Make a chocolate treat for the outside of your body.

Chocolate and spa treatments like massages, facials and pedicures are quintessential Valentine’s Days gifts everyone loves to receive. Oasis Day Spa, with locations in New York City and Westc...

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Chocolate lovers won’t just lick these bowls clean — they’ll eat them whole. To make some yourself, temper one pound semisweet chocolate. Dip the top of a partially inflated balloon in the chocolate, flip the balloon back up and twirl it to distribute the chocolate. Hold the balloon upright and let dry for about a minute. Repeat the dipping process two more times, then spoon some melted chocolate onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and center the balloon, bowl-side down, on the melted chocolate base. Repeat with more balloons, reheating the chocolate as needed (1 pound chocolate will make 4 to 6 small bowls). Refrigerate until hard, about 1 hour, then pop the balloons and peel them away. Store the bowls in a cool, dry place for up to three days.

Photograph by James Wojcik

Start preparing for Cinco de Mayo with this easy dessert. Using your favorite boxed brownie mix, add ground chipotle chile powder and cinnamon to the batter for a Mexican twist on a traditional dessert. Top each brownie with a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream.

Get the recipe: Mexican Brownies

Browse Food Network’s Cinco de Mayo feast for more Mexican-inspired recipes.

The best parts of a Peep are the little eyes and nose. No, for real. They’re tiny dots of chocolate and everyone knows that chocolate and marshmallow is one of the more amazing comfort food combinations (right up there with peanut butter and jelly). The problem is that there’s not enough chocolate on the bunny or chicks face to really satisfy. The good people at Just Born recognize the wonder of marshmallow Peeps + chocolate and came out with chocolate-covered Peeps a few years ago. They’re more expensive than the original though, and the chocolate coating is sort of chemical-y tasting. So it’s best to do-it-yourself. Homemade chocolate fondue is super-easy to make (tip: you can even make it in the microwave), and assorted Peeps and fruit and whatever else you like to dip look quite festive on a platter. Make it for Easter, or after Easter with all the leftover candy.

Get Paula Deen’s easy chocolate fondue recipe »

Bake Ina's Outrageous Brownies for the ultimate share-able sweet.

Sure, lots of brownie mixes are good, especially when dolled up with special touches. (Paula, Giada and the Neelys all have short-cut, dressed-up mix recipes.) So why bother baking from-scratch, homemade brownies – measuring, melting and mixing with precision? Your brownies will be different. . . in a good way. Just browse recipes and start making choices: cakey or fudgy, bittersweet or semi-sweet, melted bars or cocoa powder, nuts or no nuts, chips or no chips? In a crowd of boxed brownie taste-memories, yours will stand out from the crowd. So get baking!

No need to halve a brownie recipe -- leftovers travel well and are always appreciated.

Our Top Brownie Recipes:

Short-Cut Brownies:

What’s your favorite brownie recipe?

With Thanksgiving nearly here, the SC has been feeling contemplative. Here’s why I’m grateful this year…

10. For the colorful Bic markers, glitter pens and the fancy desk lamp that not only brighten my day but notes written to The Powers That Be.

9. For Joe, our secret Food Network tour guide. He has a plethora of knowledge about FN, and always adds a shot of humor and wit to my days (something this computer-saddled SC truly appreciates).

8. The mailroom guys who always help me with the heavy lifting around here. Do you know how many pounds a case of paper weighs?!!

7. Mr. SC (dear ole hubby) cooks for me at home…it’s like having your own personal FN-caliber chef make you dinner!

6. For all the cool FN kitchenware… I heart the Panini Grill & Press. Crisp, buttery Ciabbata, warm melty Fontina, fresh herbs… Mmmm.

5. For my family that I’ll be seeing over Thanksgiving, I was inspired by Ms. Deen to try to create her Frozen Chocolate Mousse Pie. Be prepared. I’m baking.

4. For The Next Iron Chef, which will begin taping soon. You can almost taste the food they make. I think it’s the best reality show which takes seasoned chefs to a new pinnacle in the culinary pantheon.

3. For the new and improved foodnetwork.com site! The recipe search rocks! I know where to find the recipe for Paula Deen’s southern-fried chicken during any middle of the night hunger pangs.

2. For Rachael Ray, who has had some major throat issues lately, for being a trooper and doing a marathon taping of 30 Minute Meals. That woman is unstoppable!

1. The FN Kitchens for their fancy eats, friendly faces and freebies. I admit that I did take two of the magical brownies you created a few months back.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

~ Secretary Confidential