Category Archives: Game of Thrones

The Night is Dark and Full of Appetizers

If I have to wear football gear, you can be sure I’m gonna nerd it up, Game of Thrones style.

For today’s festivities, I supported the Broncos because their colors are the same as the Bears. And I have orange shoes already, so…allegiance formed!

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Most of the people I follow on Instagram are food bloggers and you can tell everyone was getting ready for the Super Bowl yesterday because there were hardly any posts all day. And this morning – BAM – wings, dips, treats galore. Here’s what I chose to make:

Things We Dipped in Chocolate.  Recipe:  Melt chocolate, dip various things in it.

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But, BUT, you need to make these Potato Chip Cookies from Smitten Kitchen first.

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They are delicious, lightly sweet and salty. The only thing I did different was that I omitted the added salt (because I used Ruffles not Cape Cod chips) and I used another 1/2 cup of crushed potato chips in lieu of pecans. Because Drummer Boy helped and if he saw the nuts go in he never would even try them. He’s not a guy who likes sweets, so he immediately asked for…

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Chex Mix for dessert. I just use the back of the box recipe except that I add an extra two tablespoons butter. And this time we didn’t use wheat Chex because they just burn, everyone leaves them behind anyway in a puddle of sadness. So we doubled the Cheerios and pretzels.  But if you could find good gluten free pretzels, without the wheat Chex it would be gluten free.

On the healthier-ish side, we have this Greek Spinach and Kale Dip from How Sweet It Is. Made it the day before so flavors could meld. I reduced the kale to 1/2 cup because it was looking uncomfortably green.

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And finally, Pepperoni Pizza Rolls from Two Peas and Their Pod. Dough and I have a complicated relationship (in that Dough hates me) so I just used Pillsbury pizza dough in a can. Big hit.

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I’d like to pretend that’s my manicure, but my stubby nails could never support what MichCC can handle.

This is how 2016 children watch the Super Bowl. By ignoring it and playing games on their own devices. Left to my own devices, I probably would (name that band). Never mind, no one is going to remember. It was Pet Shop Boys.

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Wide retriever. Heh.

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Have a great week everyone.

Because Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String Only Get You So Far

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Just a few of my favorite things this week:

Truth from a boy band.

Acca-76 Trombones? Trust me, stick with it until the end.

Three Cheese Pizza Bites – If it wasn’t already Pizza Night, I’d be making these.

Good save Khaleesi.

What if – a classic (p.s. it annoys Skunk when we do this to him)

Who knew a pastry was more litigious than Wall Street?

So here’s a drink for your “Southern state horse race” party.

Let your weekend begin.

 

Happy Spring Break and Easter Happenings

Hello all.  We’re back from a fun, but lacking in sleep, trip to the Wisconsin Dells.  There was:

Surfing

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Lazy rivering

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Partying (Hulk say, “Drinks too small”)

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And…sitting inside the waterpark watching Spongebob.

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 But a good time was had by all.

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Then of course the 9th Avenue Egg Hunt:

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Then, right on to Easter for 30 people at my house.  Yikes.

Main dishes were my standard roast salmon (see prior Easterpost) and glazed ham using The Pioneer Woman’s glaze with its secret ingredient:

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This glaze is for you, Fake Sister.

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Also made a wonderful Melon Salad with Prosciutto from NotWithout Salt

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And the rest of the sides were asparagus, green salad, scalloped potatoes, lemon jello (even better when you eat it with your hands, says Baby D):

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and of course, the spécialité de la maison – buttered noodles.

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For dessert:  Lemon Cupcakes from The Alchemist with Fresh Blueberry Frosting from White on Rice Couple. I am not responsible for the use of the word “moist” in the recipe’s title.

Look at the rest of the cute desserts from the oh-so-talented Ellen Anderson

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The boys and I tried to make dyed Rice Krispie easter eggs.  Essentially just use the Rice Krispie treat recipe, add food dye to the marshmallows when stirring. Note to file: in the future, do not try to make purple marshmallow krispie eggs unless you realllllly like gray food.  Do not blame Ellen for the gray eggs!

And the Easter drink this year was Pineapple Sangria from How Sweet It Is.

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The Tables

For grown up table favors I went with the pretty blue and purple Mason jars as vases.

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For grown up table #2, I busted out my napkin folding skills.

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For the kids’ table, little Easter take out food boxes with Game of Thrones dragon eggs. Fine, they aren’t GoT but are called dinosaur eggs (with a tiny dinosaur inside) on Amazon. But the Mother of Dragons can dream, can’t she?

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By the way, I accidentally went to TJ Maxx/Homegoods last week and bought pretty dishes. What?!  You never see twelve of anything at HomeGoods. It was a sign from above.  And when my sister went to her TJ Maxx/Homegoods to look for extra plates for me, she found the mirror she had been looking for. Divine intervention indeed.

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Mother Nature again cooperated beautifully for the egg hunt.

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Even the dyed eggs got dressed up.

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And in the end, it was good day to relax. On a couch. In the yard.  Seriously, why won’t anyone on Craig’s List buy this couch. Best offer. Text me. Drummer boy not included.

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Happy Easter everyone!