Game Day

Game day is no time for subtlety. So this weekend, as you watch Russell and the Hawks crush the 49ers (yeah, that’s right), let your fan flag fly with football favorites customized to celebrate our reigning Super Bowl champs. (Don’t worry, if you root for one of those other teams or want to cheer for your favorite school instead, these ideas can be tailored to fit your needs too.)

Up first, pizza. Rather than try to go way too fancy with a main dish that nobody wants to eat, stick with this safe staple that can easily be customized to show a little game day spirit. My family is picky with pizza toppings so I stuck with a plain cheese but you can easily use veggies and/or meat toppings to make your pie one-of-a-kind.

Ingredients

1 Pizza Crust (I like the Target or Trader Joe’s pre-made crusts)

1 Jar Pizza Sauce (the zestier the better)

2 cups finely shredded mozarella cheese

Toppings of your choice

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425. Spread the sauce on to your crust with a spoon - be sure to spread all the way to the edges. If you want to use a stencil (team logo, etc) press it in to your sauce now. Sprinkle cheese around your stencil. Use a straw to outline your design before removing the stencil. Fill in with sauce, toppings or leave as is. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

It wouldn’t be a game day party without chips and dip. Switch standard tortilla chips to blue corn with classic green quac and you’ve got a winning combination - fit for the Hawks. You can even add a little spirited flag in your dip for extra team spirit. My husband and his friends really appreciate that. [Sarcasm]

Guacamole

Ingredients

¼ cup minced onion

1 small garlic clove, minced

½ jalapeno, minced

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 ripe avocados, diced

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

Directions

Mix the onion, garlic, and jalapeno in a medium bowl (always use a slightly bigger bowl than you think...it makes it easier to mash the guac). Add ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of lime juice and mix well. Add the avocado and mash until well combined but still a little chunky. Stir in the additional ½ teaspoon of salt, the additional 1 tablespoon of lime juice, the pepper, and the cilantro.

If for some crazy reason you’re not rooting for Seattle, you can still get in on the color-coordinated chip-and-dip idea:

• 49ers: chipotle salsa with fritos
• Cowboys: sour cream onion dip (try Trader Joe’s!) with blue corn chips
• Patriots or Bears: pico de gallo with blue corn chips
• Broncos: queso with blue corn chips

Every special occasion needs a signature drink. I like to make these 12th man mocktails for every game. Depending on how fancy you want to go, you can easily find a drink in your team colors that can be used as is or added to a basic pop like Sprite, Ginger Ale or Fresca. Garnish with a coordinating color and you’ve got a drink that’s worth toasting your victory to.

Sherman Sure-Thing

Ingredients

Welch’s Passion Fruit Juice

Fresca

Blue Food Coloring

Lime

Directions

Mix together juice, pop and about 5 drops of food coloring. Pour into martini glass and garnish with a lime twist.

Since my husband tends to drink a lot while he’s watching the game, I keep some blue gatorade on hand (pictured with a lime wedge on the right) for his refills so I can enjoy the game too. As an added bonus, he stays hydrated as he paces the floor when the game gets too close.

And for dessert, man-size chocolate chip cookies. We swapped out the chocolate chips for blue and green M&M’s and instead of mixing them into the dough, we couldn’t resist putting our favorite jersey numbers on top of some of the cookies.

We’ve included one of our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, but any cookie recipe will work.

Manly M&M Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup sugar

2 large eggs

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2¼ cups flour

1 cup oatmeal

Approximately 1½ cups blue and green M&M’s

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer, cream together the sugars and butter for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Add the eggs and beat on high for 3 minutes, until the batter is light and fluffy. Add the salt, baking soda, and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add the flour in two batches, mixing until just combined. Add the oatmeal and mix briefly to combine.

For each cookie, put about 2 tablespoons of dough on the cookie sheet. Press together and flatten into a disc. Decorate as you like with the M&M’s. These are big cookies and they’ll spread as they cook, so leave plenty of space between them (I cooked 4 on a sheet at a time).

Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool briefly on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 1 dozen big cookies.

And you're ready to go! Let's go Seahawks!!