Eat! Super Bowl Treats Day 2: The Snack Bowl Stadium

Build it….and they will come.

This snack-bowl stadium spread from holytaco.com  is sure to get the crowd going with its limitless possibilities for variation.

There are several things included in the Snack-Bowl Stadium above that would disagree with my palate. It’s not my thing to just eat strips of bacon, and vienna sausages is equivalent to talking badly about my mama.  So for me, there are definitely some substitutions that need to be made.

However,  in any case the key to this is to, make it your own!

Have a more snooty crowd, swap the guacamole for a crab or artichoke dip with dill sprinkled on top for the grass. Don’t like twinkles, use ding dongs, or hostess cupcakes instead… and so forth and so on. Basically whatever you construct your Snack-Bowl with,  is sure to make the snack gods proud!

Without further adieu….. I present to you……

The Snack Bowl Stadium

Ingredients:

The Field:

1 Pound of Guacamole

15 Oz. Queso Dip For The Steelers End Zone

15 Oz. Salsa For The Cardinals End Zone

2 Oz. Sour Cream for the Field Lines

The Players:

15 Vienna Sausages / Snack Size Summer Sausages

Helmets – 3 Oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

The Goal Posts:

1 Slim Jim for Each Goal Post

1 Oz. Monterey Jack Cheddar To Anchor (each)

The Stands:

58 Twinkies

1 Pound of Bacon

1 Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos

1 Bag of Cheetos

1 Bag of Corn Tortilla Chips

1 Bag of Chex Mix

Calories: Really? do you will want to know…

Cost: If you use the exact components as this one, around $70

The feeling of being the snack guru amongst your compadres…….Priceless

 The Field:

Take one pound of guacamole and smear it on the center of a baking tray, leaving a section on either end for the end zones.

 Yard Lines

Take sour cream and put it into a turkey baster, then squeeze gently to make the yard lines across the field.

The Stadium

The twinkie is nature’s brick.  You can make your stadium as large as you want, depending on how many twinkies you have at your disposal.  We had 58.  And probably could have used 90.  Use tooth picks to secure the twinkies to one another.  This outer stadium wall will provide a delicious dessert when the contents of the stadium have been eaten.

 The Bacon Wall

The bacon wall is the most important part of the stadium, because it keeps the throngs of screaming fans, in this case chips, from falling on the field, in this case the guacamole and salsa.  Insert tooth picks into the first row of twinkies, and then weave the bacon in and out of them, so that it forms a pliable wall.

 The Fans/Chips

Without the fans, there would be no game.  It’s no different in your snack stadium, so select four different kinds of snacks to fill the stands.  Be sure to use pieces of bacon to separate your crowd into sections, as you can see in the corners of the stadium in this photo.

Now bask in the glory……. bask in the glory……..

Holla,

Ronique Nicole

EAT! 5 Days of Kick Ass Super Bowl Appetizer Recipes, Holla!

Whether you’re in it for the sport, for the half-time show, the commercials, or the food and aah.ah.ah. alcohol, Super Bowl Sunday embodies something, for every American to enjoy.

Super Bowl Sunday also is the first time in the new year when your resolution to lead a more healthy lifestyle will be challenged as you are surrounded by chips, dip, and  cheesy ery-thang. It’s in your best interest to count February 5th as a rest/free day on your diet calendar.

Let the menu planning begin!

This week Food & The City will deliver appetizer recipes every day! We’ve searched high and low for the most interesting, and delicious appetizer recipes that are sure to enhance all of your grunting, high-fiving, and chest bumping Super Bowl Sunday action!

This first recipe is the epitome of chessy-salty as it marries two snack classics, pretzels and cheese, then they play in God’s gift to cooking,  vegetable oil…. I present to you…

Pretzel Crusted Fried Cheese With Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan or asiago cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 teaspoons Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose flour
• 8 ounces thin pretzel sticks
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 5 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

• vegetable oil, for frying
• SAUCE:
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Then Do This:

Pulse the mozzarella, Parmesan and cheddar cheeses and 2 teaspoons flour in a food processor until smooth. Roll tablespoons of the cheese mixture into 12 smooth balls. Transfer to a plate and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.Wipe out the food processor and add pretzels, pulsing until mostly finely ground (a few chunks are OK). Transfer to a shallow dish and set aside. Mix the remaining flour with ground pepper in another shallow dish and set aside. Whisk together eggs and mustard in a third dish and set aside.

Remove cheese balls from freezer and dip one at a time into the egg mixture, then in the flour, then in egg mixture again, then roll in ground pretzels until fully coated. Repeat with all cheese balls and transfer to a plate. Refrigerate 20 minutes to set.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 inch vegetable oil in a large, sturdy saucepan or skillet until a deep-fry thermometer reads 360 degrees F. Place a cooling rack in a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

Using a slotted spoon, lower cheese balls, about 3-4 at a time, into the hot oil and fry until golden, about 30 to 45 seconds. Remove from oil with slotted spoon and place on cooling rack. Repeat with remaining cheese balls and place cooling rack with baking sheet in oven, baking cheese balls for about 5 minutes.

To make the sauce:

Whisk together sour cream, brown mustard, horseradish and sugar. Serve immediately with warm fried cheese bites.

