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Brownies are one of my all-time favorite desserts. Although they're not as celebratory as a layer cake or as glamorous as profiteroles or as elegant as crème brûlée, there's something about brownies that makes them special. A square of rich chocolate brownie that melts in your mouth is sheer perfection!

I love trying out different brownie recipes, and my current obsession is this method from Nick Malgieri's Bake! In terms of brownie recipes, it's on the more complicated side: the batter has to be mixed for 10 minutes. However, the extra effort is rewarding — the resulting brownies are amazing.

They have a wonderful cracked top, fudgey melt-in-your mouth center, and crumbly sugary texture. Growing up, my dad always added half a bag of chocolate chips to his brownie batter, so now I do the same. The extra chocolate makes these brownies that much more delectable! You gotta bake them. Here's the recipe.

Katie's creative strawberry, balsamic, and black pepper cocktail was a great reminder that strawberries aren't just for shortcake; there are plenty of different ways to make the most of the fruit's floral, sweet-tart quality, from strawberry-thyme panna cotta to tequila infusions, and even strawberry spaghetti! Now that strawberries are at their peak, what's your favorite way to work with them, besides eating them straight out of hand?

Though the terms "smoked salmon" and "lox" are used interchangeably, they're in fact, not quite the same thing. Real lox (also called belly lox) refers to the midsection of a salmon that's simply been cured in a salt brine; consequently, it possesses a saltier flavor than what many of us associate with smoked salmon.

Part of the confusion arises from the use of the term "Nova lox" or "Nova salmon," which originally referred to the lightly cured and cold-smoked salmon that hailed from Nova Scotia.

Today, smoked salmon is often prepared using wild and farm-raised salmon from both the Atlantic as well as the Pacific — and modern-day usage of the term has further blurred the distinction between lox, Nova lox, and smoked salmon. Did you know the distinction between the two?

Source: Flickr User jeredb

In an interesting turn of events, Starbucks has announced a new partnership with pop star Lady Gaga. On May 23, to celebrate the release of her new album, Born This Way, Lady Gaga is taking over the Starbucks Digital Network.

There will be a series of contests and giveaways along with a puzzle-inspired digital game that you can start playing right this moment! Gaga fans can also download her songs and listen to a special edition of Born This Way.

Of the risky partnership, Starbucks chief marketing officer said, "Born This Way is a worldwide cultural event. Starbucks is excited to be one of the iconic partners to celebrate the album's release in an innovative way." Since I'm a huge Lady Gaga lover, I'll definitely be listening come next Monday. What do you think of the Gaga-Starbucks connection?