Super bowl party menu

The Super bowl and marrying my husband were kind of like a package deal.  For most of my marriage, we've had some kind of Super bowl party, so when I went to look up recipes to make for this weekend I was surprised not to find a post here about the Super bowl.  So, I compiled a list of some recipes already posted on my blog that would be good food for the Super bowl, and that I've probably made at a Super bowl at least once or twice. 

What are you making for the Super bowl?!?!?

Pizza Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Southwestern Eggrolls

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

Chicken Bacon Bites

Chili

Black Bean Hummus

Taco Bites

Super Hero & Pizza Themed Baby Shower

Even though I lost my running buddy when she got pregnant, I was more than excited for her and happy to give her a baby shower! Instead of her having multiple showers she decided to have one large one so I had lots of help in getting this shower together, and really that is the best way to go because doing a shower by yourself can get very expensive!

My friend is doing a Superman themed nursery and her husband's family are huge Marvel Comic fans so I thought it only fitting to use that as part of the theme! I found these great invites online and really had to search to find where to order them from!

Invitation from HERE

One of her other friends took care of most of the decorations, and she printed off super fun stuff to make banners with.

Front door decorations

We did the Wishes for Baby game that I actually love because they will have sweet notes from people they love to their baby.

We also did the popular notes on diapers game

One of the banners

We thought about doing super hero themed foods, but then I thought we should go with my friends favorite... PIZZA!

There were so many people willing to help, with a pizza theme it was easy to give assignments and have different people bring pizza, etc.

Instead of a diaper cake, I made a diaper pizza!  I went it with one of our other friends as part of her gift. 

Recipe HERE

Of course I had to make pizza dip which she also had me make for her wedding.

I had someone make these fresh veggie pizzas.  Recipe HERE

I tried a few new pizza themed recipes.  I didn't want to take the time to make my own pizza dough and thought I would just buy some from some pizza places.  However, Dominoes and Papa John's wouldn't sell me any.  So I went to a little mom and pops pizza place and they sold me some and some pizza boxes for one of the desserts you'll see later on in the post.

I personally didn't like the recipe below, but I don't like store bought jarred alfredo sauce so that might have something to do with it.  However, lots of people asked for the recipe and it was all eaten so other people liked it.  And I had a little bit left at home that I put as pizza toppings on a pizza for my kids and they all loved it even with spinach in it!  So, there's a recipe my kids will eat at least!

Recipe HERE

Pepperoni Puffs, also a new recipe.  These are basically popovers with italian seasoning, cheeses, and pepperoni.  Recipe HERE

Someone made mini Mexican pizzas

I also made a Four Cheese Pizza Dip but none of us got a picture of it.  It was one of those recipes I saw on Facebook that was a video and had to watch it a bunch of times to write the recipe down.  It is similar to the Chicken Alfredo Dip with pizza dough around the edges and the dip in the middle.  Here it is.

Four Cheese Pizza Dip Recipe

Pizza Dough already prepared rolled into one inch balls and put around the edges of a cast iron skillet, or round baking dish greased.

8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1 T. dried basil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. ground red pepper

Mix ingredients together and fill in the middle of the pizza dough balls in greased baking dish.

Mix together 4 T. butter, 1 tsp. minced garlic and 1/2 T. parsley and brush dough with mixture using a pastry brush.

Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese over dough and dip.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Broil on high last 2 minutes.


And of course we had fruit pizzas for dessert! 

Here is the recipe she used for the cream cheese spread:

Fruit Pizza Spread Recipe

8 oz. cream cheese softened
1/4 c. softened unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 T. cream or milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream the cream cheese until smooth.  Add butter and cream together.  Add powdered sugar then cream and vanilla beat well.  

This S'more Cookie Pizza was a huge hit!  It was so good I got the recipe and had John make it the next day!  I just bought two pizza boxes from a pizza place for her to put the cookie in.

Recipe HERE

Dividing and conquering a baby shower is the way to go!  I'm so happy for my friend and can't wait to snuggle her baby!!!

Pizza Dip Recipe

 

I did the food for my friends wedding in the spring of this year and she wanted a pizza dip of some sort so I tried this recipe and it was a winner! I leave out some toppings that he used and used an Italian blend of cheeses too.  The first time I made this I made some crostini to use to dip, but then my friend found these Town House Pita Herb crackers that tastes great to use as dippers.  Delicious!  Every time I make this it gets devoured! 

