Hey foodie fans – I know it’s a little strange to see a Foodie Friday post on a Monday, but hear me out: Beer Cheese Cupcakes with Bacon Cheddar Cream Cheese Frosting. Yup, you heard me. And since Mondays aren’t anyone’s favorite and cupcakes make everything better, and also in honor of Fat Tuesday being tomorrow, I thought I would share my new favorite recipe with you all that was a TOTAL SUCCESS for Super Bowl Sunday :)
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We’ve made our predictions. Now it’s time to get cookin’. And drinkin’. In fact, it is advised to do both at the same time. The other Ladies… and I have pulled together a Friday Foodie post of epic proportions. If you’re getting a bit bored of chili, we have several suggestions to ensure your Super Bowl Party guests won’t be pulling Manning Faces over the menu. Continue reading
So, here we are going into the final week of regular season NFL play, smack between Christmas and New Year’s. I thought that perhaps a nice Italian drink and appetizers would suffice. Something different and easy. Fix this trio of Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey, Capreze Salad Bites, and Prosecco Digestif. Sit back, relax, de-stress and get ready for Sunday … and 2009.
Okay, this should have been up on Friday. But I figured who wants to eat much the day after Thanksgiving? Instead, I’m here to show you today how to make a patty melt and vanilla ice cream shake. Warning – you will need an ice cream maker for this … but you still have time to ask for one for Christmas, right? If you’re like me, and not feeling very well because you’re still recovering from the first winter cold of the season, you’ll get your sweetie to make these dishes. And be patient when you click to view on – the pics take a bit of time to load, but are well worth it.
We made it. Four weeks of pre-season. (Five if you count the Hall of Fame game.) 17 weeks of the regular season. Four weeks of play offs.
Now, it has become fashionable to consider the Super Bowl almost down-right irrelevant. Too much hype. Too much of a spectacle. Too much Ryan Seacrest. For sports tourists.
Bullshit is what I say.
If this game did not matter, it would not hurt that my team is not in it. If this game did not matter then why have I been sucked in to watching pretty much every rerun on the NFL Network the last two weeks of previous playoffs and Super Bowls. If this game did not matter, then why did we all bother to watch the last 26 weeks of play?
Being a football fan and not caring about the last game of the season would be like watching Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi and stopping the film when Han and Leia are captured on Endor, the Rebel fleet is trapped, and Luke has yet to confront Darth Vader.
It is leaving Woodstock before Jimi Hendrix plays.
Why do I bring this up? 1) I believe the spectacle of pro-football week after week is what makes it special. 2) You don’t have to be over-exposed to the hype if you don’t want to be. It is not that hard to avoid sports coverage if you choose to do so. 3) I really have no good way of wrapping up the Football Foodie for the season, and when I am tired am prone to hyperbole.
So how about a Friday Football Foodie retrospective for the best of the best. Sure fire hits if your a fan, a fanatic, or just a tourist.
(Ed. note – I passed out last night after a post-op Vicodin, leaving open my laptop with the framework of this post up. TheStarterboyfriend, not realizing when I am asleep he’s allowed to clock out from his nursing duties, jumped in with the funny commentary. Thanks TSB! You’re like a magical, 6’3, spinning-gold-from-straw elf!)
‘Tis the time of year for everyone around you to suddenly start caring about football. Where even the casual observer (“Hey! Wasn’t there a Manning in a Superbowl just a couple years ago? What a coincidence!”) becomes a veritable Bob Costas-like conflagration of football idioms and statistics. And somehow, some way you wind up partying with these people, listening to them espouse moronic sports anecdotes, figuring you can suck it up for a few hours because, hey, that 60″ LCD HD TV is totally worth it.
But this year, more so than in the Bowls of yesteryear, we here at Ladies… are telling you now– BEWARE!
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Saying that I am behind on the Friday Football Foodie is a bit of an understatement, but in a weird way my performance is not that different from how many teams ended the season.
Week 16 – Dec 20, 22, 23 – In a Thursday night game against the Rams, Steelers running back and league leading rusher Willie Parker goes out with a broken fibula. FFF is not posted due to food poisoning from a bad turkey sandwich. (It was going to be about the above Steelers sugar cookies* with buttercream frosting and these great pumpkin spice cookies** that are perfect for the holidays. Sent batches out to all of the Ladies and Tuffy.)
