We may earn a commission from links on this page.I host a festive Christmas bash every year. I buy the biggest tree possible, bake cookies for days, and hang enough string lights to shake the power grid. And while I always make some savory cheese boards and Thai food, theres only one thing my friends ask about in the weeks leading up to it. Are you making the giant almond cookie cake? Its called a kransekake, and this tree-shaped Scandinavian cookie cake has become the mascot of my party. There are a million reasons why, but here are three: Its show-stopping in stature, truly scrumptious, and the dough requires only four ingredients.Whats a kransekake?The kransekake is a Norwegian wedding cake, but it fits right at home on the dessert table of any celebration. Its essentially a cookie stack made of about 18 concentric cookie rings that subtly decrease in size. Sometimes I'll even make extra rings for a taller cake. The almond cookie dough is rather like edible amaretti Play-Doh. Its thick and pliable so you can easily roll out a clump into a long pencil-thin snake. The almond rope fits into a kransekake mold and gets baked right in there to hold the shape. While you could free-hand it like they did in the Great British Bake-Off, I wouldnt recommend it. Paul Hollywood isnt in your house anyway, so just get the molds. Theyre non-stick, heavy duty, and last for years. Norpro Cake Forms Nonstick Kransekake Norwegian Dessert Ring Tower New $31.90 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $31.90 at Amazon Everyone loves an attention-grabbing, pull-apart dessertIve been making this kransekake recipe for my Christmas parties for the past five years (this is year six), and every time, no matter that everyone has seen it before, this cookie cake gets showered with compliments, oohed and ahhed, and at least five boomerang videos of it will spring up on social. I do put it on a cake turntable and decorate it with edible glitter, so perhaps I feed into the attention a tiny bit.The part that everyone seems to love most is pulling off their own cookie ring (each one is "glued" to the next with sweet and crunchy royal icing). The practice of dismantling and consuming this cake slowly throughout the evening brings out that special twisted joy of devouring something beautiful. When only the larger rings remain, its common for people to start breaking off a small segment as they walk by. I like to dip them into a hot cup of this glgg recipe. My kransekake progression. This particular year I made extra rings so it became quite tall. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann How to make kransekake cookiesThe cookie dough itself is shockingly simple to make. 1. Mix the doughDump equal parts store-bought blanched almond flour and confectioners sugar into a big bowl, add two egg whites and a few drops of almond extract. You can let a stand mixer with a paddle attachment knead the dough together, but I prefer to don a couple food-safe vinyl gloves and smash the dough together with my hands. It only takes a minute to get the dough thoroughly mixed.2. Roll out the almond ropesKeeping the bulk of the dough covered with a piece of plastic so it doesnt dry out, pull off a chunk of the dough. Use both palms and a clean countertop (no flour for this recipe) to roll it out into a thin rope. Carefully lift the rope into one of the troughs in the kransekake mold. Just pick the closest fit, the dough is a very forgiving putty at this point. If the rope is too long, tear a bit off the end and smoosh the meeting ends together to complete the circle. If the rope is just too short, you can roll a tiny bit of dough to bridge the gap. Make sure to thoroughly press the seams so you dont have a weak spot there after baking. If your rope gets messed up or breaks, just smash it back into a ball and re-roll it. This dough doesnt have wheat flour in it, so you dont have to worry about gluten development or tough cookies.3. Bake the ringsOnce Ive filled two of the mold pans, I place them on a sheet pan and pop them in the oven to bake while I roll and fill the next two. When the baked cookies come out, let them cool completely. Theyre very light and rather delicate when theyre still hot, so give them about 10 minutes to cool before you pop them out. I use a fork to release one side of the cookie ring and then the whole thing usually jumps right out. If theyre sticking a lot, return the pan to the oven for another five minutes. I store the cookies together in the freezer until I need them. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Once Ive baked and cooled all the cookies, I usually store them in the freezer until the big day. Then I return the cookies to room temperature and drizzle them with royal icing (powdered sugar with some egg white) and stack them up into a proud almond-flavored tree. You can press sprinkles into the icing, edible glitter, or small candies if youd like. The cookie itself will be crisp and chewy, showcasing its light, sweet almond flavor. Enjoy the leftovers for about three days if well covered.Kransekake Cookie Dough RecipeIngredients:10.5 ounces almond flour10.5 ounces powdered sugar2 fresh egg whites teaspoon almond extract1. Preheat the oven to 300F. Place the kransekake molds onto a sheet pan.2. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly with your hands (gloved hands are best) in a large mixing bowl, or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.The dough should be soft but not sticky. If it is, add a spoonful or two of almond flour and mix it again.3. Keep the dough covered with a small piece of plastic wrap. Tear off golf ball-ish sized pieces and roll them into long ropes, the thickness of a pencil. Youll need smaller ropes for the smaller circles and larger ones as you go on. Carefully lay the dough ropes into the mold rings, connecting the ends together by squeezing them and reshaping for an endless circle. Repeat with the rest of the rings.4. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, or until theyre puffed and a blush of browning occurs over the tops. Dont overbake them or theyll be too crunchy later.This dough is enough to make all 18 rings. Use any extra dough to fix any mess ups, or roll it into balls and bake them for chewy amaretti cookies.

