But giving in to the baking bug doesn't have to mean an endless parade of cookies, cakes and pies. There are plenty of savory options for getting your hands into some dough and filling your home with that just-baked scent without necessitating a new pants size by Christmas.

For that, I turn most often to bread. Some people find the prospect of baking bread intimidating; I find it therapeutic. The trick is to find the right recipe, one that not only produces the sort of bread you love but also is forgiving. Earlier this year, I found my perfect bread, a Cook's Illustrated magazine recipe for multigrain sandwich loaf.

This version of the recipe blends two parts all-purpose flour and one part whole-wheat flour with a multigrain hot breakfast cereal. Frankly, that's simply brilliant.

The dough rises nicely and produces a bread that is dense enough to feel whole grain but light enough to accommodate sandwich fillings.

And as I discovered one hot day this past summer when I forgot about my dough and let it rise hours longer than it should have, this recipe also is extraordinarily forgiving.

In fact, I thought that loaf was among the best I'd ever baked.

Over the months, I've made a few tweaks. I cut the all-purpose flour in half, substituting white whole-wheat flour to up the whole grains even more without sacrificing texture or flavor. I also eliminated the pumpkin seeds Cook's called for.

And the original recipe called for melted butter. That seemed a bother, so I've used olive oil successfully every time.
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