Week 17 – Dec 29, 30 – Every playoff bound team is resting their starters if they can. FFF is not posted due to lack of internet at a spa retreat. (Athletes get deep tissue massages and feel a great sense of relief; I get a deep tissue massage and am sore for two days.) There is something to resting your starters though. Who knows when injury can happen. The FFF’s camera which had been on the fritz for awhile was dropped onto a marble floor at the spa from which it will never recover, thus hurting the FFF’s playoff run.
Wild Card Playoffs – Jan 5, 6 – Pressure, pressure, pressure, come up with a game plan THAT DOES INVOLVE BRUCE ARIANS HOW CAN YOU SAY HE’S COMING BACK NEXT SEASON. FFF is not posted due to poor clock management, stress, and more stress.
Which means the Friday Football Foodie is much like the Colts right now; Haven’t had a game that tested them since Week 14 against the Ravens and are completely beat up.***
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You know how way back in the beginning of the Friday Foodies I said –
“It is the one time of the week you don’t have to worry about calories, fat, and never have to say, “Oh, no. I cannot possibly eat another bite, I’m full. And can I have a water, please? Beer makes bloated.” It is in fact, a perfect day
And I meant it. I really, really, really meant it.
Except for around the Holidays. If your office is anything like my office, you have not had to worry about breakfast, lunch, or your 4pm snack due to the massive amounts of cakes, cookies, and candy that show up in the kitchen each day. Rarely do I crave sweets, but put free mini-muffins by the coffee maker? I’ll stab an assistant who thinks they are going to get the last lemon poppy seed muffin before me with their own letter opener.
Put that together with a few parties each week – anything from your friends tree decorating gathering complete with egg nog to the work parties that by 2am you’re splitting the last bottle of Patron with the blonde in from Annex while gobbling up the last of the Coconut Shrimp – and you’re looking at packing on 5-8 pounds before Nate Washington has dropped his first ball of the game.
New Year’s Eve is only sixteen days away, so eat healthy this Sunday. Give your stomach and your skinny jeans a fighting chance.
This Week: Veggie Dip, Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Dip, Lite Drink Mixers, and Popcorn Seasons
You will need for the Veggie Dip:
Today’s Friday Football Foodie is brought to you by stats guru, writer, runner, and hot blogger Precious Roy from Kermit the Blog.
You know what I love? Cooking. Fucking love it. So much so that I should probably be barefoot and pregnant in a kitchen right now, Well, except for the fact that I’m missing an x-chromosome and I’ve got a penis. And shoes.
Anyway, I’ll stop sounding like this is the Jamboroo. It’s food. So it probably doesn’t need dick jokes.
Okay, this week we’re actually cooking for the Monday Nighter. It’s probably going to be a gawdawful game but we’re going to eat so well that nobody will even notice. Either that or we’ll hit people with so many calories they’ll go into a food coma and have no idea what happened when they stumble into work the next day.
It’s New Orleans and Atlanta. So we’re making a traditional Freaknik meal.
Just kidding. We’re cooking with the ‘Aints in mind even if it is a road game and we’re making a big pot of gumbo, white chocolate bread pudding for dessert, and for drink, we’ll be downing Skylabs. And God help you if you have more than two of them.
This all might look a little daunting. It’s not. It’s just detailed. The only other heads-up you need is to read through to see how much prep time you need (especially with the bread pudding as you might want to jump on that a day ahead)
Gumbo
You’ll need – Continue reading
Sometimes you just have to get out of the house, despite all the comforts of home. Maybe you want to have a crowd around you. Maybe you don’t get the NFL Network or the Sunday Ticket. Maybe you unwisely painted your house over the Thanksgiving break, and between the fumes and the giant pile of stuff that you have to move back into place and OMG STARTERBOYFRIEND YOU SUGGESTED THIS MESS NOW GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE I BEAT YOU WITH THE PAINT ROLLER AND NO I DO NOT THINK THAT GREEN FOR THE LIVING ROOM IS TOO MINTY AND NO YOU CANNOT HIRE DAY LABORERS AT HOME DEPOT, I DON’T CARE HOW FUNNY THAT EPISODE OF SOUTH PARK WAS.