The first time I made this I used the larger pepperoni then realized the miniature pepperonis would work better. 

picture from HERE

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Pizza Dip Recipe

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. mayo 

1 c. mozzarella, shredded (or use a blend of Italian cheeses)

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

2 c. pizza sauce (I used Emeril's jarred pizza sauce)

Toppings

1 c. mozzarella, shredded (or use a blend of Italian cheeses)

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

4 oz. mini pepperoni

Directions

 1.  Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, mozzarella and Parmesan and spread it across the bottom of a pie plate.

2.  Spread the pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on the toppings.

3.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the sides are bubbling and the cheese has melted and turned golden brown on top, about 30 - 35 minutes.

 Original Recipe found HERE. 

Fruit and Vegetable Platter Centerpiece

You know, I love doing these centerpieces and I did one for our church Christmas party this year too.  Here are two others I did in the past for a wedding and an anniversary party.  So fun!

A Brie Cheese Tip

So, I found these great Brie logs of cheese to use in my favorite Bruchette Recipe... I am not a big fan of the casings of brie cheese - a little too fuzzy for my liking - so I usually always cut off the "crust." 

I had the thought this time to use a vegetable peeler!  Worked like a charm and you totally waste less than cutting it off!!  Granted, it was a lot easier to peel because it was a log, but the wider peelers that are so popular right now would work better for the rounds of brie. 

Loved!! 

Taco Bite Appetizers.

I guess I married my food soul mate...

I made taco salad for dinner the other  night.  I was too busy eating and dealing with the kids when I realized John was working hard at the stove.  He wanted fancy taco bites not a boring taco salad!

I laughed so hard because he was going through all this effort to make his dinner in little bites instead of just mixing it up on a plate.  He even cut up his lettuce super tiny!  I did have to tell him he was putting things out of order!

This is one of our favorite little party appetizers though.

Taco Bite Appetizers

In your tortilla scoop add:

1.  Taco meat (I used turkey) or beans (I would do re fried).  Or both.
2.  Add cheese
3.  At this point you could put them in the oven just until cheese is melted if you were serving them right away, OR just do a bean dip (with the beans) and don't put them in the oven.
4.  After pulling out of oven, add lettuce, sour cream and a tomato on top.
5.  If doing a bean dip - omit lettuce, do guacamole, sour cream and a tomato on top!
6.  Serve cute little yummy cups of deliciousness. 

Crab Cake Recipe

I kind of burnt these at my sister's birthday party....

I love crab cakes!  Loooove them!  When we lived in Maryland, of course I had to learn how to make them!!  I'm all about learning how to make your favorite foods so you don't have to go out to eat and pay an arm and a leg to eat them!  This is the recipe that I like to use.  I think I got it out of Southern Living years ago!   They are yummy and easy!   However, for my sister's birthday weekend I did it on the cheap (cheaper) and used minced crab instead of the lump crab.

I've used canned crab, cooked my own crab legs and picked the meat off.  Honestly, when using fresh crab I haven't really noticed a difference in taste and it takes more time.  You can also buy the fresher lump crab in the fresh meat/seafood sections of some grocery stores if you don't want to use canned.

Crab Cake Recipe

3 T. butter, divided
1 large red bell pepper, minced
1/2 medium onion, minced  
1 c. saltine crackers finely crushed
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
2 tsp.  Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. hot sauce
1 lb. lump crab meat, drained and picked

1.  Melt 2 T. butter in large non-stick skillet over medium heat; add bell pepper and onion and saute 10 minutes or until tender.  Remove from heat, stir in cracker crumbs and next 6 ingredients.  Gently stir in crab meat.  Shape into 8 patties; cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 24.

2.  Melt 1/2 T butter in skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook four crab cakes 4-5 minutes on each side or until golden.  Drain on paper towels.  Repeat with butter and other crab cakes. 

3.  Enjoy!

Artichoke Dip Recipe

I'm a little behind posting about my sister's birthday weekend...  I had to hold a sick baby for a week, and then I helped do a baby shower, and then my Grandma came to visit!  AND I'm redecorating my house (when I wasn't doing all those other things!)!  Phew!!