The average weekly income for Americans this year is about $1,165, or approximately $60,580 annually. That's not a lot, especially when you consider the fact that the average rent is now $1,748 (about $21,000 per year) and the minimum recommended grocery budget is about $421 per month (about $5,052 annually). Just like that, more than a third of your gross income is just gone.You could get a second job to cover the rent or grocery bill, but another way to make those numbers more manageable is to find a job that includes room and board. Getting a free place to live and having meals provided is an incredibly valuable benefit, and the good news is you dont have to join the military to get it (though thats one option, certainly). While a lot of jobs that provide housing and meals arent ideal because theyre seasonal or temporary jobs usually staffed by travelers or nomads, there are some full-time jobs you can find that offer room and board.Park rangerIf youre the outdoorsy type who likes the idea of living in nature (and doesnt mind fairly limited access to the internet or even regular phone service), becoming a park ranger usually entails room and board. For example, working at one of the Yellowstone National Park Lodges includes housing, and while meals arent free for regular employees they are for managers. You can learn more about how to become a state or national park ranger over at Park-Ranger.org.Au pairOne of the classic live-in jobs, being an au pair (essentially a live-in nanny) usually means living in the home with meals provided. It also means being on-call almost all the time to care for the household children, and generally a lower salary than a nanny due to the whole room and board situation. A lot depends on the family youre placed with, of courseit could be dream accommodations with terrific roommates, or a nightmare. Either way, at least your rent is covered.Cruise ship staffIf youve ever been on a cruise, you may have noticed that there are a ton of people working on those shipsand they all have room and board included with their jobs, for what should be obvious reasons (though watching hundreds of people helicopter on and off the ship every single day would certainly be entertaining). Depending on the job you can get, the pay may not be terrific (about 40% of cruise ship employees earn less than $2,000 per month), but in addition to room and board you usually also get free medical care, and you can usually arrange a few free shore excursions when your work schedule allows.Live-in caregiverLive-in caregivers to the elderly or infirm are usually offered room and board as part of their compensation. On the plus side, many of these jobs dont require much in terms of education or experience beyond a high school diploma, solid interpersonal skills, and the ability to pass a basic background check. On the negative side, these jobs can be demanding and both physically and emotionally exhausting, involving everything from helping people bathe, preparing and serving meals, helping people with transportation, and simply being a companion.Ranch workerRanch work is very physical, whether its a guest ranch or a cattle ranch, but these jobs typically come with room and board provided. Some ranches only operate seasonally, but others can offer year-round employment. If youve never been near a horse or cow in your life, there are still opportunities to be hadranches need maintenance workers, laborers, and even office staff, so if the idea of ranch life appeals to you, theres likely a position somewhere youre qualified for.Hospitality jobsMany jobs in the hospitality industry, especially those located in remote areas, offer room and board as part of the compensation package simply because there arent a lot of housing options nearby. These jobs run the gamut from maintenance and custodial positions to front desk workers and concierge positions, but if youre not afraid of public-facing customer service or moving to a location like Alaska, you can land a hospitality job that offers room and board.Building superintendentMost cities require larger residential buildings to have superintendents, and while some smaller buildings will utilize visiting superintendents, many of those positions enjoy free housing (but not free meals, typically), although in some cases they only receive a reduced rent. While having a degree or certification in building management wont hurt, many superintendent jobs only require a high school diploma and relevant experiencetypically in the trades, as one of your main responsibilities will be to repair and maintain the buildings infrastructure. If youre a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, you can probably find a superintendent job that offers free or discounted housing as part of the gig.HousekeepingYep, people actually do hire live-in housekeepers (and butlers are still a thing), and these jobs by their very nature provide room and board. These jobs often require more than just cleaning, cooking, and laundry, requiring you to act more like a personal assistant by running errands, organizing travel, and even providing occasional childcare services. There are usually no formal qualifications for the job, but many people look for a background in hospitality or professional cleaning, and may also have their own list of requirements, like first aid certification or experience cooking in a professional kitchen.

