I've been gearing up for the football season's ultimate match up, Super Bowl XLIV, on February 7th. This year I'll be serving some of our favorite standard recipes along with a few new ones.
Of course appetizers are always big on the menu for Super Bowl Sunday. Anything that can be eaten in one bite, with the hands or while jumping up and down screaming at the television, without making a mess, is potential Super Bowl fare. This year I have a menu of old stand-by recipes as well as some new ones to try. I have a large group of friends and family that are always willing to be guinea pigs for new recipes so I never have to worry about how a new one will be received. They all know that at any time I may serve up a new creation and I'm more than happy to hear how everyone feels about it.
My son's girlfriend had dinner with us a few nights ago, for the first time. We didn't know in advance that she'd be here, but I never let anyone leave my house hungry. Unfortunately, since it wasn't planned, dinner consisted of a mishmash of recipes that had been invented or significantly altered from the first time we had it, so I made sure she understood that if she didn't like something I don't expect her to eat it. This has always been the Food Rule at my house. "If you don't like it, don't eat it." But if you can tell me why you get bonus points for helping me create a better version and/or properly rate the recipe. The veggies were dubbed, "A little weird." by my son and pretty much echoed around the table, but everyone liked the Japanese inspired salmon. Later I apologized to Nick for not having a normal meal planned that night and he put my mind at ease by explaining that he'd already warned her that I pull random recipes out of my.... Well, never mind. She wasn't scared off and I just may have gained another willing recipe tester.
So, here I am searching appetizer recipes for the Super Bowl when I find a recipe for a dip bowl. I love using interesting and sometimes edible food bowls for dips. Hollowed out sweet peppers for vegetable dip, grapefruit or oranges for fruit dip and French bread rounds for spinach dip. The presentation factor alone is worth it, but the likelihood that the kids will try it goes up a notch too. This new idea was to make the dip bowl out of snack mix. I didn't have any actual snack mix on hand but I had a lot of Chex cereal leftover from making homemade white chocolate snack mix at Christmas. This was a perfect way to test the recipe before the big day and use up the cereal that won't get eaten by itself. I filled the Edible Snack Bowl with this BLT Dip recipe I've been making for about 12 years. Originally found in the Taste of Home magazine but altered to fit my family's tastes, and we had a fun snack that ended up taking the place of dinner one night.
BLT Dip
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup (4oz) shredded cheese (we like the Mexican blend of 4 cheeses)
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 pound bacon
Trim the large areas of fat from the bacon then dice the meat & add to a large fry pan. Cook and stir until the bacon is nearly crisp. Remove bacon to a plate lined with a couple paper towels to drain the grease. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with cut veggies, crackers or small pieces of sourdough bread. Yield: 3 cups.
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