Give your breadsticks a fresh look for spring. Arrange refrigerated breadstick dough on a baking sheet and brush with a beaten egg. Place small, delicate herb leaves like dill, chervil, oregano or parsley on top, then brush with more of the egg and bake as directed.

(Photograph by Sam Kaplan)

Food Network Magazine has the recipe and tips for the Perfect Fondue. Here’s how to master the melting:

1. Use room-temperature cheese: Grate the cheese straight out of the fridge, then let it come to room temperature before melting.

2. Keep the heat low: Overcooked cheese is tough and rubbery. Melt it slowly, stir constantly and don’t let it come to a boil.

Melt the cheese on the stove and more tips »

Dive into Alton's playbook for Buffalo Wings that can't be beat.

For Super Bowl Sunday, try tackling hot wings Alton-style, with a little science in your back pocket and a trick play up your sleeve. You’ll score a perfect touchdown, guaranteed, with these crispy-skinned wonders. Here are some of his hot wing secrets, step-by-step.

Steaming?: First, Alton loads up a steamer basket (yes, the one you usually use for broccoli) with the raw chicken wings and steams them for 10 minutes. Why would you do this? The extra fat will melt off and drip away into the pan, so you’ll be able to cook them at a higher heat later without smoking up your kitchen. And high heat = crispy skin.

Alton links a few steamer baskets together to fit all the wings. You could work in batches.

Drying: The steamed wings get spread onto a cooling rack set over a half sheet pan lined with paper towels, and the whole thing hangs out in the fridge for an hour. The cool air from the fridge dries out the skin completely, so a crisp cook-up is imminent.

Baking: Then the wings are baked, not fried. They contain enough fat to fry themselves when cooked at a high temperature, so no need to heat up vats of hot oil. And yes, they’re baked, but not at all healthy, light or slimmed down.

Saucing: Alton tosses the baked wings in a simple, classic hot wing sauce of melted butter and hot sauce (my favorite is Frank’s Red Hot Sauce). If you want the sauce to stick to the wings, make sure to do this step right away, while the wings are still hot out of the oven. And don’t worry, the super crispy skin won’t get soggy soon.

Browse more hot wing recipes from Sunny, Guy and more FN chefs.

If you’re searching for the most amazing + easy + classic-tasting hot wing recipe ever, Alton’s is it. But you can also check out top versions from Paula, Sunny, Guy and more Food Network chefs here. Or browse our entire collection of 100 hot wings or even more game-day apps, from top guacs to tater skins.

What hot wings are you making for the big game?

Follow Michael Symon's step-by-step and serve up Iron Chef-style tater tots at your big game bash.

Tater tots are hot this year, the coolest football-watching food for people in the know. And why not? They’re nostalgic, retro and unexpected. So tot it up like an Iron Chef with Michael Symon’s Crab Tater Tots (a recipe from his cookbook Live to Cook), a grown-up riff that’s totally doable with the help of Symon’s step-by-step how to.

Get more of this Iron Chef's best recipes.

Cook up more of Michael Symon’s football party picks:

• Greek Meatballs: Spice up lamb meatballs with coriander, cumin and a touch of cinnamon.
• The Lola Burger: Take burgers to the next level by layering on flavor – cheddar cheese, bacon, a sunny-side-up egg, pickled red onions and spicy ketchup.

More tots to try:

• Aaron McCargo Jr.’s Homemade Tater Tots
• Guy’s Parmesan Tater Tots
• Food.com’s Bacon-Wrapped Tater Tots

The big game game plan: For more tater inspiration, browse Food Network Magazine‘s NFL potato skins, with one skin for each of the 32 teams. Or just dive into our playbook to find more big game snacks.

Texas Chili Potato Skins are team-neutral and just celebrate this super Sunday in Dallas.

What snacks and apps are you planning to make for the big game?

Contrary to popular belief, FN staffers are not treated to mind-blowing tastings and delicious snack breaks daily. We pack lunches or grab take-out like everyone else. However, special occasions sneak up on us and when they do, they are not to be missed.

Food Network recently launched its brand-new magazine (which makes me insanely hungry every time I thumb through it). To celebrate, our test kitchen chefs served up one feature called 50 Toast Toppers. It’s my guess that our diligent cooks actually tackled all 50 but I lost count somewhere around 27.

The spread was bountiful and impressive which triggered a somewhat embarrassing stomach growl when I walked in. The base for each app was a baked round of French bread, brushed with creamy salted butter. Atop each was a tiny explosion of flavor, whether a bite of gorgonzola, fig jam and prosciutto or hummus with olive tapenade. Sweet and savory made appearances as the team served up tender blue crab with wasabi mayo, an addictive Nutella with tangy orange marmalade and butter-sautéed apples with thinly-sliced ham. The formula was only broken with bite-sized versions of Tyler’s Ultimate Pumpkin Pie. (the dessert featured on the cover). Silky. Sweet. Tart. Crunchy. YUM!

The spread looked complex for a beginner cook like myself. However, a chef confided to me that prep was actually simple. Apparently, I could knock out these toast toppers without issue (or fire alarm). With the holidays around the corner, I’m looking for easy.

Better yet, they are all featured in a pull-out booklet that can live with your cookbooks. Get details on the new FN magazine here.

And don’t miss when Bruce sits down with the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Maile Carpenter, on Monday.