Eats for your Superbowl Par-tay

One of my favorite Super Bowl memories was when I was a kid, my mom (who is a pretty big sports fan) bought us these cupcakes from the grocery store bakery that had plastic football rings stuck in the frosting. This was also the first time I can remember watching the Super Bowl. I believe the 49ers and the Bengals were playing. Anyway, here's a recipe for cupcakes. The plastic football rings are optional, but highly recommended.

recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole large egg
1 large egg yolk

In a small bowl whisk together the cocoa powder and the water until the cocoa powder is dissolved and let the mixture cool to room temperature. In a bowl whisk together the flour, the baking soda, and a pinch of salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the sugar and beat in the whole egg and the egg yolk, beating until the mixture is combined well. Beat in the cocoa mixture alternately with the flour mixture, beating well after each addition, divide the batter among 12 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins, and bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack and let them cool completely.

Frost them with your favorite canned frosting. I suggest a white frosting, and then adding green to it so it looks like a football field. Or you can use your team's colors, whatever.

Of course, you could just get a box of Duncan Hines and make them that way, but if you're going to have a party, you might as well go whole-hog and make these from scratch. It's not much harder, you probably have most of this stuff lurking in your pantry or refrigerator, and they really taste better.


Now I know my cupcake story is cute and all, but cupcakes aren't exactly a manly thing to serve at a Super Bowl Party. So, I'm also going to give you my recipe for Shepherd's Pie, which is a little non-traditional, but it's filling, easy to make, and I don't know anyone who doesn't like a good shepherd's pie.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
4 (or more) slices of bacon
1 small onion
small can of corn
small can of peas
small can of carrots, or 2 fresh carrots diced
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
instant mashed potatoes (or you can make real mashed potatoes if you want)
salt
pepper
garlic powder
hot sauce
paprika

In a skillet, brown the bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon, crumble it up, and set it to the side (try not to eat all of it). Drain off a little of the bacon fat, and then sautee the onions (and the carrots, if you used the fresh ones) until they are soft. When they are soft, remove them from the skillet. Add the ground beef to the skillet and brown it. Drain it and add it back to the skillet, along with the onions, carrots, and bacon, and the canned vegetables. Heat it for a few minutes, and then add the flour, stirring the meat mixture so it's coated as well as you can. Allow it to cook for about 3 minutes. Then add the broth and stir, cooking for about 5 minutes until it has thickened. Add the cup of sour cream to the mixture, and the salt, pepper, garlic powder and hot sauce (all to your liking). Spoon the mixture into a casserole dish and top with the prepared mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the top with cheese and paprika. Turn on your broiler and pop it in the oven until the top gets all bubbly and golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Love, Sea Hag