This artichoke dip is a huge crowd pleaser! I always get tons of compliments and requests for this recipe.  So, I guess it's your lucky day I'm sharing it!  ;) 

I've been making this for a long time just by throwing a dash of this and little of that in a pot, but I had to write it down when I practiced making it for an appetizer for my sister's wedding and it's the one I've used ever since.

I think what people like is that it doesn't have large chunks of artichokes (some people don't mind them, but my husband does, so I always puree those, and it seems like that is always a comment I get from people is that they like that there aren't big chunks of artichoke in it).  It is also a creamier based artichoke dip, not oily like many recipes that have mayonnaise in them are.  To each their own, but this is the one we like!! 

I like to dip bread (or baked baguette slices) in artichoke, some people like the pita chips or vegetables.

Artichoke Dip Recipe

1 (10 - 12 oz.) jar marinated artichokes pureed with the oil  (you can use more if you want a richer taste!)
16 oz. cream cheese
2/3 c. feta cheese (for a stronger taste you can use goat cheese)
2/3 c. milk
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (you can omit this if you don't want that tiny kick)
3- 4 cloves garlic minced (or however many to get the taste you want, but remember the marinade usually has garlic in it)
2 T. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in medium saucepan over low heat until melted.  I use a fondue pot.  Super easy!  Super yummy! When warming up leftovers (or even when making it) you can add a little bit of milk to make desired creaminess.  Enjoy!!

Artichoke Fondue

I love fondue.  At almost any special occasion or holiday that occurs John requests we just do fondue.  We used to go to the Melting Pot, but don't go anymore now that our four children use all of our money... But, for my birthday this year, friends of ours invited us over for dinner the night after my birthday, and they surprised me with this fondue.  Fontina cheese is my favorite because it melts so smoothly and is in some of my favorite cheese fondues.  So they found this one that had Fontina in it and made it for me.  It was so sweet of them!  

Recently, Harris Teeter had their specialty cheeses 20% off and our friends were visiting so I bought some cheese to make them this fondue.  

The only thing I didn't add was the spinach - only because I forgot to buy it...

Also, the thing with fondue is it is a little finicky.  We had it melted perfectly, then we weren't ready to eat... then it cooked too high and then the fondue became a little... sad?    

Artichoke Fondue Recipe

Original Recipe from HERE

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 to 1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped (I didn't use)

1/2 cup artichoke hearts pureed

1 1/2 - 2 T. minced garlic

8 oz Butterkase Cheese

8 oz Fontina Cheese

1/2 cup grated Paremsan

1 T. flour

dash of hot sauce

Dippers

Tortilla Chips

Various breads cut into bite sized cubes

Sliced apples(coat with a little lemon juice so the don't turn brown)

Various vegetables (I like broccoli and cauliflower)

1.  Grate your cheeses and set aside.

2.  Puree your canned artichokes and mince your garlic.  Set aside.  (If you like artichoke chunks just chop your artichokes - John prefers artichokes pureed, so that's what I usually do.)

3.  Heat your fondue pot on low and add your vegetable broth, artichokes, and garlic.

4.  At this point some people at their flour and make a kind of roux to help with melting.  Other people mix it with their cheese and add the cheese.  Do whatever makes you happy.  

5.  Add your cheeses and dash of hot sauce.  

6.  Stir and melt over low heat. Serve immediately.

7.  Enjoy!!

Fruit, Vegetable & Cheese Platter Centerpiece

 

Similar to this fruit tray I did before for an anniversary party, I did the fruit, veggie and cheese platter for my nieces wedding.  

I would do a few things differently if I could go back and do it again, like put fruit, etc. in different places, but I was working under a little pressure because there was a miscommunication between John and I, and I lost at least an hour and a half (!!!!) of uninterrupted work because I had my kids with me.  Let's just say I deserve a big pat on the back for not losing it with my kids or my husband that afternoon!  Honestly, I think I just didn't have time to lose it!  ;)

The last time I did this it took me FOREVER to cut all the fruit and veggies.  My hands also were raw from handling all that acid!!  I got lucky this time and my sister in law did most of the prep work so I just assembled.  I only had to do the pineapple and cucumbers and hollow out the peppers to hold the dip. 

I absolutely loved doing this!!