game: super bowl xviii
escape: home alone with charles
menu: cocktails + snacks

Sixteen regular season + 3 play off games in the making and the big day had finally arrived; Super Bowl XVIII.  I woke up  to a morning with excitement in the air; not quite like Christmas morning, but comparable to waking up on your last day of school before summer vacation.  Like in school, you worked hard all year to get to this very day.  Mike was excited to watch the Football Sunday game of the year and I was excited for the 7 month football break; excitement all around!

This Sunday’s face on the couch was a 4-legged creature.  Maddy was in San Francisco and we puppy sat Charlie for the weekend.  He is by far the cutest of our couch guests.

All week, Mike was throwing around ideas for Super Bowl Sunday.  Along with his friends, they had planned to get together for some drinks + good food + loud company.  As he planned, I mentally prepped.  It was business as usual until Mike found out that one of his colleagues had booked their work holiday party on the same night as the Super Bowl.  Naturally, he was annoyed + outraged.  It took a couple days, but Mike eventually came to terms with the double booking.

Their dinner was to end at 6 and since the venue was so close to our home he planned to PVR the start of the game and then hurry over to watch it in its entirety.  He also mentioned that I should be prepared to possibly have 15 others come over to watch it along with him.  Thank goodness neither happened.  After their dinner, they all went elsewhere to watch the game and I spent the evening alone with Charlie.

Though I had free reign over the Sunday prime time TV, it felt wrong to not be watching the game.  As the PVR worked its magic, I watched Gossip Girl on NetFlix until a substantial amount of the game was recorded.  Having the power to fast forward makes some shows more bearable.  Gossip Girl continued to play on the large living room TV as the Super Bowl played on the TV in the kitchen.

The game had my undivided 1/2 attention up until the end of the half time show.  It started action packed right from the coin toss[es].  Hall of Fame Quarter Back Joe Namath almost stole the show from Bruno in his super chic mid length hooded fur coat as he tossed the coin….twice.   The first 2 minutes of the game appeared to foreshadow the outcome for the Broncos.  I thought I was seeing things when the first play went down.  By half time, I was ready for Bruno.  He’s no Beyonce but he delivered.

In true Super Bowl spirit, I decided to mix myself some cocktails and put together some snacks.  It may not have been your traditional football fare but I’ve never been one for tradition…or football.

I love a good caesar and decided to go all out for Super Bowl Sunday.   In addition to Clamato, Tabasco, worcestershire sauce, lime, and celery salt I did the following:

extra: muddled cucumbers with lime before adding the rest of the liquids
garnish: poached lobster tail lightly sautéed in smoked butter + blue cheese stuffed olives + sun-dried tomatoes

Since being exposed to the elderflower flavour I have been obsessed with it.  On every trip to the liquor store I would check the liqueur section by chance to see the beautifully bevelled St. Germain [an elderflower flavoured liqueur] bottle stocked on a shelf.  One day, around Christmas, there it was.  I added it to the top of my Christmas list and it was under the tree Christmas morning.

For my football snack, I shucked some oysters and whipped together a bruschetta.
Simple + Delicious + Satisfying

bruschetta [no specifics as it was just tossed together]
-shallot + garlic sautéed in olive oil until translucent
-add about 1/2 a cup of balsamic vinegar and let reduce to 1/2 the amount on low heat
-cut fresh tomatoes + kale and toss in the balsamic sauce
-spoon onto oven toasted sliced baguette and top with grated park.

-that’s all she ate wrote

Joe Namath | esquire.com 
Burno Mars | billboard.com | Kevin Mazur
Football Pic | ctvnews.ca