Monday, February 3, 2014

How to Survive The Broncos Being Crushed by the Seahawks, graciously...

I'm very disappointed in the outcome of Superbowl XLVXIII. I'm a long-time Bronco fan -I switched from my Washington Redskins (growing up in that area) not long after moving to the Denver in 1983. (When they crushed The Broncos 42-10 in Superbowl XVIII I knew they needed more fans.)

The first step to survival is to be a gracious loser. I've already responded to Seattle fans I'm close to with a congratulations. I am not blaming anyone in particular on my team for the loss. I am not blaming the referees. I'm not really blaming anyone. It's football. One team is better than the other and they win the Superbowl. Congrats Seattle fans, your team played well and deserve the win. Your defense truly is amazing, and that guy (#11?) with the Despicable Me skinny legs can run really fast.

Another way to survive a loss this bad is to endure it with friends. We were all crushed, but we were together, and the food was fabulous. In fact, to console myself I'll be sharing a recipe at the end, a la my good friend (and minion!) Jo, of Jo Food, My Travels, and a Scent ofChocolate.

When you're with friends, you can be yourself. You can yell and scream and swear (sorry Mom and Dad, but it really helps me in the dealing with the loss part...) You can communicate with just a look. You can stuff yourself silly with good food and libations.

We had it all: two kinds of gourmet chips, fresh salsa, veggie tray with interesting veggies instead of the boring normal. We had Snow White tomatoes, the ones we call “poppers”! We had 7 layer dip – one of my all-time favorite dips and such a treat. Our hostess, who is a wonderful cook and gardener made an amazing pork stew.

I contributed Baked Potato Bites, the recipe Jo had shared.

Contributed by Patricia, serves 12
Comforting and filling for game day, yet elegant enough for the dressiest dinner party.

Ingredients
2 ½ pounds baby red potatoes, cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
4 small green onions, trimmed, sliced thin
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

  1. Toss potatoes in oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Place a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
  2. Cook bacon to desired crispness; chop into small pieces. Set aside.
  3. Blend sour cream, mayonnaise, half of the green onions, shallot, parsley, bacon, and cheese in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Place roasted potato halves on a large platter. Top each potato half with with a large dollop of the sour cream mixture. Sprinkle each with chopped bacon and sliced green onion.
  5. Leave remainder of sour cream mixture in a small bowl for extra toppings.

Here's the picture Jo included.




Here's how mine looked. 





 I decided to let each person top their own. I saved a little of the bacon (because I cooked a whole pound, not just 6 slices.) The huge bowl of cheese is OYT's “one cup” of shredded cheese. We served what we didn't use in the mixture...

As to serving size, there were four of us. 3 potatoes were left.

Thanks, Jo, for the recipe.  I think I'll have those three left-over ones for breakfast...just got the newspaper.  Sigh.

~Tina

25 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yeah, that was an epic take down. Sorry about the Broncos. At least you had good food. Jo has some great recipes.
And you can console yourself with an A to Z Blog appearance today!

Anonymous said...

Aw, sorry about those Broncos! At least you had good food and good friends to share it with. Wish I had your recipe last night, the Mrs. and I had store-bought potato skins from a box :/

The last time I had a SB party was when my Packers lost to Denver. All my friends were rooting for the Broncos because John Elway hadn't won yet and GB had won the yr before. Not fun to be against the crowd. I was so frustrated I went upstairs alone to watch the heartbreak. So I'm glad you were surrounded by fellow fans. Misery loves company and all.


Gonna go read your interview on Alex's page now. :)

Brian Miller said...

one of the best parts of the super bowl is the food...ha....we made rotel and cheese and lettuce wraps....and cut the game off in the 3rd Q...and watched something else...lol....

shelly said...

You know how I survived? I closed the door to my writing room and wrote. That's what I did.

Hugs and chocolate!

shelly said...

You know how I survived? I closed the door to my writing room and wrote. That's what I did.

Hugs and chocolate!

A Beer for the Shower said...

