Getting in the game

I had never intended to host a Super Bowl party but there we were Sunday afternoon - Mark was cleaning the house and I was cooking up a storm.

 

There were Johnsonville Pork and Chicken Brats (free through a Bzz Agent campaign); sauteed peppers and onions; twice-baked potatoes, two kinds - traditional and a Hawaiian sweet potato version inspired by a Clean Eating recipe; random chicken egg rolls that I had in the freezer; Kim & Scott Cheese Pretzels; and the spice cake.

Wait. Maybe I should have listed spice cake first. After all, it was the reason for the party, which I guess I should clarify as a mere get-together with my in-laws.

My mother-in-law had a birthday last week and when Mark asked her what she wanted, as a gift, she said a spice cake with caramel icing ... made by me.

I wasn't feeling the work of a layer cake thing so I decided to make the Coffee Spice Cake from "All Cakes Considered." It was easy enough, I had all of the ingredients on hand and the "icing" was a dusting of powdered sugar. I opted for no dusting. We'll call it a calorie savings effort rather than a "I want to play more Words With Friends" effort.

I did feel a bit guilty about not giving my mother-in-law the one thing she wanted so I did give her something she needed - a care package. She has a high-ranking position at a university that keeps her busy and one of the first things to get neglected is her eating. She has often told me that her lunch is a bag of popcorn or yogurt. As I was making my lunches for the week, I opted to take it up a notch and make enough to share with her. I made Greek Lentil Soup, Chickpea Soup and a Spinach Vegetable Soup - giving her four servings of each; baked banana steel cut oats; and Chocolate Zucchini Muffins from the Happy Herbivore Cookbook.

I felt a bit lame handing her a bag of food in generic plastic containers but she loved it, especially as it's not something she wouldn't do for herself. Or maybe she was just smiling because Miles was eating ice cream with a spoon and a fork. As both are required. Obviously.

As for the game, my in-laws stayed for 15 minutes of it before going home and Mark and I made it to the half-time show. Pretty good for non-football fans.

How was your Game Day?