Almost a year ago, I was prompted to look for another budgeting app. Intuit, parent company of Mint, the budgeting app I had been using for a long time, shut down the service in March 2024. The company encouraged Mint users to migrate to its other financial app, Credit Karma, but I found it to be a poor Mint replacement after trying it out. That sent me searching elsewhere to find an app to track all of my financial accounts, monitor my credit score, track spending and set goals like building a rainy-day fund and paying down my mortgage faster.If youre looking for a new budgeting app to get your finances straight, allow Engadget to help. I tried out Mint's top competitors in the hopes that I'd be able to find a new budgeting app that could handle all of my financial needs, and to see which are actually worth the money. How we tested budgeting apps Before I dove in and started testing out budgeting apps, I had to do some research. To find a list of apps to try out, I consulted trusty ol Google (and even trustier Reddit); read reviews of popular apps on the App Store; and also asked friends and colleagues what budget tracking apps (or other budgeting methods) they might be using for money management. Some of the apps I found were free and these, of course, show loads of ads (excuse me, offers) to stay in business. But most of the available apps require paid subscriptions, with prices typically topping out around $100 a year, or $15 a month. (Spoiler: My top pick is cheaper than that.) All of the services I chose to test needed to do several things: import all of your account data into one place; offer budgeting tools; and track your spending, net worth and credit score. Except where noted, all of these apps are available for iOS, Android and on the web. Once I had my shortlist of six apps, I got to work setting them up. For the sake of thoroughly testing these apps, I made a point of adding every account to every budgeting app, no matter how small or immaterial the balance. What ensued was a veritable Groundhog Day of two-factor authentication. Just hours of entering passwords and one-time passcodes, for the same banks half a dozen times over. Hopefully, you only have to do this once. Best budgeting apps of 2025 Budgeting app FAQs What is Plaid and how does it work? Each of the apps I tested uses the same underlying network, called Plaid, to pull in financial data, so its worth explaining what it is and how it works. Plaid was founded as a fintech startup in 2013 and is today the industry standard in connecting banks with third-party apps. Plaid works with over 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada and Europe. Additionally, more than 8,000 third-party apps and services rely on Plaid, the company claims. To be clear, you dont need a dedicated Plaid app to use it; the technology is baked into a wide array of apps, including all of the budgeting apps listed in this guide. Once you find the add an account option in whichever one youre using, youll see a menu of commonly used banks. Theres also a search field you can use to look yours up directly. Once you find yours, youll be prompted to enter your login credentials. If you have two-factor authentication set up, youll need to enter a one-time passcode as well. As the middleman, Plaid is a passthrough for information that may include your account balances, transaction history, account type and routing or account number. Plaid uses encryption, and says it has a policy of not selling or renting customer data to other companies. However, I would not be doing my job if I didnt note that in 2022 Plaid was forced to pay $58 million to consumers in a class action suit for collecting more financial data than was needed. As part of the settlement, Plaid was compelled to change some of its business practices. In a statement provided to Engadget, a Plaid spokesperson said the company continues to deny the allegations underpinning the lawsuit and that the crux of the non-financial terms in the settlement are focused on us accelerating workstreams already underway related to giving people more transparency into Plaids role in connecting their accounts, and ensuring that our workstreams around data minimization remain on track. Why did Mint shut down? When parent company Intuit announced in December 2023 that it would shut down Mint, it did not provide a reason why it made the decision to do so. It did say that Mint's millions of users would be funneled over to its other finance app, Credit Karma. "Credit Karma is thrilled to invite all Minters to continue their financial journey on Credit Karma, where they will have access to Credit Karmas suite of features, products, tools and services, including some of Mints most popular features," Mint wrote on its product blog. In our testing, we found that Credit Karma isn't an exact replacement for Mint so if you're still looking for a Mint alternative, you have some decent options. What about Rocket Money? Rocket Money is another free financial app that tracks spending and supports things like balance alerts and account linking. If you pay for the premium tier, the service can also help you cancel unwanted subscriptions. We did not test it for this guide, but we'll consider it in future updates.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-budgeting-apps-120036303.html?src=rss