-More details about this recipe can be found on tablespoon.com

Holla,

Ronique Nicole

LIVE! There Is No Title To Describe This Hott Mess Right Huurr

Most days I am very happy to live in a time where creatively, whatever you want to put out to the world, is simply a  Mac Book Pro purchase away.

Just like firearms,  I feel that there should be some laws to prevent some folks from obtaining film equipment in the hope that someday the world could be rid of hot hood messes displayed in the video below……but then again if the world were rid of things like this, I would have less to write about..

The below music video is of a song called “It’s Free Swipe Yo’ EBT”.

No, there is nothing wrong with your screen, and you don’t have to clean your glasses, you have read correctly.

There is only room for one successful song about welfare in history, and that ship has past.  “First of The Month” by Bone Thugs & Harmony  hit #14 on Billboards hot 100 in 1996, and was nominated for a Grammy. (The Grammy Award Committee  likes hood songs.  3 6 Mafia also won an award for  their simply poetic single “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp”  from the Hustle & Flow Soundtrack.)

Well without further adieu I present to you………. A video,  that if you don’t have a degree, it will make you enroll in college today, or at minimum pick up a book.

Holla!

Ronique Nicole

 

LIVE: IT’S COMING! 5.12.12

Love: A Not So Good Valentines Day Gift

Today I heard a radio commercial from Beverly Hills Physicians, a cosmetic surgery practice. The commercial suggested that it would be a grand romantic gesture if  you give a gift certificate from their practice to your sweetheart this coming Valentines Day. Pause! I couldn’t believe the pitch I had just heard.

While I have nothing against one getting surgery for self image improvement purposes, I really don’t think I would receive a gift certificate to a plastic surgeon on Valentines Day from a lover so well.   My thought is, when and how do you deliver such a gift, and what do you say?  “Honey, I got you that Kardashian ass you have unsuccessfully been squatting towards” or ” John, here’s a gift that will help you ditch that prego look.”

How do you bestow a gift like this to a lover? Do you deliver the certificate over a romantic dinner, tape the certificate to a Teddy Bear with some roses, attach it to an Edible Arrangement, or you can blind fold your boyfriend or girlfriend and take em straight to the surgery center.

My point is,  there is nothing romantic about this particular gift. If you were a man giving this gift to a woman, it’s almost guaranteed that your plans for  hot, slutty, Valentines Day sex will be deferred.  She may even take it, get the surgery, then defer to having sex with someone else.  Now a week after valentines day would be probably be a better time for this gift that keeps on giving.

It is sad that this commercial may be the demise to some poor clueless persons relationship or marriage, because they actually were convinced ,that the gift of plastic surgery, would melt the heart of their mate on Valentines Day.

Don’t Do It!

Holla,

Ronique Nicole

Ebony Goes Behind The Scenes of Red Tails for February Cover Shoot!

If  you haven’t checked out Red Tails this weekend, you missed out on a great film. Lucky for you the movie is still in theatres so stop dragging your flip flops and go check it out!

I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to seeing another Tuskegee airman movie, being someone who is well versed in American, and African American history, I  couldn’t foresee that I would be entertained by “another” Tuskegee Airman movie.

For the second time in my life I was wrong….(wink)…

I went to see the movie on Friday; I cheered, I laughed, I secretly shed some tears ( there were some touching moments ya’ll!), and yes, I was oberly entertained. The vivid action of World War II,  and the story of the Tuskegee Airmen was brought to life in a signature George Lucas way. The cinematography was amazing, the characters were awesome, and in summary the movie was frickin’ sweeet!

You can catch the fellas of the Red Tails film on the February cover of Ebony Magazine. Check out this video of the making of that cover.

Holla,

Ronique Nicole

Celebrity Deaths Come In 3’s: Where Did That Come From?

Blues and Soul singing legend, Etta Jameslost her battle with Leukemia on Friday, and today, college football coach great, Joe Paterno dies at 85. Now pop culture obsessives are asking the question, who will complete the Trinity?

How does a “Death Comes in 3’s” superstition come about? Well humans, by nature are pattern seeking beings, we like to connect-the-dots so to speak.

We’re the species that can spot Jesus’ face in a pancake. We are the animals that refuse to accept the demise of Elvis, 2Pac, and Biggie Smalls (I know, Elvis lives in a secret room at his Graceland property, and 2Pac and Biggie are besties living in the Bermuda Triangle with Amelia Earhart) . When seeking to make “sense” of our in-coincidental universe, three has a certain magic to it. Sonically beats of 3 are more pleasing to us, ecetera and so on. The myth or idea (you be the judge) that death comes in threes has been around way before celebrity, but when high profile people die within a close span of time, it leans this Myth more towards being true.

Is it more than coincidence that  Johnny Cash, Warren Zevon, and John Ritter all died in the same week in 2003? What about Ed McMahon’s death in 2009 and then just two days later on June 25th, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett. Is there more to it, or just us puzzle seeking humans doing what we do best, pointing out patterns?

Holla,

Ronique Nicole

WhatChu Think? Do you consider yourself a superstitious person?  What is one of the most crazy superstitions you have heard of?