So, my boyfriend invited me to a Super Bowl party – a loud, messy, smelly event full of dumb frat boys slurping up crummy beer and shouting at the TV. Some collegiettes breathe football (more power to them) – and others of us have to make the most of the afternoon. As long as I keep the guys full of junk food and don’t mention the “San Francisco Ravens,” I think I’ll be good. Here’s my quick-reference guide to making the most of Super Bowl XLVII (and maybe even enjoying it).
Step 1: Super Snacks
If nothing else, you can always win a room of males over with good food. Offering to provide something yummy not only gives you something to do, it helps ease your way into the testosterone radiating from the game-day couch.
- Sweet: Cinnamon Sticks
For a sinfully sweet, sticky snack, grab some prepared pizza dough and roll it out. Cut it into strips, and brush with butter. This recipe suggests butter flavored oil, but butter will work too (just don’t look at the calories). Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and drizzle with icing while it’s still warm.The icing is the same concoction you would drizzle over Pillsbury crescent rolls to make cinnamon buns: some powdered sugar, melted butter, a little milk and some vanilla extract. Start with 3 cups of powdered sugar and experiment with your ingredients until your glaze is the perfect drizzle.
Serve warm with plenty of napkins for the guys.
- Salty: Nachos
Chips and dip are great. Those seven-layer dips are works of art. However, football is a manly sport, and if you’re hanging around guys on game day, you want to impress them with a manly snack.Nachos are like chips’ bigger, sexier brother. And they’re impossible to mess up. A baking dish (like a 13×9” Pyrex) will actually prove more useful than a cookie sheet, because you can pile the toppings high. You can even get the boys involved on this one (as long as you ask for help before kick-off).
You can do this in a “create-your-own” setting. Provide bags of different tortilla chips, varieties of shredded cheeses, refried beans, ground beef, shredded chicken, bacon bits, salsa, guacamole, black olives, scallions, jalapenos – anything yummy that could go in a taco (try using Doritos instead of plain tortilla chips). Have the guys claim sections of the baking dish and go to town with loaded nachos – the secret is to layer chips, meat and cheese so you don’t have a lonely layer of tortillas at the bottom.
This site suggests using potato wedges as a heartier base than chips.
- Meaty: Stuffed Peppers
This brilliant site takes the idea of a stuffed pepper to a new, delicious extreme. Basically, you bake a cheese steak inside a green pepper.If you want a little more kick before kick-off, try jalapeno poppers as an appetizer. One homemade version of jalapeno poppers is a basic cheese (Monterey jack or mozzarella) filling inside a blanched jalapeno, which is then breaded and fried. To cut down calories, try baking the stuffed jalapeno with cheese inside and then wrapping with prosciutto afterward.
- Pizza (because you can’t watch sports without it)
Two options: bagels or pita. Because pizza dough is messy, hard to work with and overrated. If you use bagels or pita, you can make a toppings bar and let everyone make their own personal pizza for the game.Set out olive oil to brush the “crust” of your pizzas, along with cheese, pepperoni, sausage, sliced veggies, tomato sauce (or hummus) and other fun goodies like pineapple.
Get really fancy and roast garlic (by wrapping the whole bulb up in foil with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt and throwing it in the oven for a hour, until the garlic turns to creamy, mushy goodness) and spread this on a pita as the “sauce.” Caramelize red onion and top your roasted garlic paste. Then, place slices of fresh mozzarella or goat cheese on top, with baby spinach leaves. Put it on a cookie sheet under the broiler in your oven until the cheese melts, and watch your guy melt when you give him a slice.
- Spicy: Wings
Wings. This one might be best left for the guys (because men are masters of the messy and spicy). Wing prep is a very personal choice, just like the team you’re rooting for. You can’t really go wrong, whether you deep-fry, grill or bake. Choice of sauce branches off into even more choices, from Asian-inspired teriyaki to a classic Hooter’s hot wing. Just don’t forget to keep the drinks flowing to kill the heat, or you’ll kill the mood.[pagebreak]
Step 2: Who’s Who
If nothing else, you should know who’s playing. You should also be able to tell them apart on screen. For example, the Ravens will be the white dots on screen, and the 49ers will be the red dots. You can root for your boyfriend’s (or your crush’s) team, or just pick the team with the hotter quarterback.
QB Joe Flacco leads the Ravens into Super Bowl XLVII on a wave of playoff success of 8 touchdowns with no interceptions. This is his fifth season under head coach John Harbaugh.
The Ravens will wear white jerseys like the ones from Super Bowl XXXV, with black pants rather than white.
While they lost three of their last four regular-season games (and are only the second team to do so since 1990 and make it to the Super Bowl), the Ravens excelled under pressure in the post-season with a .650 winning percentage (the best in NFL history).
An injury to the shoulder and knee of defensive end Haloti Ngata could prove to be a weak point in the face of the 49ers’ offensive line.
The Ravens have an emotional edge going into the game because linebacker Ray Lewis ends his career this season after a triceps tear.
QB Colin Kaepernick leads the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his second year, after only seven regular-season starts. He filled in for starting quarterback Alex Smith who missed two starts after a concussion, and head coach Jim Harbaugh chose Kaepernick as the new starter.
The 49ers are the designated home team (which means they get to choose whether they wear their colored or white jerseys) and have chosen to wear their red jerseys.
Coach Jim Harbaugh has a more successful coaching record than his older-by-a-year brother, John, having led the 49ers to consecutive conference championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in just two seasons.
As a balance to the injured Ngata, the 49ers will have to compensate for defensive end Jason Smith’s injured triceps.
If the 49ers win, they’ll tie the Pittsburgh Steelers with six Super Bowl wins.
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Step 3: Fast Facts
To take your Super Bowl evening further, learn a few facts about the game to impress the guys. Some are even interesting – like knowing Beyonce will perform at halftime. I will not be missing that.
- Super Bowl XLVII is Sunday, Feb. 3, and will be broadcast on CBS at 6:30 p.m. from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
- This is the first Super Bowl held in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina
- The Mardi Gras calendar for parades will be changed to accommodate the event
- The Ravens dedicated this season to former owner/founder Art Modell who died Sept. 6
- This is the second year the game will be broadcast free online at CBSSports.com
- A 30-second advertisement is a record high $4,000,000
- Sandy Hook Elementary School chorus will sing “America the Beautiful” before the game
- For the first time in Super Bowl history, the opposing head coaches will be brothers, earning it the nickname of “Har-Bowl,” after the Harbaugh brothers
- Both coaches are risk-takers, but John’s strength is defense and Jim’s is offense
- Beyonce will perform during halftime
- Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be the announcers
- The Vince Lombardi trophy, 20.75 inches tall, will be awarded to the winning team
- The Super Bowl is the most-watched television program in U.S. TV history