While there remain regular laptops and gaming laptops, the line that separates them has nearly disappeared. Today, if you have a fast CPU and graphics card, along with perks like a big screen and a good cooling system, you can play a decent number of games on your laptop. Besides, not everyone wants a big, garish gaming rig, nor does everyone want to spend the money required to get one of those. If youre considering a new laptop for school, there are more options now than ever before that can both get you through your most challenging studies and keep up with your next AAA play through. These are our top picks for the best laptops for gaming and schoolwork but if youre looking for a dedicated gaming laptop rather than an all-in-one machine, check out our best gaming laptops list for our recommendations. Best laptops for gaming and school in 2025 Are gaming laptops good for school? As weve mentioned, gaming laptops are especially helpful if you're doing any demanding work. Their big promise is powerful graphics performance, which isn't just limited to PC gaming. Video editing and 3D rendering programs can also tap into their GPUs to handle laborious tasks. While you can find decent GPUs on some productivity machines, like Dell's XPS 15, you can sometimes find better deals on gaming laptops. My general advice for any new workhorse: Pay attention to the specs; get at least 16GB of RAM and the largest solid state drive you can find (ideally 1TB or more). Those components are both typically hard to upgrade down the line, so its worth investing what you can up front to get the most out of your PC gaming experience long term. Also, dont forget the basics like a webcam, which will likely be necessary for the schoolwork portion of your activities. The one big downside to choosing a gaming notebook is portability. For the most part, we'd recommend 15-inch models to get the best balance of size and price. Those typically weigh in around 4.5 pounds, which is significantly more than a three-pound ultraportable. Today's gaming notebooks are still far lighter than older models, though, so at least you won't be lugging around a 10-pound brick. If youre looking for something lighter, there are plenty of 14-inch options these days. And if you're not into LED lights and other gamer-centric bling, keep an eye out for more understated models that still feature essentials like a webcam (or make sure you know how to turn those lights off).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/best-laptops-for-gaming-and-school-132207352.html?src=rss

When Apple put its new M4 chip in the iPad Pro before adding it to a MacBook, that was a pretty clear sign that tablets are more than just idle couch companions. But with just one or two ports, youll need a hub if you want to maximize that potential. The same goes for laptops: they can be more powerful than desktops, but they almost always have fewer ports. USB-C hubs give you some combo of extra USB, HDMI, memory card, Ethernet and/or 3.5 mm ports so you can connect peripherals like monitors or wired mice and keyboards. You can hook up external drives for more storage some hubs even have memory card slots. We tested 15 different USB-C hubs to see how they perform and put the best of what we tested below. What to look for in a USB-C hub Hub vs docking station The first thing to decide is whether you need a USB-C hub or a docking station. Theres no set standard for what differentiates the two, but docking stations tend to have more ports, offer a separate DC power supply and cost more, with some reaching upwards of $400. We have a separate guide to the best docking stations to check out if youre looking for something bigger than what were discussing here. USB-C hubs, in contrast, have between four and 10 ports, can support pass-through charging and typically cost between $30 and $150. Hubs make more sense for smaller setups with just a few peripherals, such as a monitor, a wired keyboard and mouse, and the occasional external drive. Theyre also more portable, since theyre small and require no dedicated power. That could be useful if you change work locations but want to bring your accessories with you, or if you want to replace your laptop with a more powerful tablet. A docking station makes more sense for someone who needs a robust setup for their laptop, including multiple external monitors, webcams, stream decks, microphones and so on. Both docks and hubs make it easy to grab your laptop off your desk for a meeting or other brief relocation and when you get back, plugging in one cable gets all your accessories reconnected. Ports The first port to consider is the one on your laptop or tablet. For a USB-C hub to work, it needs to connect to a port that supports video, data and power all of which is covered by anything listed as USB 3.0 or better. The port, of course, needs to be Type-C as well. The sea of laptops out there is vast, so its hard to make generalizations, but modern laptops should have at least one USB-C port that will suffice, and indeed, every one of our top picks for the best laptops do. Next, its a matter of finding a hub that has the right connections for your needs. Most hubs offer some combo of HDMI, USB, memory card, Ethernet and 3.5 mm ports. If you have a 4K monitor and would like at least a 60Hz refresh rate, youll need a hub with an HDMI 2.0 port HDMI 1.4 only goes up to 30Hz. HDMI 2.1 will handle 4K at up to 120Hz, but hubs that have adopted that standard arent as common just yet. Keep in mind that a low refresh rate can cause your screen to feel laggy, making your mouse appear glitchy and your webcam movements to look delayed. Additional USB ports on these accessories are usually Type-A or Type-C. They can support data with different transfer rates, typically 5Gbps or 10Gbps. Some ports only handle passthrough power and no data, and some can do data, power and video, so its best to check the spec list to make sure youre getting the support you need. Keep in mind that a hub may bill itself as a 7-in-1, but one of those ports may not be usable for anything other than charging. Standard SD and microSD slots are useful for transferring data from cameras and the like. Ethernet ports may deliver faster internet speeds than your Wi-Fi and a hub with a 3.5mm jack can bring back the wired headphone connection that some laptops have ditched. Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget Power delivery Nearly all of the USB-C hubs I tested support passthrough charging. That means if your laptop or tablet only charges via USB, you dont have to take up another port on your laptop to keep everything topped up. Unlike a docking station, powering a hub is optional. The one exception is if you want to close the lid on your laptop while you work on an external monitor. Most computers will go into sleep mode if the lid is closed without power, so either the laptop or the hub will need to be plugged into the wall to prevent that from happening. Many of the newer hubs include a 100W power delivery (PD) port, with a healthy 80 to 85 watts going to your computer (the hubs take a little of the juice for themselves, hence the 15-watt or so difference). In my tests, sending power through the hub made them run even hotter than they do already, so I prefer to charge the computer directly. But for tablets or other devices with no extra ports, that PD option is important. Some PD ports are also data ports which is both good and bad. On one hand, it feels wasteful to use a perfectly good data port just for boring old electricity. But on the other hand, USB-C connections that only carry a charge are less versatile, and it makes it seem like it has more accessory hookups than it actually does. Design Theres surprisingly little design variation among hubs. Most look like a flat slab, a little smaller than a smartphone, and have an attached Type-C host cable. The hues range from a silvery black to a silvery gray. Some are thinner than others, some have all ports on one edge and some have ports on both sides. All of this is just to say that aesthetics probably wont make or break your buying decision. One variation that could tip the scales is the length of the cable. A longer one will give you more freedom as you arrange the hub on your desk, potentially even letting you hide it behind your laptop. Or you may prefer a shorter one to keep the hub neatly set beside your laptop. How we test USB-C hubs Before we test anything, we take a look at whats available and how theyve been received by shoppers, forum-goers and other publications. I became familiar with a few reputable brands when I was testing docking stations, so I looked into hubs from those companies as well. I focused on items that would help with an average day of productivity not high-end setups or demanding gaming situations. Once I settled on a dozen or so that would make good candidates, I had them shipped to my humble office in the desert and started testing them out over the course of a few weeks. I used an M1 MacBook Pro as the host computer and plugged in accessories that include a 4K Dell monitor, a ZSA USB-C ergo keyboard, a Logitech USB-A gaming mouse, an Elgato USB-C 4K webcam, a Logitech streaming light, a USB-A 3.0 Sandisk thumb drive, a USB-C Samsung T7 Shield external drive and a pair of wired headphones I got for free on an airplane (I should probably invest in some wired headphones, but the cord dangling on my chest drives me nutty so all my earbuds are wireless). I used high-end HDMI and USB-C cables to ensure that any data or connectivity issues werent related to my equipment. Then I put each USB-C hub through a gamut of basic tests. I looked at what could be plugged in at once, the resolution on the monitor, data transfer speeds, the overall build quality of the hub and general usability factors, like the placement of the ports and the length of the cords. And, finally, the price to value ratio helped determine the best ones for a few different use cases. Best USB-C hubs for 2025 Other hubs we tested HyperDrive Next 10 Port USB-C Hub Theres a lot to like about HyperDrives Next 10 Port USB-C Hub. The tethered cable is a lavish 13 inches long, the HDMI 2.0 port outputs clear and crisp 4K visuals at 60Hz and the data transfers are screaming fast. It has the coveted two USB-C data ports plus a PD port, and theres even a headphone jack. The only thing that holds back a full-throated endorsement is the way our unit handled a streaming light. Having it on at full brightness made the webcam flicker every time. The issue went away at 75 percent brightness, but the same problem didnt happen on any other hub I tested. Anker 341 USB-C Hub (7-in-1) Theres nothing wrong with the Anker 341 USB-C hub. In fact its a current recommendation in our iPad accessories guide and it comes at a great $35 price. It gives you two USB-A ports as well as SD slots. But at this point, a 1.4 HDMI connection, which only supports 4K resolution at 30Hz feels a little retro. Theres also just a single USB-C downstream port and the data transfer tests proved to be a touch slower than the other hubs. But if youve got a lower resolution monitor and dont need more than one USB-C, you wont be disappointed with it. Startech 4-Port USB-C Hub (data only) I only became aware of Startech when I started researching for this guide. The quality is decent and the yellow accents are a welcome bit of color in the otherwise very gray world of hubs. The performance is solid, with no hiccups that I encountered. The brands 4-Port USB-C Hub has a long cord that wraps around the hub itself, which is unique. It doesnt bother with power delivery, which isnt an issue if you can power your computer directly. But the four USB ports (three Type-A and one Type-C) max out at 5Gbps and theres no HDMI connector. It goes for $46, and unfortunately for it, there are cheaper ways to get a few more USB ports for your setup.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-usb-c-hub-120051833.html?src=rss

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