It's A Super Sunday

Weather you are a Saints or Colts fan, it is a Super Sunday. I really don't have a dog in this fight, I will be fine with either team winning. The Saints are the southern team, plus they deserve the win after Katrina, but then the Colts have Payton Manning..........


Truthfully, the Super Bowl is really all about the food anyway, isn't it? This is the day we get to eat "junque" food" all day and justify it. Pretty sweet if you ask me.


A multitude of circumstances have come together this year that have Ronnie and I celebrating Super Bowl Sunday here at home, just the two of us. I wanted to have some people over but after this lovely winter we have experienced no one in there right mind wants to traverse our driveway, so I didn't even ask. We had a couple of invitations, but Ronnie has put in a lot of hours this week and I knew he wouldn't be up for much. So, we are having out own Super Bowl party.



This afternoon I made the Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake. I haven't cut it just yet, but it smells wonderful.

Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla
_____
FOR THE FROSTING:
½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
1-¾ stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally freak out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

The rest of our spread looked something like this:

Union Square Bar Nuts*
Guacamole and Pita Chips
Sticky Chicken Bites
Creamy Beef Dip with Veggie Crackers
Oprah's Favorite Pomegranate Martinis*

Union Square Bar Nuts

2 1/4 cups assorted unsalted nuts
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. course sea salt
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter -melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spread nuts on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until light golden brown, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt and melted butter.
Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm.

Oprah's Favorite Pomegranate Martinis

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
2 oz. Absolute Citron vodka
1 oz. Cointreau
Cup of ice
Splash of tonic water

Squeeze of lemon (optional)

Shake pomegranate juice, vodka and Cointreau in a shaker with ice, pour into chilled, sugar rimmed martini glasses. Top with a splash of tonic water and a lemon wedge.

Serves 2

So, until tomorrow.........

S~~~