Q: Help! I'm looking for ways to dress up a gluten-free vanilla cake. My girlfriend's birthday is this weekend and I picked up a package of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free vanilla cake mix (per great reviews), but need some help to dress it up a bit and make it beautiful and birthday-worthy. 

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My mom used to make homemade Chex Mix when we were growing up, so while I don't buy many packaged snacks these days, I sometimes grab a bag of Chex Mix as a guilty-pleasure treat. When I saw this recipe for Chocolate Coconut Chex mix last week, I knew I was in for trouble. More

No, these are not real snowballs. Instead what you see above is a traditional Bavarian delicacy called Schneeballen, which translates to "snowballs" — ball-shaped dough strands fried in clarified butter and dusted with powdered sugar. Sound delicious? We think so. Here's how you make it: More

I often wonder what would happen if I could pursue all of the ideas and dreams that churned within my brain. I might be a Nobel prize winner, best-selling author, philanthropist, olympic athlete, or a beauty queen by now. I would definitely be a better girlfriend, daughter, sister, and friend. I would listen harder, talk less, and love more. I would do all of these things, if only...

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I speak not as an angry spinster but as a happily married woman when I say: I hate Valentine's Day. It probably stems from my general dislike of anything overly girly or pink, and my feeling that a sweet gesture of love is much more special on a day when society isn't pressuring you into doing it. And don't even get me started on how alienating the holiday is for anyone not in a romantic relationship.

In short, my feelings about Valentine's Day are a lot like this popcorn: salty and a little bitter, but impossible to ignore.

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Q: I have recently developed a sensitivity to chocolate. It's not a serious allergy, but the symptoms are just bad enough to be seriously annoying. My mother has the same sensitivity and her solution is 'don't eat chocolate.' This is highly logical advice that I am finding near impossible to follow! 

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There are few finer things in life than a homemade caramel sauce. It's rich and sweet and just tastes like homemade love, doesn't it? It's a shame it dirties up pots and pans and takes forever to make. Well Ali has a different way of making it that takes less than 10 minutes and only dirties a single measuring cup! Woo-woo (that's our victory noise)! More

I know, I know. This might not be you. It's certainly not me. But I hear rumors that there are non-chocolate folks are out there, and since we're all here a few days before Valentine's Day, I thought it was about time we brainstormed some decadent, festive desserts that don't contain chocolate. More

The recipe you see before you, in all its crunchy cluster and creamy chocolate glory, is the result of three significant events. First, I found myself staring at a bag of freeze-dried strawberries at Trader Joe's, a food that I hadn't considered for its recipe potential until then. Second, an obsessive run of granola-making. Third, and perhaps most unsurprising, a late-night chocolate craving. Presto chango: granola bark was born.

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We love the playful, irresistible dessert tables put together by event stylist and party planner Amy Atlas. And the best part is, you don't have to be a professional to make your own version for Valentine's Day or any other celebration. Amy was kind enough to share her simple tips for turning 5 favorite desserts pink, as well as her recipe for pretty white chocolate strawberry truffles.

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