Football Food

Here is one thing to know about me, I love cooking almost as much as football.  Yes, that much.  So, when the big games, which truly deem cooking for, come along, I go all cooking/football crazy.  My boyfriend loves this.

I was going to do this right before the Super Bowl, but that doesn't give you much time to try things out and get creative.  Plus, it's always nice to have a dress rehearsal.  I suggest you use this weekend, or even the Pro Bowl (that might be the only thing that would get me excited about the Pro Bowl), to try out the food and see how long it takes.

Without further ado:
Wings.  This is a no brainer and nothing really special since you can easily get these for every game.  Doesn't matter.  While I am a complete snob about food and do not believe in buying things or using a mix when you can make things from scratch (got it from my mother): order them (be warned: everyone else will be doing this), buy them from your grocery store, or make them, either way..YOU MUST HAVE THEM!

Chips and Dip. Again, very obvious, but don't you dare overlook these!  Tostistos, pretzels, and regular chips are always good to have.  For the dip: salsa, guacamole, cheese dip, 7 layer dip {my personal favorite}, all will go over pretty well.  Yes, you can buy a 7 layer dip, but it's pretty easy to find a recipe online.  Also, depending on the company, you may want to have some veggies and dip as well.  I never have that kind of rabbit food because why would you eat veggies while watching football [exception is the celery that comes with the wings] but I've heard some people eat that shit. 

Pigs in a Blanket. There really is nothing better than these wonderful little morsels.  I made them last year and they went SO quickly.  Making them is sort of tedious but they really are easy and taste much better, plus you can make them how you want them.  Buy some mini wieners and some croissant rolls and go to town.   I also add bacon and cheese to them.  Yes, I said bacon and cheese.  Just wrap the bacon and cheese around the wiener before you roll the croissant around it.  I promise, it makes them even better. 

Chili. This stuff is amazing to have.  It's truly the epitome of guy food.  There are so many easy recipes to make this, especially if you have a crock pot.  If you don't have one, get one.  You don't need a really expensive crazy one, you just need a good size one.  I bought one for $20 and I love it.  I added bacon and sausage to my chili last year.  Needless to say, it went over well.  My one suggestion for chili is to make it the day before.  It tastes better after having sat for a while and if you keep it in the crock pot, you can just put it in the fridge and heat it up when you need it.  Plus, since it takes like 4+ hours in a crock pot, doing it the day before will save you time.

Pulled Pork.  I got my recipe from my mother, who got it from her grandmother.  Pulled pork and football just go together.  It's that simple.  Either as a sandwich or by itself, it doesn't matter.  Everyone will be happy this was made.  

Like the chili, make this a day before.  It does take all day to cook it.  I plead with you, DO NOT BUY THIS!  It actually doesn't take a lot of your time to cook since it has to simmer for hours until the meat falls off the bone so all you have to do is prepare it and then leave it.

Deviled Eggs.  Only make these for the right company.  I wouldn't make this for my usual crowd of people but my mother would make them if she were to host a Super Bowl party.  More importantly, most definitely make them football themed, like the picture!

Subs/hoagies/grinders/heroes/italians (or whatever you may call them).  If you really don't know your way around a kitchen, this is a really easy way to feed everyone.  You could order them (cop out) or easily make them by getting deli meat, cheese, tomatoes..etc. and a few big baguettes (depending on how many people there will be).  Make a few different kinds (so that people have options), cut them up into finger food size and VIOLA you're done.

Nachos.   Nachos are always good and they are easy to throw together at the last minute.  Pile them high with cheese, peppers, bacon, beans, olives, and anything else you think would go well on them.  I would leave the salsa and such off since not everyone likes it.  Also, like the subs, I would make a few different kinds since not everyone loves the same thing.

Pizza.  I never bother with pizza since it's a bit of a cop out.  I mean, you can have pizza for every game.  But, if you are really desperate, pizza will always go over well.  If you must, make it yourself and be creative with it.  Shape it like a pizza, make it look like a football field, just do something that makes it better and more special than pizza you can easily have every day. 

Mini Hamburgers.  Hamburgers are awesome.  Mini hamburgers are even better.  And the best part, you can use Billy Mays' (RIP) Big City Sliders to make this wonderful finger food.  Throw bacon, onions, cheese, etc, on some.

Onto my favorite part: DESSERT.  This is where you can get really creative!

Cupcakes.  Even people who don't like cake, love cupcakes.  Plus you can make them look oh so fun.  You can decorate them simply with frosting (super easy) or you can buy little sugar decorations for them.  Find them locally or order them (Amazon has a bunch of options).  If you aren't very good with decorating, just ice the cupcakes using the colors of the teams playing (unless you are rooting for a specific team, in which case, just use their color(s).  You can also just write "GO ___" (fill in the team) across a bunch of cupcakes, with the "G" on one, an "O"on the another..and so on.  You could also put them all together and make them look like a field.

Cookies.  Everyone loves cookies so there are fail-safe.  You can buy football cookie cutters (I know Wilton has good ones), which makes life a bit easier or you can just make regular round ones and decorate them with the teams colors.  Pretty much, you can decorate them how you decorate cupcakes.  Be creative.

Cake.  My absolute favorite!  The possibilities are ENDLESS here.  I have a football shaped pan (also by Wilton), but Nordic also sells a stadium pan.  If you see no need to have these specialty pans, you can always just decorate a normal sheet cake, which is what I did last year at school (the football pan didn't come in time).  I actually used sour patch kids as players (red for the Cardinals and yellow for the Steelers), two chocolate chips put together with frosting as the football, and pretzels covered in yellow frosting for the uprights.  

Here are some ideas: