With the Super Bowl approaching, I am kind of like a kid anticipating a favorite holiday — Easter or a birthday or something. See, I am from New York and my home team — the Giants — are playing. Super Bowl Sunday will be extra special for me this year as I get to root for a team I’ve had an affinity for since childhood. Of course, there is that little detail that my husband is from Massachusetts and will be rooting against my Giants. But that may make it more fun, actually.
Of course, everyone knows that the Super Bowl isn’t just about the game or the teams. It’s about commercials that may or may not be the talk of the water cooler. And it’s about the food — the delicious game day food.
Have you thought about what you’re making this year? If not (or if you are thinking now), this list will help. I scoured Pinterest, Foodily and my favorite sites to come up with 50 fabulous recipes perfect for your Super Bowl party. Enjoy!
What’s your favorite game day food?
Bites
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When I was making my bed recently, I noticed how the morning sunlight was streaming through the windows onto my bed. It fell in lines of light and shadow, coming through the bed frame and the window. The beauty caught my eye — It seemed to be begging to be photographed. So, I quickly whipped up breakfast and took a few shots.
I don’t often have breakfast in bed (though I love it) and I don’t often have a bagel and lox for breakfast (though I love that too). But there was leftover lox and bagels in the kitchen and I had to use them. It would be wrong not to. Read the rest of this entry…
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This morning felt like a baking kind of morning. I have a dozen recipes bookmarked to make from various cookbooks, but when I saw one for Oatmeal Macaroons in the 1936 tome The New England Cookbook, I was intrigued. These little babies are free of flour and butter and just sounded so interesting. Together with Paige, I whipped up a batch this morning.
Did I mention that they were super easy? We mixed up the cookie dough and had them baking in about 10 minutes. So simple.
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This dish is uncomplicated. It’s simple — just a few basic ingredients prepared without fuss. It’s a dish that proves that good food doesn’t require a lot of steps, ingredients or time.
Really, it doesn’t. Food can be amazing just by preparing it in a different way than you are used to. Tired of boiled? Try steamed. Tired of raw? Try sauteed. Or roast! Roasting is a perfect way to switch up your vegetable routine without getting fussy. Read the rest of this entry…
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Coffee cake is one of those things. It’s comforting and familiar and perfect for breakfast. This one, made from a recipe from the 1930s, has a dense crumb and an irresistible buttery cinnamon sugar topping.
No, it’s not that impossibly fluffy and almost-dessert-sweet coffee cake from the grocery store. But it doesn’t want to be. It’s a totally different coffee cake — one that stands up to the fork without squishing into oblivion and that can be eaten by hand without crumbling all over. And it’s really great with a hot, steaming cup of coffee.
It is coffee cake after all.
Making this, I wasn’t sure if the vintage sensibilities would make it a winner for us. But it was. Hugely.
I whipped it up for a brunch with friends last weekend where the cake quickly vanished. Seriously, not a trace was left behind. Good sign, right? And it was so good that I baked another just for our family.
Back to the brunch for a second. Though I adore brunch, I don’t have people over (or go out) for it nearly enough. So I was thrilled to have a little one at my house. The brunch menu was simple — bagels and lox with all the fixings, scrambled eggs, berry and pineapple fruit salad and this coffee cake. In the course of conversation, I shared that this was a vintage recipe — something dug out of my great collection of early 20th century cookery books, pamphlets and recipe cards.
This recipe comes from the third edition of All About Home Baking, published in 1936 (the original was published in 1933) by the General Foods Corporation, a now-defunct company whose products (Calumut baking powder, Post cereals, Maxwell House Coffee and General Foods International Coffees, to name a few) live on. I bought this hardcover book off eBay a while back. Read the rest of this entry…
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Books are a true joy of mine. I love the ones that make me curl up with a blanket, a big glass of water and a plate of veggies and dip for a long dive into a different world. That’s why I have been happy to review a few books through BlogHer lately.
The Underside of Joy by Seré Prince Halversonis the newest BlogHer Book Club book selection. It’s a fictional story about a family living in a California town called Elbow. Joe, the dad, runs the family grocery in town and the family lives in his grandparent’s home — the one they built — where they have chickens and an amazing garden. Their life is happy and joyful and seemingly perfect. Their mommy is Ella. Though she’s actually their stepmom, she loves them as fully and deeply as if they were her own kids. But in fast motion everything changes. Joe is suddenly killed by an act of nature, leaving Ella and the kids reeling. Meanwhile Ella discovers that the family business is in deep trouble just as the children’s birth mother returns and wants to reestablish herself as their mama.
