Food ideas for Superbowl Sunday

Maybe you're not a big football fan.  Maybe your team didn't make it to the bowl this year.  So what?  Superbowl Sunday can still be a great excuse to have an amazing Sunday evening with your friends, eating lots, yelling at the tv, and actually looking forward to commercial breaks for once.  (Why can't the advertisers try that hard all of the time?)

You can always go for an elaborate spread, but it really isn't necessary.  The most important things for a Superbowl party are a clear view of the television, and plenty of snacks around throughout  the entire game for constant munching.  If you feel like decorating, the teams provide you with the color scheme.  If your team isn't playing, that doesn't mean you can't use their colors.  A true fan stays loyal to their team, right?

Staples around my house for football game food are generally:  Rotel dip, Little Smokies, Cheese and Summer Sausage, and sometimes a veggie tray with Ranch dip.  (Mom tends to throw that last one in after seeing all of the meat and cheese that is being consumed in one sitting!!)

Now for dessert, a simple one that everyone seems to love is Rice Krispie Treats.  For this occasion, use Cocoa Krispies, and shape the treats into footballs.  Top off with white icing "laces" and you're all set.  You can actually do the same thing with brownies.  Just cut into football shapes.

This year I have been looking for some new things to try.  My cousin Rhonda brought this dip to a family gathering, and it  was a new favorite for everyone.  It's like chicken wings in less-messy dip form!!  Here is the recipe:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups sour cream
1 cup Ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
8 oz. Colby Jack cheese, shredded

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, salad dressing, and buffalo sauce until blended. Stir in chicken and colby jack cheese. Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish. Cover and bake, at 350 degrees, 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

You can serve with any chips or crackers you prefer, but I like to serve it with Tostitos tortilla chips.  If you are a blue cheese fan, you can also substitute that for the ranch dressing.

Now for dessert, a simple one that everyone seems to love is Rice Krispie Treats.  For this occasion, use Cocoa Krispies, and shape the treats into footballs.  Top off with white icing "laces" and you're all set.  You can actually do the same thing with brownies.  Just cut into football shapes.

Well, that's probably what we will be doing.  I would love to hear ideas from the rest of you.  What are your favorite football foods, and what new things will you be trying this year?  

Not enough "REAL" stores anymore.

I headed for the outlet mall after church today to look for baby shower items at the Paper Factory.  Besides Wal-Mart and Target, this is the only place in town to buy party supplies.  Correction, WAS the only place in town to buy party supplies.  It was there a month ago.  I even walked inside.  Today, totally empty store.

About 45 minutes away, there is a Hobby Lobby, but the selection in the party supply department is very limited.  For an actual party supply store, I have to travel at least an hour and a half away form my home.  Yes, the world wide web does offer just about everything you could ever want or need, but I am the type of person who likes to see what I am purchasing with my own eyes before I pay good money for it, in a "real" store.  A store I can walk into, look around, pick items up and really get a good look at, pay a human being for, and then take my purchase home for immediate access to rather than waiting 4-6 weeks for it to show up at my door.  (Hey, I hate having to pay any shipping extra, so no way do I splurge for the express service.)

My long-term plans for Events DEE-signed include a building to host parties in, combined with a party supply store.  That way, hopefully, I will be able to let people see what is available and have immediate access to it, plus offer an area outside of their home to hold events.  Maybe my frustration today is a way to encourage me to reach for that goal sooner rather than later.  The scary part is that over the past few years I have seen two party supply stores come and go in this area.  My town is a tourist town, so the business is very seasonal.  Why would I have better luck keeping this type of store afloat than these other people have had?  Well, I guess that is where my own self-confidence comes in, huh?  This gives me lots of new things to think about, and another goal to reach for.

Here is a nice thought from Michelangelo to end with:  "The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

And so the blogging begins...

It's funny how I constantly have all of these thoughts in my head, yet when I sit down to write about them, they disappear.  Now, I'm sure they must still be in there somewhere, but hidden behind this big blank canvas.  (Where is that nice empty mind when I lay down to relax?  Must be behind all of those ideas I can't locate right now!!)

Anyway, today's big tasks consist of getting a blog started (check!!) and working on my website.  A website has turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated.  In a perfect world, I could just draw out what I want on a piece of paper and magically transfer that to my computer screen.  (Magically, because my uploading skills are still a bit hit or miss.)  I did get a "starter site" up and running at www.eventsdee-signed.com  but of course, as soon as I hit publish and got a look at it, I could see all kinds of things I needed to change.  Oh well, forget the negative, and I'll just let myself think, "Yay me!!  Step one accomplished!!"  If I can keep that attitude, things will keep on moving forward.  Right?

I am going to allow myself to let these 3 paragraphs be my "starter blog" and move on to the web page fixes for today.  That I consider work, but later I get to "work" on my friend's animal print baby shower, which I actually consider FUN!!  Right now blogging is somewhere between work and fun, but leaning towards the latter.  I kind of enjoyed getting these thoughts down.  Hopefully I will be talking to you on here again very soon.