it's monday: let's talk football food.

Yesterday we had friends over to watch
the 49ers game.
Being Northern California natives,
we've always rooted for the niners.
Even when they've been horrible.
In NorCal your other option is to be a Raiders fan.
And that's not an option.
{just kidding.}
{not really.}

The game was a heartbreaker.  So sad.
BUT, on the bright side, the food was good.

One of our friends brought sliders
{which the kids devoured}
and the other chili
{which we all devoured}.
Really, there's nothing like burgers & chili on a rainy, football-watching day.

I made salad with balsamic vinaigrette,
and a bunch of appetizers.
But before we talk food,
let's take a look at my kitchen, mid-food prep.



I spy: salsa ingredients in the food processor,
two different types of hot sauce, mustard, refried beans, and diced green chilies,
Clorox wipes,
the immersion blender I got for Christmas (LOVE IT),
butter snap pretzels,
Avery's container of applesauce that she just left on the counter after eating,
some of the contents of my purse (yes, I still carry baby wipes - they're a necessity),
and other random detritus.
I'm a messy cook.

So is my helper.
We're not a good pair.



As bad as that mess is, it just got worse.
I won't even show you the amount of dishes in my sink.
It was scary,
and I'm glad we had this talk.

Ok, on to the food.
No get-together is complete without chips and salsa.
Make this salsa - it's the best ever.
Recipe here.



Avery and I ate it with our lunches today, too.

And you've had pretzel hugs, right?
One of our friends brings these to every get together.
I'm not sure whether to love her or hate her for it.



She uses Hershey Hugs, but I could only find regular kisses.
You won't hate them.  Promise.
Here's the recipe I used.

Another one of my go-to faves: Texas sheetcake brownies.
Recipe posted here.



The name is misleading.  They're nothing like a brownie.
More like cake.
Really, really good cake that makes you want to eat three pieces for breakfast.
Don't ask how I know that.

Next I made Buffalo Chicken Dip.
Here's something you may not know about me:
chicken on the bone gives me the heebie jeebies.
So I really can't hang with chicken wings.
But this buffalo chicken dip?
That's another story.



I know, it looks a little gross, but trust me on this one.
I got the recipe here.
And, here's a tip:
use this hot sauce.



I don't know who Frank is,
but he does know his wing sauce.

I didn't get a picture of the last appetizer I made...
probably because everyone devoured them so quickly.
Gary estimated that he ate ten.
Yeah.
Homemade.  Jalepeno.  Poppers.
Think crescent dough, cream cheese, bacon, and jalepenos.
Deeee-lish.
Recipe here.

Oh, and we also had salad and fruit to add a little bit of healthy.
I figured I should have at least one food that didn't contain
cream cheese or sour cream. :)

And, I can't be sure,
but if I had to guess I'd say that pretty much every 49er fan looked like this
after the game:



Wah.
No niners in the Superbowl.
So we'll probably just be watching it for the commercials this year.

But it might be a good excuse to make those jalepeno poppers again.