super bowl, super party!

Sorry for the delay in blogging; I've been at a conference for the past three days (with icky hotel food). Kevin and I hosted a Super Bowl party at our house on Sunday. Really it was for the new tv's sake. We wanted to announce it's arrival in style. So we threw it a party. Graham came over earlier in the day to hook us up with HDtv since we're too cheap to get it on our own. I came home from a pre-game calorie burning run to find Kevin and Graham walking around on the roof with cables. It all got set-up with ease and we were up and running.

We had about 16 friends over for the game. I cooked and cleaned all day on Saturday while Kevin & Lew were in Chico. I've decided there really is no better way to get ready for a party than when your husband's out of town. It just makes things so much easier. Sorry honey. Below is the game day menu.


Super Bowl Menu

Turkey Chili (I'll elaborate)

Hot Chicken & Artichoke Dip

Pizza Pouches (I'll elaborate)

Veggies & Dip (thanks Julie!)

Pigs in a Blanket (Thanks Nancy and I'll elaborate)

Roasted Red Pepper Dip (Thanks Nancy!)

Popcorn, chips, asst. nuts

Brownies (Thanks Ellen!)

Football shaped Rice Crispy Treats (Thanks Nancy!)


Turkey Chili:

I've been perfecting my recipe. The most recent addition was a a can of beer. The can itself was not in the chili. I don't think I'll add a whole can next time because it overpowered the chili way too much. Although, Khash, an official Palo Alto Chili Cook-off judge said it was a viable contender. It's possible he was just being nice!

Pigs in a Blanket:

Never made theses suckers before because I probably turned my nose up in the air just at the thought of allowing such a thing in my kitchen. Now...I think it's retro. (It's a much better way of saying "white trash.") Instead of making these with the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, I made them with puff pastry...thanks Nancy for supplying the puff pastry! I cut each sheet into sixths lengthwise, then then thirds crosswise to end up with 18 narrow strips of dow. I cut Ballpark All-Beef hot dogs into thirds and wrapped a piece of dough around each mini-dog. I then brushed an eggwash on each and sprinkled finely grated parmesan cheese on top. They baked at 375 for about 20 minutes and were abolutely delicious. I'll definitely be serving these again for an sports related parties.

Pizza Pouches:

These little things are good, but are somewhat labor intensive. Well, when you think about it, they aren't really, maybe because I made a bunch it felt like it took forever. Get your favorite pizza dough from Trader Joes. I'm partial to the whole wheat one. One bag of dough makes about 12 mini-pouches. Roll it out to about 1/4" thick. Spray mini cupcake pans with non-stick spray. Slice the rolled dough into squares, large enough so the dough hangs over the sides of the individual cupcake section. Does that make sense? You want enough dough to seal the pouches once all the good stuff is inside. Place about 1 1/2 tsps. marinara sauce inside the dough, then a sprinkle of grated mozzerella, and either a slice of pepperoni, italian sausage, or diced and sauteed veggies. This is at least what I put in mine. The combos of flavors are endless. Seal the pouches with the dough that's hanging over the sides. Brush with an egg wash and back at 375 for about 18-20 minutes. If you ended up with a little too much dough to filling, simply serve with some extra marinara. You can also make these in the larger cupcake pans; just increase all the ingredients accordingly.