Ahem. Yes, we went Happy Endings twice last weekend to escape and watch sports.
Sunday afternoon we better prepared to do a Foodie review, and invited Signal2Noise to join us in food and football, the greatest combination in the world.
So what happens when a former chain location goes frat house? Mostly better than you expect, with a few drawbacks.
Quick update I’m throwing at the top, since I was too hungover to really talk football this morning. You have to play “The Last Hope“, a great little game done by the guys over at Doubt About It. (Found via Christmas Ape’s DC Steeler Nation.) Power ups are Lombardi trophies, Art Rooney, and hottie Tomlin. I will probably spend the rest of the day on this. Now back to the main post.
When I was in the high school choir, the greatest thing you could look forward too was the trip to Disneyworld for choral competition. (I believe they use the word “adjudication” instead of “competition”, but that’s besides the point.)
Anyway, one of the highlights of this trip was a visit to the Swedish Smörgåsbord restaurant, not because of the Medieval Times feel of the place but because there is nothing funnier to a bunch of 15 year-olds that saying “Swedish Smörgåsbord… Bork bork bork” at least 10,000 times on the flight down. (Which is reaches its point of hilarity when one of the Karas asks a very black man if he is he “Swedish chef” at one of the carving stations, not even thinking for a second that might possibly be one of the most offensive questions ever uttered in Orlando.)
So what is my point? It has been a really busy week here at TSW HQ what with birthdays, going out to various events every night with two more parties yet to go this weekend (I’m starting to seriously get the Vince Vaughn / Jon Cusack bloat going on this week with all the drinking and such) and I really didn’t get it together to do a decent FFF. As a matter of fact, I am putting this together at 9:30 in the morning hoping to get it done by 10 so I am not too late for work.
What does this mean for you fine reader? It means I am going to just throw up a smattering of pictures of things that have been going on here with a receipe or two mixed in and calling it a Smörgåsbord.
Welcome to my very first Football Foodie, a post that gives me an excuse to take photographs of my kitchen and to make a meal that doesn’t involve corn dogs. Or this.
Today we’re going to make a variation on the muffuletta sandwich. “Muffuletta” is an Italian word that means “I hope you own a defibrillator”. It is also the title of a movie I once saw on Spectravision. This ginormous sandwich is can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance, requires no actual cooking, and will give you the opportunity to purchase a variety of meats and cheeses. Let’s get started… Continue reading
Two of the things I miss the most about living in the South are Volunteer football and my hetero lifemate Livia. This weekend also happens to be University of Tennessee Homecoming, so I’m here with a little of both–her recipe for cheese straws, and the family formula for apple joujous, staple of the finest tailgates.
Things You Will Need:
We all know how debilitating a bye week can be. My Steelers were flat in the first half of last week’s game against the Broncos after the bye. (I prefer not to thinking about the fact that of all the teams that had bye in that Week 6 – Bills, Broncos, Lions, Colts, Steelers, and 49ers – Pittsburgh and San Francisco were the only ones who lost in Week 7.) In the World Series, we’re seeing what a nine-day layoff can do to a team on a winning streak.
What am I saying other than I have no idea what to use for an intro this week? I’m saying that I made this strata about three weeks ago and when I opened up the pictures, it took me a little bit to remember what I had done. The good thing about football and stratas is that if you remember the basics, ball in the end zone, blocking, bread and egg custard, the rest is up to you.
This week: Breakfast Strata and Reviews of Blueberry Beers – Kennebunkport Blueberry Wheat Ale, SeaDog Bluepaw Wheat Ale, and Marin Brewing Company Blueberry.
You will need…
Up to this point, all of the FFF posts have been items that you make beforehand so your ass can sit in its rightful place on the sofa come kickoff.
Since my team had the BYE last week, I was able to relax a little (DAMMIT WARD GET HEALTHY ALREADY) and make a football snack that required me to spend a little more time in the kitchen. (As I have noted before, I have this small superstition that if you are more concerned about the action off the field at game time, the more likely it is that your team is going to lose. My mojo/karma/good wishes were certainly not required for the Dolphins-Browns and Pats-Cowboys games.)
