While chocolate turtles are practically a universally-loved sweet (except for those with nut allergies, perhaps), um, duh, bacon makes everything better! Who needs the holidays as an excuse to whip up these? I mean, it's gotta be someone's birthday...right?

This recipe yields 30 turtles, which sounds like a lot, but trust me, they go fast. The combination of flavors is incredible. First you get the crispy pecans, then the chewy caramel, then the rich dark chocolate, and finally the salty, meaty bacon. They will last for up to two weeks, stored between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container.

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Photo by Serious Eats

Sure, there are tons of fun cocktail recipes out there, but many of them require a fully stocked bar and just a splash of that random spirit you've never heard of and will never use again. If you're eager to keep things simple this New Year's Eve, try one of these fun, festive, and yes, easy, cocktail recipes from The Kitchn.

New Year's Eve is just around the corner, all too soon after the hectic rush of the holidays and the whirl of gift-shopping and party-throwing. If you're anything like us, you're in the grip of post-holiday lassitude. So whether you're throwing a small party or snuggling up on the couch this New Year's Eve, the drinks should stay simple.

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Photo by Liz Vidyarthi

Most humans are lactose intolerant, meaning our bodies stop producing lactase (an enzyme needed to digest the lactose in milk) after childhood. But some of us, particularly those with Northern European or Middle Eastern ancestry, are able to produce lactase and consume dairy without a problem into adulthood. Scientists are looking for the reason that lactose tolerance evolved among those populations. It begs the question: how might dairy consumption have helped our ancestors survive?

Got milk? Ancient European farmers who made cheese thousands of years ago certainly had it. But at that time, they lacked a genetic mutation that would have allowed them to digest raw milk's dominant sugar, lactose, after childhood.

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Food porn: cheeseburger style. Need we say more? Click through below to salivate over the 10 photos curated by the staff over at Serious Eats. Which one is your fav?

Because AHT has so many great photos and I assumed no one would be opposed to staring at some burgers from the past, I poked through the last year's archives and picked 10 of my favorite photos (that hadn't appeared in the Staff Picks: Favorite Burgers of 2012 post). What are your favorite AHT photos from 2012?

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Photo by Wes Rowe

It's okay. We know about your secret Nutella addiction. We know you keep a jar stashed in your cupboard, and that you sometimes eat it plain by the spoonful to get your fix. You don't need to be ashamed. In fact, we're here to enable you. This warm, ooey, gooey, chocolate-hazelnutty, cream-cheesy sandwich is your perfect excuse to indulge in the sugary spread. With a touch of cheese, of course.

I put the word dessert in the title of this recipe to make sure that this crisp, gooey temptation didn't accidentally find its way into your lunch. Or dinner. This isn't a meal. It's not a snack. It's really not for breakfast. Truly. I'm warning you. Just trying to do my duty.

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Photo by Faith Durand

Stilton is a unique cheese on all accounts -- its signature veined appearance, its strong taste, and of course, its smell. Until recently, what precisely causes Stilton's perfume was unknown, but now scientists at the University of Northampton and University of Nottingham have been able to identify the particular strain of yeast that causes it. A time for celebration? Break out the port!

Although the mould Penicillium roqueforti is added by manufacturers to produce the "blue" in cheeses, researchers found a yeast called Y. lipolytica directly influenced their smell.

"The panel was able to discriminate between samples with different yeast levels, suggesting that the variation in microbial flora was noticeable in the aroma," said Dr Kostas Gkatzionis, of the University of Northampton.

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Photo by ThinkStock

Modern art has reached new heights! Thanks to Whit Deschner, cows, sheep, and other farm animals now have the chance to hone their artistic skills on 50-pound cubes of salt, while giving back to their human caretakers. The Great Salt Lick contest, started by Deschner, is an auction of original salt pieces for Parkinson's disease research. Over the years, the contest has raked in over $30,000 in fundraiser dollars.

Kim Jacobs has just come off the range with two sculptures to enter in the contest. Her licks join about 20 others on a long table in the center of the store, each with paperwork that includes the title and species of artist. Some animals lick sculptures that look like vertebrae from prehistoric creatures, others like windswept sandstone formations you might see in canyon country.

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2012 was a big year for food, so much so that it spawned an entire glossary of original words and phrases. The past year has brought us wine apartments in Japan, pizza topping drama in Italy, and who could forget the predicted bacon shortage that sent pork lovers around the world into an absolute frenzy?

a·pork·a·lypse (noun): Fears of a worldwide shortage of bacon in 2013 exploded in social media following the dissemination of a report by the UK's National Pig Association claiming heavy drought conditions in Europe had so destroyed corn and soybean feed crops that a reduction of pork production was inevitable.

In case you haven't noticed, we've been on a bit of a Mascarpone kick here at culture lately, so why not continue the trend? Mascarpone's natural habitat is in desserts, and though it's typically found in cakes or pastries, it can seriously up the ante of frozen treats as well. Like gelato, for example.

Mascarpone gelato doesn't need any touch-ups—the full creaminess and fresh dairy flavor come through loud and clear—but a little lemon never hurt anyone, and it brightens this scoop up nicely.

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Photo by Max Falkowitz

Ah, pizza and beer. It's one of the classic food and drink combinations, adored by broke college students and culinary mavens alike. But should the flavors stay separate until they hit your mouth? Local Chicago brewers Tom and Athena Seefurth say no, crafting Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer back in 2006, Lately the brew has been generating a lot of buzz -- but is it worth the hype?

And yet, this is a thing. Back in 2006, Tom and Athena Seefurth, of Chicago, had an abundance of fresh tomatoes and garden-grown basil and oregano. For some inconceivable reason, they thought they would use those ingredients to brew beer. And thus, Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer. A beer that tastes like pizza.

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