Ooh, those look amazing. Maybe if I'd had some of those in my system yesterday would have been more tolerable.

...Nah.

Hart Johnson said...

Seahawks fan here, but I don't hate the Broncos (certainly not like I hate the 49ers--or any California team, really)... I liked winning, but it could have been a more interesting game... I've been trying for years to encourage them to release livestock onto the field--wouldn't it rock to just add that random element? Cattle around which plays needed to be made. I am twisted that way, though.

Kate @ Another Clean Slate said...

Those baked potato bites sound absolutely amazing!!

Anonymous said...

i live in Philly, home to the worst behaved fans on the planet. They are sore winners and sore losers. Good thing i don't follow sports at all.

yummy food.

Unknown said...

Manning did his best impersonation of 80's Elway.
The potatoes sound delish.

Anonymous said...

Also I did not realize that you're from Sweden! I've always been fascinated by all things Swedish. Still brainstorming my A to Z topics (and if I theme it will be a very loose one about 'my favorites') but I did have an idea to write about a Swedish rock band that led me to expand my interest and knowledge in Swedish culture. I think I'll have to include that story now ;)

Jeremy [Retro] said...

my thought they didn't lose, it just wasn't their night... they made it there and that is cool enough.

JoJo said...

Sorry about the uneven loss....I was expecting a much closer game and yay Seahawks! I was by myself so no vast quantities of good foods. I did make potato skins which were good.

Cathrina Constantine said...

Too bad the Superbowl was a blow-out. But we can always depend on tons of good food!

Jo said...

Sorry about the Broncos Tina, but glad I could contribute to your eats. Food is always a comfort. Maybe next time.

Andrew Leon said...

I wish I cared who won or lost... okay, no, that's a lie; I don't care that I don't care.

Rusty Carl said...

I was disappointed in the poor showing. I have a theory that the Broncos thought the game was tonight and were surprised when they showed up for a walk-through and he stadium was filled and everyone expected them to play.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Sorry your team didn't win, Tina.

BUT it sounds like you had a fantastic party. Those potatoes look amazing. Can't remember the last time I had them...

No starchy vegetables for this boy. LOL. Forever watching what I eat. It's a curse. But I do appreciate delicious looking food and BAKED GOODS. lol.

Crystal Collier said...

What? There was a football game on? ;) I guess next time you'll have to bribe the football gods with your epic spread, eh? Here's to good times with good friends!

Claudia said...

smiles...football still a game with seven seals for me...over here in germany not many people were watching the super bowl...though i would enjoy the food...smiles

loverofwords said...

After that first play, I knew it wasn't going to be good. I texted my sons, so it was a distraction just writing on my new IPhone. And we talked about food and trashed some of the commercials. Such a disappointment, mostly for the players themselves. Did you read the Denver Post the days before the game? Perhaps too much hype?

Anonymous said...

For the first time in his life, my brother was speechless about his Broncos. It was actually a little unnerving seeing how he has the biggest mouth in the world. Well, aside from me.

CA Heaven said...

Sorry about the Broncos.

We lived in Denver in 1998/99 when Broncos won two back to back SuperBowls, and John Elway was the king of the game, and I did become a Broncos fan, of course. I hoped that this year they would be back.

But, you know, sports events belong to the moment. I doesn't take long before life is good again >:)

Cold As Heaven

Shannon Lawrence said...

I actually lost very graciously until I signed into Facebook and saw some graceless winners. :x That said, I was at a great party, full of writers, so what could be better!? Writers are inventive about yelling at the screen. Also, there were multiple rooms with the game on, and we discovered the theater room below us (where the serious-serious fans stay for the game) had about a 5 or so second delay. We messed with them until they figured out what was going on. Good times. Funny, and I'm sure you can guess, but I was a Redskins fan when I lived in Maryland, too. I think we've probably already had this conversation, LOL!

Silvia Writes said...

I didn't have a dog in the race, but was pulling for the Broncos (for Manning). Too bad. Food looks and sounds great, though. Glad you found a way.