Super Bowl Sunday--It's All About the Food

Although my favorite football season is now over and my team lost, there is still an upcoming sports event which will again capture my undivided attention. And even though I have little interest in the teams that are playing, I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl! Because, you see, it's all about the food on Super Bowl Sunday!

I have been scouring the internet and blogsites (I love cookbooks, but they have sadly taken a back seat to internet and blog recipes) for menu ideas. Here are just a few of the recipes I am considering for our little party.

Beverages
White Wine Citrus Sangria

Noble Pig's Peach Margaritas

Hot Chocolate Martini

Pomegranate Margarita (make mine frozen!)

and for gluten-free cooks, recommendations for gluten-free beers

Savory
Absolute givens: My daughter's Gameday Cajun Chicken Nachos and her Yummy Taco Soup, which I would dip with Tostitos; and my husbands' Pimento Cheese Dip, which is a simple concoction of low-fat, small curd cottage cheese mixed with Price's Pimento Cheese Spread, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and served with Fritos.



Apricot Glazed Meatballs

Hot Sweet Onion Dip and spread on toasted Country French Bread

Holiday (And Any Other Day) Cheeseball

Salsa and Guacamole

Roasted Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

More Natural Chile con Queso

Sausage Cheese Balls

A gluten-free Chili

Crockpot Italian Beef Sammies

Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings...Sort Of

Mini Burgers

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

an array of yummy salads

Sweets
White Chocolate Fruit Tart

Lower Fat Vegan Brownies

Ultimate Chocolate Cookies

And a kicked-up version of Rice Krispies treats from David Lebovitz

My biggest dilemma is narrowing the list; but I could make all of them in the name of research and development.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

A few months ago I blogged about a brownie recipe that contained (gasp!) a full pound of chocolate. Although those decadent brownies were excellent, when a recent customer requested birthday brownies for her husband, I decided to try a different recipe, and it was a big success.


Triple Chocolate Brownies

1-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
11 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 9 X 13 pan with nonstick spray; line with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso and set aside.

In a large bowl, melt butter in microwave, then add chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Add sugars and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add 3 eggs into chocolate mixture and very gently whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 eggs and gently whisk again. Add flour mixture and gently fold with spatula, until just combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and level batter with spatula.

Bake in center of preheated oven, rotating pan halfway through. Baking time depends on your oven--the recipe states 30 minutes; mine took almost 45. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool completely before cutting.

Although these brownies are stand-alone delicious, in order to make a nice presentation I sprinkled semisweet chocolate chips over the brownies after they had cooled a few minutes. When the brownies were completely cooled, I drizzled them with white chocolate. After the white chocolate had firmed, I cut into a dozen squares.

Sweet Dreams

Strawberry Bliss
By my estimate I baked approximately 1000 cupcakes in 2008--and what fun it was! If I wasn't baking, decorating, or eating cupcakes, I was dreaming up the next new flavor.


Shower Cupcakes and Sweet Pumpkin Bliss

When I started For Goodness Sake Bakery last year, my dream was to eventually open a cupcake bakery. I envisioned people lined up outside my shop, waiting to buy one of my cupcakes, à la Magnolia Bakery, and Martha Stewart calling me to appear on her show, just like Sprinkles owner Candace Nelson.


Scarlet Velveteen and Lemon Cream

The reality is that I am no closer to a cupcake bakery in 2009 than I was in 2008.

The reality is that I was privileged to bake approximately 140 dozen jumbo muffins, 115 dozen jumbo cinnamon rolls, as well as dozens of scones, cobblers, and pies, for a local Java Dave's.

The reality is that For Goodness Sake Bakery became For Goodness Sake Bakery and Catering as I expanded my menu to cater 12 events ranging from sack lunches to brunches to wedding cakes to full menu dinners.


Mississippi Mud and Vanilla Bean Cream


Hot Fudge Sundae and White Velvet

What have I learned from my first year in business? To listen to my family and to my gut. That I am way too hard on myself. That giving 110% is a good thing. That I need better work shoes. That too much sampling leads to weight gain. That discouragement is OK because tomorrow is another day. That creativity with new recipes takes a back seat to customer favorites. And that catering, which initially held little interest for me, is surprisingly satisfying.


Chocolate Dip Bliss and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Sweet Bites

A slightly different direction for my baking passion is anticipated for 2009, as I focus on the catering side of For Goodness Sake and experiment with gluten-free baking. My enthusiasm is building as I research recipes and prepare menus.


Sweet Bites Cupcakes and Pink Blackberry Pearl Sweet Bites

Is the cupcake bakery an unrealistic dream? Perhaps. But as long as the excitement remains, the dream is alive!

Chocolate Fudge

Christmas Gifts Bread

What to do with Christmas food gifts--a welcome dilemma I face every year.

Pecans are an annual gift, this year from Holdenville, Oklahoma--small, crisp, delicately sweet--those that aren't popped into my mouth go into pies and cookies.

My mother always orders my perennial favorite: Harry & David pears, with a texture so buttery a knife literally slides through a slice--impossibly juicy, ambrosially sweet--and those that aren't eaten out of hand (over the sink, with juice running down to my elbow) go into breads or cakes.


This year, an unusual gift of artisanal Maytag blue cheese--creamy, pungent, exquisitely marbled with blue veins--I savored a small bite as soon as I received it in the mail--sharp on the tongue but mellowing to moist, velvety, tangy goodness.


With a recipe for pear bread in hand, I properly paired the cheese, pears, and pecans to create a fragrant, moist bread; baking transformed the diced pears into little pockets of melted sweetness and the cheese from sharp-flavored to mild.

Blue Cheese Pecan Pear Bread

3 cups flour
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 stick butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
2 very ripe pears, peeled, cored, and finely diced (approximately 2 cups)
1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Prepare two 9 inch X 5 inch loaf pans, either with baking spray, oil, shortening, or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs;, add oil, butter, vanilla, and lemon peel. Add to flour/sugar mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in pears, cheese, and pecans. Evenly spoon batter into prepared pans, lightly smoothing out top. Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted into middle of bread comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10-15 minutes, then turn onto wire rack to cool.