The Great American Holiday

Super Bowl!

Eating all of the comfort foods you want, beer, friends, family, commercials, incredible sales on TV's, and very emotional sports fans... how much more American can it get?! Did you know that there is a whole 'holiday' chapter in the Pioneer Woman's new cookbook dedicated to this holiday?

My favorite part of this funny little holiday is the time spent with friends. As strange as it sounds, I can remember many Super Bowl weekends.

In 2010, I was having a very busy weekend. B had left for training about a month before, and I returned from my out of town internship interview. I remember being picked up at the airport by my roommate, and then heading over to the guy's apartment for festivities. Reveille (the Texas A&M mascot) was even there- so we enjoyed the game, margaritas, and one beautiful dog!

In 2011, I had just graduated from school, and was living in a hotel in Lafayette. It was the beginning of my final week in training, so I hung out in the hotel room by myself. Not a super eventful holiday that year.

The next year, I worked. Not super fun, but the results were amazing! We had record breaking sales at work due to the Super Bowl, and it was a high that my team was able to ride for a few months- seriously! We were among the top 5 stores out of about 2000. So yes, super memorable, and I was super proud!

2013 was our first year in Minot. Retail up here has a much more mild schedule, and I was home for the whole game! Awesome! We had another couple over, and had a blast. I really enjoy cooking football food, and it was so nice to be able to have a little potluck with some now good and lifelong friends!

Last year, we had a much larger group over to the house. It was a big potluck, and once again we had a ton of fun. Almost half of this house is a man cave/sports theme, so it's nice to be able to use that area for that reason. Oddly enough, I also remember just starting my MBA program, and running upstairs during a slow part in the game (probably when the Broncos were busy NOT scoring) and completed some homework I forgot to do. What can I say? I'm a perfect student!

In comparison, this year will be a very quiet Super Bowl. We're heading to New York City a little over a week later and have a lot of other things on our plate right now. We're looking forward to lots of puppy play time, commercials, and smaller/skinnier portions of our favorite comfort foods.

Oh, and there's a football game too :)

Jalepeno Poppers - I don't use cheddar cheese, but this sounds great!
Spinach Artichoke Dip - I made this for our Christmas party, and I want to make it every single day.
Pulled Pork - I make this all the time! It's great on buns, baked potatoes, and it's even delicious by itself!
Buffalo Chicken Dip - I don't put celery in the dip, but we love to eat it with celery.