Ready for some football? Treat your Super Bowl Sunday guests to more than just salsa and hot wings. By whipping up some football fun cupcakes, your guests can cheer on their team and have a sweet Sunday too.
Football Fun Cupcakes
A dozen cupcakes1. Frost a cooled cupcake with green frosting to look like grass
2. Place a chocolate-covered almond on top, then use white icing to create football laces.
3. Enjoy & cheer for your team!
What do you do when you are going to a party and have no time to bake an appetizer? Make a pasta salad party. Simple ingredients, simple recipe and simply good.
Pasta Salad
Package of rotini whole wheat pasta1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rotini pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Add red onion, feta, garbanzo beans and a pinch of salt and pepper to pasta. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together olive oil, vinegar and mustard seed. Pour over pasta and mix well. Cover and chill for two hours.
In my college days living in the Collins Hall dorm, my roommates and I spent our Thursday nights watching Grey’s Anatomy, refresh our Facebook feeds during the commercials, all while gathered around a bowl of puppy chow. There is something about the combination of melted chocolate and peanut butter with a bag of powdered sugar on top that just brings people together. This Saturday night, when Trey and I started craving something sweet my mind immediately took me back to my Collins kitchen days and 30 minutes later, we too had a bowl of puppy chow. It may not have been a Thursday night and a Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie was playing instead of McDreamy, but no matter who you are gathered with, puppy chow is still as sweet.
Grown-Up Puppy Chow
8 c rice cereal
1 c dark chocolate chips
1 c creamy peanut butter
1 c dried berries
3 tsp vanilla extract
4 c powdered sugar
1. Melt chocolate in a double broiler, by placing a small amount of water in the bottom pan, the water should not touch the top pot. Place the chocolate in the top pot and start heating. Stir frequently until chocolate is just melted. Mix in rice cereal and dried berries.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt peanut butter in microwave, starting at one minute until smooth. Stir in with chocolate, rice cereal and dried berries. Add vanilla extract to mixture.
3. Pour mixture into gallon-sized plastic bag with powdered sugar. Shake the bag until all of the mixture is coated with powdered sugar.
Every time I have the opportunity to use my electric stand mixer, I get a little giddy. There’s just something about standing next to a machine that knows how to really blend butter. One of my bon appetit role models in my life is my Uncle Jimmy. He taught me key kitchen lessons, including how to entertain with bruschetta and in every social situation to always ask for a glass of chardonnay. The first time I tried his apricot cheesecake, I felt like I graduated from culinary college and realized I needed to attend his graduate of decadent desserts. The best part? Stand mixer required.
Uncle Jimmy’s Apricot Cheesecake
½ c peach nectar1. Pour peach nectar in a medium-sized saucepan and sprinkle gelatin evenly over the surface of the juice. Do not stir. Let stand for 5 or 6 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon juice. Heat gelatin mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is fully dissolved. Simmer for three minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. In a separate bowl, combine pie filling and gelatin/fruit juice mixture. Immediately stir the cream cheese mixture into pie filling mixture until thoroughly combined. Pour ½ in each pie crust and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.
4. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the pie and garnish with sliced apricots.
LBDujour 