The Big Game

POSTED BY: Stefanie LaSalle

Superbowl is by far our biggest, and favorite party to host all year. Our day started at 2pm for the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. If you've never heard of the puppy bowl, let me sum it up for you. Puppies, kitten half-time show, and penguin cheerleaders. Throughout the day, we have anywhere from 10-20 people here watching the game, and it can get a bit crowded in our small living room and kitchen, so PLANNING IS KEY.

Now, I know this is a bit extreme, but it definitely helps maximize our seating. We try to do stadium-like seating in the living room where the big TV is. And we put all the food in the kitchen, along with a little tv, so no one misses any of the action.

I did ALL of my cooking on Saturday, because I didn't want to be trapped in the kitchen when all of our guests were here. I got all the baking out of the way first, since it is the messiest and takes the longest. I made some butterscotch cookies! And then I realized Monday morning that I never put them out. So yay for cookies in our lunches all week! In the picture above, I'm not trying to be fancy - I just don't have a cooling rack and I have to get creative. This is the best way they cool off without sticking to each other. I could go out and spend $5 for a real cooling rack, but I've been trying to hold off on any kitchen purchases so that we have things for our wedding registry.

This is one I can check off my list - my 14 Recipes for 2014 list, that is! These little guys are cheddar olives, and if you love olives like the 10% of us at the party, you will absolutely love these. I just refrigerated them in this container covered with foil, and baked them on Sunday when people started showing up. 

I prepped the veggie platter on Saturday. I didn't want to cut them up completely because I was afraid some of the veggies would loose their crispness. I peeled, washed and pre-cut everything, and Sunday morning I cut it all down to the right size pieces.

My grandma's delicious and simple macaroni salad would be perfect with chili! Unfortunately, this is another dish I forgot to put out. We didn't end up needing it with all the food that people brought, so we will have another surprise snack in our lunch all week.

Spinach. Artichoke. Dip. Our friend Jodi made this back when she lived around here. Now that she is travelling all over the country for her work, I stole her recipe and make it for pretty much every party. I'll do a post with the recipe soon!

Rob loves trivia, so he put together some game-day trivia and handed out prizes. Our neighbors Matt and Krista won! Good team work!

These skewers were my favorite things that I made for the party. They were also the most time consuming to assemble. I will definitely be making these again. 

Here are the links to the original posts where I found them. 
Caprese skewers from Pioneer Woman
Italian skewers from Very Culinary

Our tiniest and cutest party guest.

"Stadium" seating in the living room.

The Chili Contest 2014

For the last few years that we've hosted Superbowl, we've done a chili contest, and I can't help but brag that our friends are pretty amazing cooks. This year we had a record number of entries - 10 chilis! It always surpises me how different they all are.

Before kick-off, we assign each chili a secret number, and create a key for reference. That way no one knows whose chili is whose. Then, we fill these little blue cups with a spoonful or two of chili, and everyone tries #1 at the same time. And we continue to pass out cups of chili until everyone has tasted all 10. 

Then, we hand out ballots, and each person picks their TWO favorite chili's. The double voting system help prevent against everyone voting for themselves. 

Photo by: Tim Ehrens

Thanks to our friend, Tim, we have one nice picture of all the crock pots lined up. In all the action, I totally forgot to take one! Our electric bill is always high in February because of this event. 

Speaking of Tim, he was our WINNER! His cheesy chili was the crowd favorite! His name is now on the Chili trophy. He will have to start thinking now about what he is going to make next year!

Thanks to everyone who came. We had a great time and we're looking forward to next year. GO PATS!