SuperBowl Party Time!

Super Time.

It’s the most important football game (and party!) of the year.  Whether you are attending in New Orleans, grabbing a flight to Vegas or hosting a gathering at your home….are you ready for some football?

Both hubby and I have experienced the big day in all forms listed above and this year we are putting together a gathering at the house.  Some tips I have experienced can hopefully help you with your shindig this Sunday.  Truly, it’s a game that’s as important for football as it is for commercials, musical acts, wardrobe malfunctions and, of course, truly awe-inspiring game day eats.

For a basic foundation in planning, just remember to surround yourself with good peeps, fab eats, lots to drink and some fun strategic pools.

Good Eats: Whenever I hosted clients in suites for Raider games, our caterer would put together sinfully good menus centered around the opponents hometown. This is more of a tribute to the city if anything, so much that at Superbowl they have a whole event inspired by food.  This event is called Taste of The NFL and it is the most popular gig to attend during Superbowl week.

I encourage you to plan your Super Bowl eats with inspiration from the cities of both teams competing for the ultimate prize.  This year you have fabulous San Fran and beautiful Baltimore.  Both teams come from cities with strong culinary chops from which to draw inspiration.  Your plan could be to set up two tables, each with dishes from both cities. Let the diners choose their favorite city. Using the results of your belly happy pollsters, you will find a winner – then lay back and watch the football teams rally.

Sound like a plan? Need some help?  Here’s some ideas for a culinary game plan from both cities.

San Francisco is any food lover’s dream and my dads hometown.  It’s so diverse, just about anything goes.  Add to this its proximity to Napa Valley and its large number of superior farmers markets, and San Francisco is easily one of the culinary gems of the West. Therefore, for your party, you might want to recreate the Chinese spareribs, feature artisanal cheeses or pour Napa wine. I am more the 49er Frankfurter on a San Francisco Sourdough.  Finish the San Francisco feast with a Ghiradelli chocolate “SuperBowl Sundae” creation to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth. However you choose to do it, you can’t go wrong with the bay area cuisine…I left my heart there and for good reason.

Baltimore, on the other hand, doesn’t have as well-known a reputation for being a foodie’s town like San Francisco, but its proximity to the ocean and its supply of crab means that Baltimore knows good seafood. The old standby is crabcake sliders.  You can also serve a corned beef sandwich in honor of Baltimore’s Corned Beef Row or offer guests pit beefs, an unusual blend of barbeque beef, slices of sweet onion and horseradish. Blackened Barbeque Burgers work well too!

Pools: There’s nothing like a friendly little you-pick-the-score game to liven up your party during Super Bowl. This pool, built around a simple visual chart, calls for no skill or knowledge of the game (although the winner may deny that). Here are some samples to get your game on.

As for bets, you’ll be able to find a Super Bowl prop wager on just about anything at the online sportsbooks this week as NFL bettors prepare for the championship matchup.  The Superbowl Bashes in Vegas are so crazy, I enjoy all the wagers…you would crack up at the list,  it is “a must” to take to a party.  Click here for a peek of this years wagers.

Kids Celebration:  Since we will have lil ones enjoying the big day as well, we want to make sure they feel part of the big day.  This year I will put out a mini kids table full of food and snacks so they can come and go as they please.  Before the game, kids will help with the pool for the party. I will make sure a kids viewing area is set up, bean bags a must! One lucky kid will carry in the flag for the national anthem.  The playroom will be full of goodies and of course the Wii football game of the day – Niners vs Ravens.  Next to the food table I will place an arts and crafts table with football-inspired crafts that can be made with things I already have around the house. Some ideas include: making pompoms out of tissue, football players out of construction paper and team pennants out of felt. There are also free printable coloring pages that can be easily found online.  You can even introduce them to the  superbowl shuffle– let them come up with their own shuffle performance this year.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you do on game day, as long as you enjoy the game. Who knows, you might just be watching for the commercials. As for food, have fun with it.  My 4th & Short Stew is always served, which is basically my homeade chili.  All that matters is you enjoy the game with good food and fab friends.  Go Niners Quest for 6.

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