Football Deviled Eggs

This recipe is sneaking in just before the Super Bowl so if you're still debating on your menu, add this to the list! Deviled eggs are always a hit at parties but if you can find a way to make them unique (like on Halloween!) they seem to go over that much better.

So this seemed like a no-brainer to have ready for the big game. Easy, adorable, and of course, tasty!

Ingredients:

• Eggs


• Mayo


• Dijon Mustard


• Salt and Pepper


• (or whatever you typically use for your deviled eggs, everyone is different!)


• Chives

Directions:

• Everyone makes their deviled eggs a little differently so feel free to follow your own preferred method. But as a Rookie myself, I'm not going to assume that everyone has made deviled eggs before so follow along!


• Place eggs in a single layer in a large saucepan; add enough water to cover by 1 in. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Place in ice water until completely cooled.


• Remove eggs from water and gently peel back the shell.


• Cut eggs in half lengthwise; place yolks in a large bowl. Set whites aside. Mash yolks with a fork; stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper.


• Add a good scoop of the yolk mixture to each egg half.


• Now cut your chives. Use your judgement on how thick and/or how long you want the football 'laces' to be. Place on top of the yolk mixture and you're done!

That's it! Just an adorable football version of an old classic. This recipe will certainly help kick things off at your Super Bowl party.

Store covered in the refridgerator before serving. And make sure to gobble these up within a few days of making them (not that they'll last that long!)

Source: MyRecipes

Spicy beef and cheese dip

This is another installment from our Bear Down playoffs party. I'm sure some people will scoff and say, "This isn't really a recipe"... well honey, I know that. But this is my blog. And if I like processed cheese dip then I'm going to BLOG processed cheese dip ;) Besides, it's good! And my blog is all about making things that are tasty, easy, and well liked by the masses. Perhaps my 'masses' just have less refined tastes than most. Hey, I'm okay with that!

I'm pretty sure this recipe in some variation has been around for ages. I haven't made (or had) this in years but it seemed like the perfect snack for a chilly day of football.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 blocks of Mexican Velveeta cheese. There are big blocks and small blocks. I'm talking about one and a half of the small (1 lb) blocks.
• Salsa. I think I originally used about 1 cup. Then I added a little more to get the spice and consistency that I wanted.
• 1 pound ground beef.
• Taco seasoning

Directions:

• Brown ground beef just like you would if you were making tacos. Add taco seasoning and set aside once ready.
• Cut cheese into cubes, throw in the crock pot.
• Add salsa and cooked/seasoned ground beef.
• Now set it and forget it! At some point you will need to check on it and give it a good stir.
• Serve with tortilla chips (blue for the Bears!) and enjoy.

It's not much to look at, but people kept coming back for more. And why wouldn't they? It's delicious!

Bear Bites

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Chicago Bears playoff game was disappointing. However, these Bear Bites were a big hit! You know when boys oooh and ahhh over cupcakes you're doing something right. It's embarrassing how easy they are to make!

It all started when I made a rainbow cake. After that turned out so adorable I was hooked! I don't remember the process of making mini multi-colored cupcakes to be so time consuming but I suppose I wasn't trying to keep an eye on an 8 month old baby back then either ;) Probably factors in!

So anyway, here is how to make these ridiculously simple cupcakes. Feel free to use them with your favorite team colors!

Ingredients:

• 1 box white cake mix (mmm, Pillsbury French Vanilla!)
• Whatever the box calls for (eggs, water, oil)
• Food coloring of choice

Directions:

• Prepare cake batter as the box states.
• Separate batter into two different bowls.
• Add food coloring of choice until you reach desired color. I'll admit, I used an entire bottle of blue liquid food coloring and entire small Wilton jar of orange gel food coloring. It's hard to get those bright colors!
• 
• Now add a little blue to the cupcake liners, then a little orange. Repeat as necessary! Don't worry about them being even. It looks better when they're a little crazy!
• Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I told you they were easy :)

And HOW FUN!

I did make a few regular sized versions, but the "Bear Bites" (aka NFL Minis) were a much bigger hit at the party.

Truth be told, I had good intentions to do striped blue and orange frosting swirls on all of them. But as I mentioned above, I ran out of food coloring! So then I debated just doing plain frosting, but I thought it might distract from the overall fun level... so I left them plain. They were gobbled up regardless.

And until next season, one last time... GO BEARS!

Bear Down!

There was a lot of excitement at our house this weekend as we eagerly prepared to entertain friends for the Bears vs Packers playoff games. Mr Rookie Chef was SO excited that he even had the Super Bowl Shuffle VHS tape (yes, I said tape!) queued up and ready go! Alas, the Bears gave a sad showing yesterday. Luckily there were enough snacks and adult beverages to keep everyone entertained!



Here is a quick rundown of our (ridiculously easy but tasty) gameday treats:

• Salsa



• Guacamole



• Spicy beef cheese dip


• Blue tortilla chips (go Bears!)



• Meatballs in bbq



• Bacon wrapped little smokies baked in brown sugar (not pictured - my girlfriend and her husband brought these)



• Bear Bites - otherwise known as rainbow cake with an NFL makeover



• Pinwheels



• Baked brie (not pictured - from my sis-in-law) and crackers

I'll update this menu with the links as I post blog updates for the various items.

(please forgive the yellow wall... we are in the process of getting new countertops so we've given up on finding a wall color we like until those are installed. Yes, I know it's hideous! How CUTE is that football crockpot though?!)

But what's NOT hideous are these guys:

At least those cuties were still around after the Chicago Bears lost... And even though the game had a crummy outcome, everyone still had a great time!