This week: Cuban Sandwiches, Tonics, and new product review – Smokin’ BBQ Cheddar Chips
You will need –
This week’s Friday Football Foodie dish was submitted by Dave’s Football Blog, home to anything foot and ball. Soccer of every color and stripe, rugby, Aussie rules, CFL, and of course, American gridiron. (Dave also runs a chill music podcast over at Dave’s Lounge, which I highly recommend.)
Dave first posted the recipe for the Hot Beef Dip back for Super Bowl XL – predicting a Steelers’ win, naturally – but this recipe is really too good to wait for a special event game, especially as we head into fall and heartier football snacking.
You will need…
Sometimes it takes two things to make one great performance. Sigfried and Roy. Captain and Tennille. Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner. (Although Leinart better shutty-his-uppy about splitting time with Warner, and remember that his team won with the two-QB system last week.)
The FFF is back to brunch this week for the 10am games in the PST, with a recipe that part Paula Deen’s Baked French Toast Casserole and part The Joy of Cooking’s Overnight Baked French Toast. (Recipe not online, page 809 in the 1997 edition.)
Part of the beauty of this dish is all the work – what little work there is – is done the evening before brunch, leaving you to sleep in until past 9am on game day for a change. (And I bet Paula Deen would cry less than Leinart over sharing the creation of this breakfast.)
You will need…
Welcome to another delicious Friday Football Foodie. I’ll be your pinch-hitting hostess for today. The delectable treats we are making for this upcoming football weekend include Aunt Brenda’s Artichoke Dip, Mom’s Beer Bread and Strip n Go Naked. Let’s get right to it, shall we? Instead of following the usual formula, I’m going to start with the beverage of choice. When I actually made these dishes, I started with my Strip n Go Naked so that I could drink while I cooked the rest of it. I think that’s what you should do too.
Here’s what you’ll need:
This week, TSW has a bye and I’m calling the plays on the Friday Football Foodie.
It might be heresy to some to include vegetable matter in their football food plans that a) doesn’t come on top of a pizza or b) doesn’t accompany a bratwurst, but I cannot have a party without putting out veggies and dip. Besides, you’re getting a jump on the “eat veggies and fruit for the rest of the week” edict that usually comes with the FFF.
Not to worry, though: There’s no cooking — just chopping and stirring — and the Drink of the Week doubles as dessert!
One of the greatest thing about living on the West Coast is the football brunch. Wake up, walk out to couch, turn on TV, football is there.
True, this tends to work out better for my guests than me, (I’m generally up around 8 AM in a panic that I need to get brunch ready before the game, more on this later), and sometimes it is 9:53 PST and you are screaming at your network connection, “MOVE FASTER YOU FUCKING INTERNET! I HAVE ABOUT FOUR MORE MOVES TO MAKE IN THIS LEAGUE AND TWO MORE LEAGUES TO DOUBLE CHECK BEFORE KICK-OFF! FUCK YOU SLOW INTERNET! MOVE!”, but all and all, after a rough transition to living in Pacific Standard Time after a lifetime in the MST and EST, I can say there is no better way to watch football. (Plus, if you over-sleep and miss ESPN Gameday, you’re actually doing yourself a favor, whereas when you live back East, you’re so ready for the games to start, you’ll suffer through anything just to see men running around the field.)
Four Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Quiche, Bloody Marys, and Budweiser Chelada
You will need..
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Your fantasy picks are set. You have put fresh batteries in the Tivo remote for your own instant replays. You have either ordered the NFL Sunday Ticket or have memorized the NFL local broadcast and blackout maps.
You are ready for football.
You have been training for this for weeks. Pizza Loaves with Watermelon-Vodka Slushees, Buffalo Chicken Dips with Blueberri Stoli Lemon Fizz, Mexican Pinwheels and Mary Pickfords, and homemade corn dogs with Rusty Nails. You even took a field trip out to check out some local Chicago sports bars over on Deadspin.
You are ready for football.
