I know a lot more about food than football. Here’s everything I know about the Super Bowl™, other than the NFL trademarked the name and greedily tried to trademark “The Big Game” too but lost.
I know the game is Sunday and it’s second only to Thanksgiving as America’s biggest food day. I didn’t know who’s playing till I read my friend MusEdition’s delightful post about her passion for the game. Because she’s rooting for the Arizona Cardinals, so am I even though you’d have to pay me to actually watch. Last I heard, the Cards were in St. Louis (there is definitely a St. Louis Cards baseball team) but I guess they moved. Muse says they haven’t won a championship since before the Super Bowl was invented, so that’s cool, and they’re playing the Pittsburgh Steelers who, I think, have won stuff.
Tiffany & Co. designed and makes the Super Bowl trophy and every year they feature it in their daily ad on page 3 of the New York Times. Upper right-hand corner. Tiffany also makes the World Series trophy and come to think of it, I know way more about baseball — and Tiffany — than I do football. At some point, the NFL decided to name the trophy for Vince Lombardi, who was such a big deal even I’ve heard of him. I think he played for somebody. I don’t think he was any coach Ronald Reagan played in the movies. Chris Matthews could tell you for sure.
So this huge amount of food will be consumed Sunday at millions of Super Bowl parties and by tradition, much of it will be messy food, slow cooker food and munchies. All delicious. Calories won’t count because it’s only once a year. If you’re planning a menu or taking something to a party, there are several recipes here that might be useful.
For an easy slow cooker main course to feed a crowd, try Coca-Cola Ham. For messy, my Oven Baked Ribs with Barbeque Sauce might suit. If you’re in a warm climate and plan to grill some chicken for fajitas, take a look at what I call The Best Chicken Marinade. It really is.
It wouldn’t be a Super Sunday without chili and I’m still in love with the Texas Chili I posted recently. If you like yours with ground turkey, check out Chili Without Guilt and for more heat, Chipotle Chili. For cornbread on the side, my mother’s cornbread is simple, foolproof and can’t be beat.
The star food of any Super Bowl party, even if it’s only two of you, is a platter of Buffalo wings. I love them and I’ve made them many ways but always come back to the recipe from Frank’s RedHot, the sauce that was the secret ingredient of the original wings in Buffalo, NY in 1964. Frank’s pepper mix is proprietary and unique and the recipe’s a snap.
Frank’s Buffalo Wings
2 1/2 pounds chicken wings
1/2 cup Frank’s RedHot Sauce
1/3 cup melted butter
Line a baking sheet with foil, place an oven rack in the lowest position and bake the plain wings at 500 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes or at 450 for 30 – 35 until crispy. Flip them over once during cooking.
Combine the hot sauce and melted butter. Brush or pour some on to the wings, keeping some aside for dipping. Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.
Ella’s Note: Frank’s now makes a bottled ready-made Buffalo Wing Sauce. The label says it’s fat free. Instead of butter it has, and I quote, Natural Butter Type Flavor. Butter type? And a fun bit of trivia – it could have been called Jacob’s RedHot Sauce. One of the company founders was named Jacob Frank.
Copyright (C) 2009 From Scratch All Rights Reserved 
Print This Post
{ 1 trackback }
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
“Natural butter type flavor” probably means some kind of chemical. No thanks. Cows, not chemicals!
Nate’s last blog post..Thai-Inspired Caesar Salad Recipe
Cows, not chemicals has all the makings of a motto, Nate! It was the word type that stopped me in my tracks. Like “cheese type food” I saw on a product once. I’ll take cheese, please.
Interesting and informative post.
Learned something new
Easy Dessert’s last blog post..Easy Dessert Recipes for Valentine’s Day
I’m glad! That’s pretty much the sum total of my knowledge of football. It just makes my eyes glaze over. (and glaze belongs on cookies and cakes!)
Hahahaha! You are a hoot, ella! Thanks for the link. I giggled through the first part of your post, and drooled through the rest. Well, now I’ll HAVE to try one of your chilis, won’t I?
I learned things I didn’t know, too! I didn’t know the trophy was designed by Tiffany. I get excited when the teams get their championship hats, but I hadn’t paid much attention to the trophy itself.
“…Steelers who, I think, have won stuff.”
Uh, yes, I believe they have!
“…Vince Lombardi, who was such a big deal even I’ve heard of him. I think he played for somebody.”
Yup, something like that!
I appreciate you rooting for the Cardinals—we’ll take all the fan support (and chili) we can get.
MusEditions’s last blog post..We can all celebrate!
No, thank you, Muse for adding to my knowledge! (And for understanding my goofy sense of humor…)
But hang on a sec. Hats? You get excited about their hats? What kind of hat are we talking about here? A baseball cap? Oscar Wilde on the prowl? The big kind the fat lady wears when she sings at the end of the opera and it’s over when she does?
So here’s a goodie for you. The Yankees (who have been in my sidebar since Day 1) got their famous NY logo in the late 19th century when a certain jeweler — Tiffany — changed its logo. The NY was part of it in the same typeface we see today and the Yankees, being good little scavengers in the fine NY tradition that continues to this day, took it. Tiffany switched to the (dignified) logo it still uses. Back then Tiffany was downtown, which was uptown then, and where the store is today was a wilderness.
Enjoy the game, enjoy the chili if you make some and cheer for me if the Cards win!
Yay for Frank’s! I’m appalled at how many Buffalo Wing recipes call for tabasco, or just the generic “hot sauce”. Buffalo Wings are made with Frank’s and butter, that’s it! Haha… as a native Buffalonian, I’m passionate about this topic – can you tell? I totally agree about skipping the sketchy “Natural butter type flavor”, even if it is low-fat. If you’re worried about fat content, you probably shouldn’t be eating wings in the first place!
Go Cardinals! I don’t know anything about football either, I’m rooting for them because my good friend lives in AZ.
Hi, Stella. I’m happy to hear my taste buds knew the right wings! I certainly agree there’s no comparison between Buffalo wings made with Frank’s and everything else. And you’re right about the fat; I hadn’t thought of that.
Muse will be tickled to know there’s another Cards fan — your reason’s as good as mine. Cardinals!
I am! Thank you Stella! If you let out a cheer sometime on Sunday, even if you’re not watching the game, it will help.
ella, re: hats…{yes, I get very excited to see the team members receive their championship baseball caps (even though baseball caps are technically from that “other” sport) —they have the team logo and the word “championship” and I get all teary-eyed to see that} …but don’t tell anyone!
I did not know about the connection between the Tiffany and Yankee logos! How odd and wonderful is life!
P.S. I read today that the President is having a Superbowl party, and that he’s rooting for that “other” team.
I like him anyway… 
MusEditions’s last blog post..It’s all your fault!
Your secret’s safe with me, Muse.
And thanks for the explanation. I’ve never seen one of those hats but then, why would I? 
I can understand Barry rooting for a Pennsylvania team, since Biden was born there. And then there’s that Arizona connection of his opponent… I wonder what he’s serving? They’re certainly not ordering a party platter from the Social Safeway in Georgetown!
And now you have enough Tiffany trivia that you, too, can bore your friends. Hee! I have a sneaky feeling they make those gaudy Super Bowl rings too but I haven’t checked because I don’t want to think of T&Co. as being in the business of making brass knuckles.