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Tufts of tangy, sweet cream cheese frosting are essential for covering classic desserts like carrot cake, red velvet cake, and hummingbird cake, and it’s sometimes the upgrade you need to make a boxed mix of cupcakes feel luxurious. This homestyle frosting, made with just cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar, gets whipped until smooth and fluffy. After years of testing different cream cheese-to-butter ratios, I’ve found a ratio and mixing method that makes the perfect frosting every time.

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There are those who go to Super Bowl parties for the game, and those who are there for the food (that’s me!). Inspired by classic taco dip, this is the warm and cheesy bean dip that will win over both sides of the party.

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Chocolate pound cake comes together so easily that it’s an everyday cake, but the taste and texture — that close-knit, tight crumb unique to a pound cake — plus the deep chocolate flavor make it feel like a luscious, special-occasion treat. It’s really the epitome of “it’s easier than it looks.” A slice of this buttery, chocolatey cake is charming as a weeknight dessert, but it’s also terrific as a midnight munch with a glass of cold milk or an after-school snack for lucky kids.

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It’s February, which means it’s officially the time of year when winter has just gotten depressing, your bank account is still depleted from the holidays and, oh yeah, you have to think about getting yourself or your loved one something for Valentine’s Day. What are you supposed to do?

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Hosting a steak dinner requires some impressive culinary choreography — you want it to look effortless, taste delicious, and not cost a cent more than necessary. On top of all that, you need to weigh the fact that you’re trying to satisfy your guests, without prepping so much food that you’re being wasteful. It’s a very delicate balance!

There are a few safe bets for things that will be totally polished off (wine), and a few things that are cheap and prevalent enough that you don’t have to worry if you make one or two more than necessary (potatoes).

But for the pièce de résistance, the steak itself, it would be nice to know that you’re not going to be swimming in leftovers or leaving anyone around the table starving. So we asked an expert, Jacob Dickson of Dickson’s Farmstand Meats in New York City, to give us the lowdown.

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Arnott’s Tim Tam Biscuits are the world’s most popular chocolate biscuits. Despite being a cult favorite for Australians and being readily available in 40 countries around the world, they never made their debut in the United States, leaving Americans with two choices: visiting the land down under or sourcing Tim Tams at duty-free shops in airports.

Now, they’ve finally launched in America and consumers can finally experience what the hype is about. Get excited.

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It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. In fact, I have a contest going right now. So if you have a story to share, no matter how big or how small, you’ll be in the running to win a big prize. Read more here.

realifestories in lineAs a 40-something woman, I’ve tried a lot of diets over nearly 30 years. And quite a few exercise programs, too. I’ve gained and lost 20 pounds multiple times. I was pretty good at losing weight once I put my mind to it – but the changes never stuck, old habits creeped back in, and the weight came back.

In 2006, I was feeling heavy, lethargic and desperate to lose weight once again. The South Beach Diet had been all the rage for a couple of years, and I decided to try it. I lost 30 pounds, and this was the first time in occurred to me that a lower carb diet might be better for my body. I wasn’t so good at the maintenance phase, however – a piece of whole wheat bread on occasion became a regular part of my diet. I restarted my love affair with chocolate ice cream, and the pounds gradually returned with several years of bouncing around on the scale.

In 2012 I began to have gastrointestinal health issues – I lost about 20 pounds, but not in a good way. After many months of doctor’s visits and tests I was diagnosed with a form of colitis. In looking on the Internet for guidance how to heal myself, I found Mark’s website. I devoured the information on his site and read his book, The Primal Blueprint. As a scientist, the technical explanations of how our bodies weren’t adapted to newer (on the evolutionary scale) foods like wheat made a lot of sense to me. I started gradually improving my diet, and I do mean gradually, over the next couple of years but with multiple stops and starts depending what was happening in life.

In late 2014, I took the next step and consulted a naturopath for additional help. Testing showed that I had an intolerance for wheat and oats -knowing that what you’re eating is actually harming your health is a big wake-up call. The testing also showed that I was pre-diabetic – also a huge wake-up call. I started reading books on the dangers of wheat to our health – Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD, and Grain Brain, by David Perlmutter, MD. Armed with this additional information, it became clear that my beloved bread could no longer fit in my diet. I got serious about the Primal lifestyle – no wheat, no processed foods, minimal sugar, etc. In my household we now eat meats, eggs, fish, and plenty of vegetables! It took some time, but eventually my body became fat adapted and the weight began dropping off. No feelings of deprivation, just a sense that what I was eating is good for my body.

The results? I’ve lost over 40 pounds and feel amazing. My colitis is under control-eating whole foods that nourish my body has made a huge difference. My blood sugar level is normal. I’m more active, exercising in a manner that is energizing rather than depleting. After so many years of trying diets, this is a lifestyle that I can maintain forever.

Having seen what a Primal diet and lifestyle can do for one’s health, in 2016 I completed The Primal Health Coach certification to teach others why this lifestyle works and to support clients who want to change their lives for the better. I also blog and provide healthy living tips on my website, theprimalhealthcoach.com.

I am so grateful to Mark for showing the way to good health-it has made a huge difference in my life.

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Super Bowl snacks are by definition over the top — decadent finger food that doesn’t require too much fuss to eat (oh, and goes well with beer). We take up this tradition with classics like baked bacon and cheddar jalapeño poppers and our slow-cooker queso dip, but add a little twist with things like Hasselback tater tots and loaded baked potato dip.

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From Apartment Therapy → How To Thrive (Not Just Survive) in a Small Apartment

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Sometimes food is a supporting player, and sometimes it is quite literally the lead. From low-brow raunch comedies starring anthropomorphized hot dogs to gorgeous coming-of-age dramas to noir-ish thrillers, food played an essential role in the films of 2016 — and not always where you’d expect it.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, our nominations for the finest food scenes to hit U.S. theaters in 2016.

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