Hosting A Super Bowl XLV Party

If you are Hosting a Super Bowl Party this year, you'll want to keep your football guests happy while cheering for their Broncos favorite team. The only guidelines for food at a football gathering such as this are there should be lots of it, and it must be good. This year, it will be the Green Bay Packers going toe-to-toe with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. The venue is Jerry Jones' Taj Majal of a stadium in Arlington Texas, where over 100,000 football fanatics will be in attendance. The good thing about having a Super Bowl party instead of heading for the Lone Star state, is that you won't have to pay $8-10 for a beer and you aren't likely to get cut off at the end of the 3rd quarter. Plus you get to watch some of the most creative commercials than any other time of year.

But before I get to the recipes, here are a few tips to ensure your party doesn't get called for a Personal Foul. Ready, jump.

• First of all, protect your big screen TV by having some yellow flags and soft foam bricks that your more emotional guests can toss when they get miffed at the refs.

• Set up more than one TV.

You can set up more than one television with the game on so that people have options: serious viewers may want a place where they can concentrate while others like to chat as they watch. Also, you might want to set up TVs in other rooms for people who aren't interested in watching the game (I know). Like the kids who would rather play Madden on your Xbox. Guys, you all know, keep the wife happy and you'll be happy. If the kids are happy and your spouse is happy, you can have an enjoyable game.

• Provide lots of places to sit. Enough said.

For maximum indulgence (and laziness), rent a mini fridge to keep cold drinks at the ready. If you're having a lots of guests, use a washtub to hold ice and beverages — it keeps the bottles and cans cold and out of your way, and cleanup couldn't be easier.

• Have Other Options Available

While the main activity of a Super Bowl Party is watching the game on TV, having other activities and places in your house to talk or do things are a nice alternative during pre-game and half-time.

• A Super Bowl Pool is a perfect way to make your Super Bowl party interesting (Especially since the Broncos aren't playing).

Here's how they work:

Using a sheet of paper, draw out a grid of ten rows horizontally and vertically so you have 100 squares. If you like, you can cut in in half and only use 25 squares. Sell each square on the grid for a set amount of money. Play big or small.
After all the squares are bought, numbers 0-9 are assigned randomly across the rows and down the columns . (Draw out of a hat for the order of numbers for each row and column)
The numbers beside each team name represent the last digit in the score for that team. For example, if the score were "AFC team 14- NFC team 3", then whoevers name is in the square under the "4" of the AFC team and the "3" of NFC would win.
If you go with the 25 square sized grid, two numbers for each square are selected. That way you have all ten numbers covered.

• Big Game Fantasy Draft

With Fantasy Football being so popular, you could spice things up by having everyone draft a Super Bowl fantasy player. Have a bowl with star players' numbers written down on pieces of paper. When your guests arrive, have them pick a player to cheer on (separate the teams into two bowls so fans aren't rooting for the wrong team). You can have small door prizes for whoever picked the game's MVP or the player with the most points scored, total yards or interceptions.

Alright, I've stalled long enough. Here are a few quick appetizers to get the ground game started.

Little Smokies - Purchase these at your local grocery store. Heat them up and serve with a mixture of Apricot jelly and yellow mustard. Hoisin sauce is another excellent choice for accompaniment.

Pittsburgh Pretzels with stone ground Dijon mustard for dipping.

Chips and Queso - Combine 1 lb. of Velveeta cheese with your favorite Salsa. Cut the Velveeta into 1" cubes and put into a saucepan on medium heat. Add 6 oz. of Pace medium picante sauce and stir. When the mixture is melted and creamy serve it up with Tortilla chips. Add the remaining salsa to another bowl and serve it as well.

If you get into 3rd and long, you don't have to punt. Fill the lane with munchies for the pass rushing crowd that can't wait for the main dish. It only takes about 10 minutes to prepare.

Green Bay Garlic Cheddar Bruschetta

Ingredients:

• Italian bread, sliced on the bias

• Butter, softened

• Minced garlic

• Fresh sliced Roma tomatoes

• 10 oz. Cheddar, grated

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter bread on both sides and toast in oven for five minutes. Remove from oven, place minced garlic and the tomatoes on bread, salt and pepper to taste, top with cheese and return to oven for five minutes until the cheese melts. Serve hot.
Makes two dozen.

I was going to give equal time to the Steelers here, but I'm going for a two-point conversion to represent the Super Bowl Host with the next appetizer. So don't throw the challenge flag just yet.


Texas Tortilla Wheels

• 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 (2 oz.) can sliced ripe olives

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1 (4 oz.) can chopped mild green chile's

• 1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

• 1 teaspoon green jalapeno pepper sauce

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 10 (7 to 8-inch) flour tortillas

Combine all ingredients except the tortillas in large bowl. Spread 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture onto a flour tortilla. Roll up jelly-roll style and wrap tightly in plastic food wrap. Repeat with remaining cheese mixture and tortillas. Refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight. Slice off the ends of the tortilla roll and then slice into 6 even pieces; repeat procedure with each tortilla roll. Arrange wheels on serving platter and serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Makes 5 dozen appetizers.


And now for the Main Event. A Super Bowl Food Fight. This entry pits the two contesting cities with a universal food and puts a spin on the local cuisine, Iron Chef style. Both cities have local traditions using Kielbasa, so that is the Super Bowl Food Theme.


Pittsburgh Kielbasa

Kielbasa is a staple in Pittsburgh and a must-have for every Steelers tailgating party. This official Pittsburgh Kielbasa recipe features Iron City Beer and Heinz Chili Sauce. If you can't find Iron City Beer, substitute a Lager instead, but it won't be authentic.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• One pound kielbasa, sliced into 1/2-inch coins

• One can (12 ounces) Iron City Beer

• One jar Heinz chili sauce

• One small can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

Preparation:

Kielbasa: Pour beer into a large skillet. Bring to a simmer and add kielbasa pieces. Cook sausage for three minutes per side. Drain. Serve warm with dipping sauce (recipe follows).

Dipping Sauce: Mix the chili sauce, crushed pineapple and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve warm with kielbasa slices. Serves 10.

Recipe provided by Mary Miller.

When you think of Wisconsin, you probably associate it with Dairies, Cheese, Brats and Beer. But they also have a Kielbasa tradition that goes back as far as the frozen tundra, for gosh sakes.

Green Bay Kielbasa

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 Hillshire Farms Kielbasa

• 4-6 slices of White American cheese

• 1 long French bread loaf , hard style

• BBQ sauce (whatever brand you prefer or concoct)

Directions:

Stoke up the grill (old fashioned briquettes are the recommended choice here). Take the Kielbasa link- split the horse shoe in half so you have two lengths. take the links and split them up the middle- wing out length, but keep it together so it could fold. After a couple of minutes on the grill, place the white American slices in the folds of the kielbasa. let them melt a little. Add the BBQ sauce on top. Cook the sausages a bit, let them brown and the cheese melt. baste the links with some more sauce. Split open the French bread. you may add some sauce so the sausage sits on a bed of it.
This recipe serves: 6. Double it up if you have more hungry bodies to feed.

Provided By: Tailgating America

Now you have something to build on, so get busy. You don't want to disappoint your guests with Unsportsmanlike Conduct, do you?

Good eats and Go Broncos!