipe-items/classic-hannukah-cookies/

 Double Rolled Rugulah
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/double-rolled-hanukka-rugulah/

 Holiday Panetonne (Free recipe of the month)
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/traditional-panetonne/

Warm wishes from my cozy Montreal, Canada kitchen to yours - wherever you may be. Stay safe, stay kind, keep baking and sharing.

I'll see you in 2026! (and Happy New too!)

Marcy Goldman
Master Baker, Author, Publisher
www.Betterbaking.com
Est. 1997