Through the Seasons ~ And other reasons to celebrate

Climbing out of our post-grad rut is a goal the hubs and I have agreed on this year. I mentioned here that we are reviving our date night DONE! :-) and here that we are just going to DO IT! either by planning outings or just spontaneously jumping right in. I have also mentioned a number of times that I am compiling a sort of Through the Seasons Family Cookbook. Another activity we are planning on raising from the dead is entertaining friends and family at home and I am thinking that this blog will be a good place to dream, organize, and share ideas and recipes as traditional and new events come up throughout the year. By year's end, I should have the cookbook completely compiled. This will be my first post in the series.

My nieces, who are avid football fans will be visiting next week and will be here over Super Bowl weekend. At home, in San Diego, their family puts on a Super Bowl party every year as do many families throughout the country. We haven't been one of them :-), however, this year we're going to have our first Super Bowl Party. If it's a hit...we'll make it a fun new tradition.

Easy, Breezy, and Beautiful is the party style I will be going for this year. As a self-admitted introvert, crowds of people tend to be intimidating so in order to get through (and I really do love parties) the event without worrying about the details, I have a cocktail, glass of wine, or some other such liquid libation to calm the nerves about a half hour prior to party time :-). As guests arrive, I am primed to party. And because I am so relaxed if something goes awry, I just let it go. No one would guess I'm a type A :-)...However, that is also why I do as much of the prep work ahead of time.

Since we don't really care who wins this time, (sorry, we're sort of lukewarm Cardinal fans and my nieces are die-hard Charger fans) we're going to go for Super Bowl logo color theme, red and blue. Also cause it matches my blue denim sofa and red pillows...and it's close to Valentine's Day. It works.

It will be a rather small gathering of close family and a few of Rick's colleagues, and will, of course, be casual. I'm thinking a help yourself with a sort of open house feel. A nice beverage bar sporting a drink dispenser of punch and a galvanized big ice tub of assorted canned and bottled beverages will start everyone one off with something to drink.

Chips, salsa, guacamole and a delicious melted jalepeño cheese dip (recipe from Miguel's in San Diego) and a few veggie eats to munch on before and during the game. Maybe I'll even throw together a cute assorted popcorn station.

At half time we'll put out a big crock pot full of pulled pork for mini sliders which will make a nice savory entreé. Sliders are already mini, right? Right, so, just sliders then cause I don't want them the size of marbles. Add a couple of cold salads and maybe, just maybe, some baked beans to round out the meal.

We'll do a separate dessert bar...simple, but with a bit of a WOW factor too! Old fashioned favorites updated to minis will be adorable and guests can enjoy a sweet bite at their leisure during the second half of the game.  I'm toying with serving, football shaped brownies, chocolate chip cookies (hubs fav), mini strawberry shortcake (cause I want to use my whipped cream maker), oreo truffles (to surprise hubs), and, of course mini cupcakes.