And on this, the holiest of weekends until the playoffs start, you are ready to tackle the greatest Football Foodie dish there is known to fans everywhere: The 9-Layer Rachero Dip. Also this week, Cocktail of the Week’s “Lucky Glass” and New Product Review: NBC’s Sunday Night Football has their own “Football Foodies”.
You will need –
Please excuse the Friday Football Foodie for phoning it in this Labor Day weekend. Not feeling very Foody or Footbally after last night’s debacle listening to an anemic Steelers-Panthers preseason game in the middle of the California desert where the only sustenance was a horrific batch of A&W cheese curds. (Wisconsinites, please save your emails; I know they’re not real “cheese curds”, but it’s the best you can find on the 10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix.)
But what do you do when a game is this boring? When it’s turnover after turnover, your friends are restless, and you need to keep the crowd energetic and fed through the second half of what is probably one of the most boring games of the season?
You break out the deep fryer. Homemade. Corn. Dogs.
You will need…
Week three of Friday Football Foodie training camp. You have made Pizza Loaves and Buffalo Chicken Dips and you think you are ready to move on to something a bit more challenging. We’re not quite there yet. The theme is still simple-assembly finger foods. Why?
Because everyone needs the framework for a play that can be used when adversity strikes: the vegetarians.
As a good host, you want to make your home welcoming to everyone, and that includes making snacks that all of your guests will enjoy. (Offering them the sides of celery to your wings does not count as a “dish”.)
If you are a vegetarian going to watch the game at a friend’s place, don’t assume that if the grill is going that there will be Gardenburgers. Show up prepared. (Vegans, I love you, but you’re on your own on football days. Come over any day of the week and I will feed you. But game days? You’re getting the box of Tofutti Cuties I always keep in the freezer and liking it.)
Mexican Pinwheels, Mary Pickfords, and “Might Be New to You” Product Reviews: Morningstar Farms Mini-Corn Dogs and Buffalo Wings.
You will need…
Well team, I must say, I was very impressed with the response to Week One of the Friday Football Foodie Training Camp. The general response was overwhelming, and a few fine readers took the time to send in photos of your very own Pizza Loaves.
With that type of enthusiasm, I really think we have a real shot of making the playoffs here.
But we cannot go into the season without trying out some new plays. The Pizza Loaf is a good go-to running play, but you’re also going to need a new quick 15-yard slant pass because last year? You dropped the ball every time you pulled out a bag of Funions instead of going for something a little more substantive.
We’re trying out something new this week, a menu that with a little fine tuning, could become our next 3 and 8 play.
Friday Football Foodie – Buffalo Chicken Dip, Stoli Blueberri Fizz, and New Snack Review of the Week: Pringles Select Sweet Potato Chips
You will need…
The pre-season. Supposedly “meaningless” games are spent trying to impress the coaches, shaking the rust off of the joints, and players doing their goddamn best not to get hurt.
Well do you think you, the football fan, are any different? Are you ready for at least one – if not two – days spent entirely on your sofa? After a summer’s harvest of nothing but the freshest fruits and vegetables are you ready to settle in and allow yourself the unhealthy snack foods that are best enjoyed with copious amounts of booze and yelling? Can you whip-up something besides the number for Domino’s, (GOD HELP ME DO NOT TELL ME YOU ORDER DOMINO’S), that will feed you and your crew?
I doubt it.
If you go into September without at least one or two practice runs, you’re going to find yourself sad and lonely with just your box of Bugles and six-pack of Natty Light come kick-off.
We’ll work our way up to the 9-layer dips, Four Cheese Quiche with Roasted Red Pepper (good for the PST crowd since games start at brunch time), and Pumpkin Spice cookies. But for now, we’ll start with something easy that is more about assembling than it is actual cooking, because the making of a championship year does not happen overnight.
(Let this guide not only be a review for what to eat at home, but snacks that a host would like to have when you show up at their front door because your cheap ass still has not ordered NFL Sunday Ticket. Or cable. Or replaced the 13-inch TV you’ve had since college.)
Week One of Football Foodie Training Camp: Pizza Loaf, Watermelon Slushes, and Snack Review of the Week: Snyder’s New Pretzel Bit Flavor: Garlic Bread.
You will need:
Ladies... 