In the event that you need to build a replica of Lady Gaga out of sugar, you should probably consult with someone who's done it before. That would be Jay Murphy, the owner of Arizona's Kick Ass Kakes bakery and the mad genius who constructed an 180-pound human-shaped confection to herald the pop star's arrival in Phoenix for a series of concert dates. If this doesn't get him a backstage pass, there is no justice.

by Divya Yadava

Ditch basic tomato or heavy Alfredo and add more vegetables to your diet with these diverse and delectable noodle toppers!

by Siobhan Adcock, Epicurious

Gourmet/Yanes,Romulo A Clementine season will draw to a close in the next month or so, but I'm holding on for dear life. From Thanksgiving through February, we probably munch and slurp our way through a crate of clementines each week in my house. Since introducing my toddler to this easy-peel, seedless, perfectly child-sized fruit, I've found that she alone will mow down up to three clementines a day.

In fact, clementines are so embarrassingly easy to eat that I admit I was surprised to discover so many clementine recipes in the Epicurious database. But there is compelling evidence that someone out there (not me) apparently possesses the self-restraint to do something other than just start gobbling up juicy segments the second the peel is off. And if you, too, are capable of great feats of self-control, you might be interested to try a few.

BOMBOLINI WITH CLEMENTINE SAUCE
Clementine Sauce is a flavorful accompaniment to ice cream, fruit, or our favorite Bomboloni.
recipe by

Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse. In a word: yum!

Today is National Peanut Butter Day, and we can't think of a better way to celebrate than by digging into decadent, peanut-buttery desserts. Here are fiv of our all-time favorite treats featuring peanut butter.

Related: Are These "Healthy" Girl Scout Cookies Genius -- Or a Marketing Ploy?

1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Cake: We think the name of this recipe says it all.

2. Buckeye Pie: The pie version of Buckeye candy balls has a chocolate wafer crust, sweet and creamy peanut butter filling and is covered with a chocolate ganache.

3. Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse: Indulge in this creamy peanut butter and sweet milk chocolate mousse.

4. Peanut Butter Cup Pie: One of our favorite flavor combinations: Peanut butter, graham crackers and vanilla ice cream.

5. Upside Down Peanut Parfaits: In a word, heaven.

What are your favorite peanut butter recipes?

Mix and match your way to a winning Super Bowl snack strategy with 10 takes on chips, cheese, and toppings
by Kelly Senyei, Epicurious

Super Bowl Sunday is a snack lover's paradise. And while chicken wings and sliders are popular game-day favorites, when it comes to quarterbacking the buffet, there's one dish on the must-have list: nachos. This crowd-pleasing party dish is quick and easy to make, and with so many potential chip, cheese, and topping combinations, the field is wide open. Our mix-and-match nacho guide equips you with 10 classic and creative ways to make nachos the star of your Super Bowl bash, including pizza- and barbecue-inspired versions, gluten-free and vegan options, and sweetly crispy dessert nachos.

Game Plan:
* Choose from our suggested matchups of chips, cheese, and toppings, or mix and match ingredients to your taste buds' desires.
* Bake the nachos on the center rack in a 450°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
* Nachos are

by Megan O. Steintrager, Epicurious

We're three weeks into our first monthly Epicurious Doable Challege: Get a Healthy Breakfast Boost, and hopefully you've tried eating a bigger morning meal, adding protein to breakfast, and enjoying a serving of fruits and vegetables at the start of your day (it's not too late to jump on those now, by the way). This week, I'd like to suggest some small tweaks to make at the grocery store--these little buying changes can make a difference over the long run for overall health and weight control and they're all really easy:

Choose fat-free milk rather than whole: In one cup of milk, you'll save 63 calories and take saturated fat from 5 grams to zero.

See more: 5 Most Common Recipe Mistakes People Make

Pick 100% whole grain products: A Thomas' Original English Muffin, for example, has just 1 gram of fiber, while the brand's 100% Whole Wheat muffin has 3 grams for 12% of the daily recommendation for fiber. Look for whole grain as the first ingredient on

by Kemp Minifie, Epicurious

As more and more people get into cooking--whether inspired by hipster TV chefs, luscious food photos in magazines and blogs, or the need to save money by cutting out restaurant meals--recipes have become more important than ever. Although there are plenty of flawed recipes out there in cyberspace, the good, well-tested ones can be ruined by users' flawed assumptions. Here are the five most common mistakes I encountered during many years as a magazine food editor talking to countless readers.

Failure to Read the Recipe:
How many times has the following scenario happened to you? You're in a big hurry. You find a recipe that uses what's in your fridge and you're halfway into the prep, when you discover to your chagrin that the recipe requires hours of marinating, or some labor-intensive step. If only you'd stopped long enough to calmly read the instructions all the way through, you would have seen the booby trap! Even I'm guilty of this one sometimes.

See

Gear up for the big game with meatball recipes and tips from New York's Meatball Shop
by Carolina Santos-Neves, Epicurious

From left: Michael Chernow and Daniel Holzman at their restaurant, The Meatball Shop. It's that time of year again, when you start thinking about what to make for your Super Bowl party. Last year you probably made wings. The year before that you probably made…wings. Those tasty nuggets have been a go-to for football parties since the early 1960s, when a Buffalo bar purportedly invented the Buffalo chicken wing. Well, it's 2012, for goodness' sake, time for a change!

What to make instead? Meatballs are riding a popularity wave again, so we turned to the Meatball Shop's chefs, Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, for advice. After successfully opening three restaurants in the New York area, the duo published The Meatball Shop Cookbook, and they have a thing or a hundred to say about how best to feed feisty football fans.

So this year, go about game-day business as usual. Chill some beers, put out bowls of chips and guac, and follow these meatball