Did you get all that? It’s a complicated and messy story — much like real life. And just when it seems that everything is okay, twists and turns and unexpected discoveries keep things changing. Read the rest of this entry…
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When Shawn and I used to eat out (a frequent occurrence in our pre-children days when money was plentiful and bills were not), I would order Buffalo Chicken Salad whenever it was on the menu. I loved the crunch of the fried chicken, the spice of the buffalo wing sauce and the creamy coolness of the blue cheese. When you put a variety of flavors and textures like that together, it’s almost certain to please my senses.
Actually, if we are going to be super honest, just the mere act of putting buffalo wing sauce on salad at all makes me super happy. Something about the spicy tang flavor wrapped around the cool, crisp lettuce just does it for me. When I was fresh out of college, I would sometimes pack buffalo wing sauce as dressing for my lunch salads at work.
What?
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These eggs remind me of summer. Sweet fresh tomatoes are encircled with the brilliant flavor of fresh basil. There’s slightly sweet roasted garlic, which I have been obsessed with lately, blended with rich heavy cream — a nod to winter. And the warmth of the baked dish make it perfect for a chilly morning. Or dinner.
I feel in love with baked eggs in tomato-based concoctions last winter. Runny yolks are always a favorite of mine, but even more so when they are paired with flavors that compare, contrast and compliment them. And it’s a great bonus that there are so many possibilities for flavor combinations. This seemed like the perfect dish to make when Betty Crocker and Land O’Lakes recently asked me to create something with Land O’Lakes eggs.
This version is a favorite since it uses so many fresh ingredients (and, of course, fresh flavors). There is just no contest when you start with ingredients in as close to a natural state as you can get. I bet this would be even more amazing in fall, when fresh tomatoes and basil from local farms are available and the air just starts to take on that crisp coolness.
But for now, hothouse tomatoes do the job just fine.
Want to try this for yourself? It’s easy. Read the rest of this entry…
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Healthy living is and has been for a long time a big goal of mine. I aim to cook real food as much as possible and we shop mostly at farmers markets in the summertime.
But I am not without flaw. Put a bag of barbecue potato chips in front of me and I can’t resist their sweet crunch. I also have a sizable sweet tooth. Oh, and I have been trying to kick the diet soda habit for awhile now (and have been fairly successful in recent weeks).
When I was recently asked to read and review Why Women Need Fat: How “Healthy” Food Makes Us Gain Excess Weight and the Surprising Solution to Losing It Forever by William D. Lassek, M.D. and Steven J. C. Gaulin, Ph.D., I was intrigued. And I am so glad I said yes because this book had me hooked from page one. Read the rest of this entry…
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Every so often, we’ll be eating dinner at our kitchen table and Will will look up and say “Mommy, you’re a good cooker.” It warms my heart. Most of the time, he loves what I make (of course, there will always be a few duds … and we usually agree on those).
A lot of things that come out of my kitchen are made with the kids in mind. Two Cheese Meatball Grilled Cheese, Sausage Bolognese, Blueberry White Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes and Cocoa Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies are prime examples. We eat a lot of pasta and broccoli and yogurt because they love these things. And eggs, Paige is crazy for all kinds of eggs.
But as a mom, I think it’s important to do things for yourself sometimes too. A woman I met online a few years ago used to always sign notes “Take care of you.” At the time, Will was in preschool and Paige was still a toddler. The sentiment was lost on me, probably because I was so busy taking care of them. But now, I totally get it. You can’t get lost in the shuffle. And sometimes all it takes is whipping up a simple hummus to do something nice for yourself, especially if you are a mega-fan of hummus like me.
Yes, Will and Paige would love the sweet roasted garlic, tart lemon and meaty walnuts in this tahini-free hummus. It has a terrific citrus quality that’s complemented by the garlic and walnuts. Such great flavors together. Will and Paige would happily reach for the sweetest of the veggies on the plate and scoop up big globs of hummus. But this one is for me … just for me. I like to load up a plate with bell pepper strips, sugar snap peas and carrots for dipping with a good hummus like this. It’s a perfect lunch. Or snack.
Maybe I’ll share another day. But today, this is mine. Read the rest of this entry…
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