Real Party: Superbowl XLVI

As always, our friends Katie and Casey hosted the Super Bowl party, which included the 2nd annual Chili cook-off.  This is such a fun day! (And I don't watch a single minute of the game! -- who has time between sampling chilies, tending to baby, and catching up with friends?)

The house & yard looked great as always.  I love all the bright colors Katie used in her decor. 

There were lots of yummy desserts too.  I had a delicious s'more with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup...to die for! 

The hosts, and the winners of the chili cook-off!  

Please note the homemade spoon trophy by Casey. ;)

The first annual Chili Cook-off can be found here. 

And a previous Super Bowl party hosted by Katie and Casey can be found here.

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Real Party: Chili Cook-off Superbowl

I had such a fun Superbowl Sunday! (And I didn't watch a single minute of the game!) 

I shared last week the the party was going to be a Chili Cook off and that I was going to help my friend Katie with some of the styling.  We brainstormed together and made some items a few days before the party, but I was blown away to see how it all came together.  

 The chili tasting station was set up on the dining room table.

 Each chafing dish held 2 kinds of chili, so we tasted 6 total.

How amazing is the centerpiece with chili pepper vase filler?

The tasting bar had all the chili toppings you could possibly want.

Appetizers were served outside.  My favorite were Katie's chili roasted mixed nuts in her cute cones.  (Remember the snack cones and "football" vases from Katie's Superbowl party last year?) 

And another table held yummy sides. 

This fun centerpiece was on the table with the side dishes. 

Everyone scored the chili on the scorecards I made. 

Katie and Casey announced the winners at Half Time.  Leslie won 1st place with her beef chili, and Chris won 2nd place with his lamb chili. 

Check out the trophy Casey made for the first place winner...too funny! 

My {tied for 3rd place} beef chili was pretty good and had a nice kick. I would definitely make it again.  I used this recipe.  I followed it pretty much exactly, except I used about 1/2 the amount of chili powder and added a little cayenne pepper (thanks to my spicy-food-loving-Dad for this tip!)

For dessert I made these.  They were a little too sweet for my taste, but they looked cute with the colorful m&m's. 

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Inspiration: Chili Cook Off Centerpieces

This year's Superbowl Party with my friends is going to be a Chili Cook-Off. 

My friends Katie and Casey are hosting.  

I am going to be helping Katie with some of the decor this week. 

I've been brainstorming for styling ideas and I think it would be really fun to incorporate peppers since its a chili cook-off. 

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I love the bright colors and the fact that they tie in the chili theme.  

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These centerpieces with pepper mixed in are too cute. 

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Even just a cluster of different kinds and colors of pepper could be cute.  Clustered around a hurricane, or in a large footed bowl perhaps. 

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Bell pepper votives are an easy addition to the decor! 

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This topiary doesn't actually have any peppers on it, but it definitely inspires me to think about making a similar one out of chili peppers. 

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Dried chili peppers make a nice flower substitute. 

Off to research my chili recipe... :)

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Real Party: Super Bowl XLIV

I hear it was a good game today...but to be perfectly honest, I was paying more attention to food & friends...and all the cute details of the party we attended! 

Our friends Katie & Casey were perfect hosts, as always.  Aren't the football vases Katie made adorable? They reminded me of these cuties.  And as I mentioned earlier, I love love love wheatgrass in centerpieces. 

I was happy with how my cupcakes turned out. Topped with sugar cookie footballs, they were really two desserts in one...never a bad thing. :)  I used this recipe for the cake and frosting. 

The cones for serving the french fries were perfect for a large party of people milling around.  The perfect compliment to the menu of smoked tri-tip steak sandwiches, green salad, chili, and appetizers galore.  Yum!

I had trouble finding football cookie cutters.  So, I used my round one to make two cuts and ended up with these little footballs.

How was your Super Bowl?

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DIY Idea: Superbowl Centerpiece

Superbowl is fast approaching!

We have hosted a party the last few years.  But my husband and I are the only people I know who have not yet upgraded to a new flat screen TV. So this year we have given up the honors to friends with a more worthy TV.  :)

I don't really like football. I occasionally like the commercials, and I watched every second of one game (and don't even get me started on the refs!). But mostly I love the food and friends. I always look forward to the Superbowl Sunday.

Browsing the blogosphere, I am finding limited decoration ideas, especially for centerpieces.  Don't get me wrong, what is out there is cute.  There just isn't a lot of it.

This Hostess with the Mostess centerpiece is everywhere.  With good reason, its adorable.  I have to confess that I love anything with wheatgrass. 

I like these little wheatgrass pots with plastic footballs that were featured in Real Simple also (via The Kitchn).  And of course the astroturf coasters are pure genius. 

I like this idea of using small plastic footballs as vase-filler. 

I pulled out some pictures of the centerpiece I made a few years ago.  This is SIMPLE, but it gets the job done without being too cheesy (which is the problem I have with many items available at party stores).

 

I put my husband's football (dirt and all!) in an oblong basket filled with green "filler grass" (or "Easter grass").  Then I tucked alternating white and yellow flowers around the football.

Flowers can be made to coordinate with most team's colors. 

Easy! 

To this year's party I am bringing dessert. There are so many great ideas out there for treats, I've got lots of research to do!

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Baked Potato Bar

I've got Superbowl Party on my mind today...and I've been thinking how much fun a baked potato bar would be for this event! Definitely a crowd-pleaser.

via Martha

I found a great site for topping inspiration: Rookie Cookie

Look at this diagram! Yum!

Looks like there's lots of great recipes there too. I'm heading back to check it out a little more! (love the down-loadable Soup Guide!)

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Love this display! Click to enlarge and see the details. The food label cards stuck into potatoes is a cute touch.

This was actually a mashed potato bar...hmmm...I'm assuming they were served in the martini glasses? How fun!

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Football Season

It's that time of year again...football games will be on the TV several days a week at our house.  To put it mildly, this is not my favorite thing.  My husband watches games that aren't even for "his" team because he is in a fantasy football league! "Every game is important now Sandi," he tells me.  It's enough to drive a girl crazy!

Well, something good has to come from all this.  I must make one of these very soon:

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Cutie little cupcakes, complete with tufts of grass

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Fooball truffles, by Bakerella

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Sugarcookie cuteness

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And a tasty cake

Here's wishing you a sweeter football season.  ;) 

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