As football season comes to an end, I am determined not to be depressed. I’m totally over the fact that the Eagles had a less-than stellar (i.e. shitty)  season and I’m still proud that I made it to the championship game in my first year in a fantasy league. To quell the inevitable sadness that comes directly after the Superbowl, I’m focusing all my attention on food. What’s that about being an emotional eater?

I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but I especially like cooking for other people and playing hostess. If you’re anything like me, you may be attempting to plan the perfect Superbowl party. While I can’t control the inevitable nausea you will feel if the Patriots win, I can offer a few scrumptious recipes.

The first snack is a yummy buffalo chicken dip (on the left below). You will need: 1 package of cream cheese (set it out to soften), 1 8oz bottle of ranch dressing, 1/4 cup of hot sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot), and 1 large chicken breast.

Thaw the chicken, place it in a pot of water, bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot and let sit for an hour. After an hour, cut up the chicken and shred it. (I use my hands; the chicken will be very tender, making it easy to shred.)

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with a mixer. Stir in the ranch dressing, then the hot sauce, then fold in the chicken. Pour into a baking dish (I spray it with a light coat of Pam first) and cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The dip should be bubbling when you take it out. Serve with tortilla chips.

The second is one of the easiest masterpieces you will ever make – seriously, even if you can’t break an egg, you can make this. (And good news: no eggs involved). It’s a white pizza dip (on the right above) and only requires five ingredients:

1 cup of sour cream; 1 cup of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup of chopped pepperoni, and 1 packet of Lipton’s herb and garlic dip seasoning.

Combine the sour cream and herb and garlic packet. Stir in the ricotta cheese (it helps if you take it out ahead of time to soften). Gently fold in the mozzarella and pepperoni. Pour the mixture into a glass dish (spray with a light coat of Pam first) such as the one shown above. Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The dip should be bubbling when you take it out. Serve with cubes of fresh french bread.

This final snack is actually the easiest. No matter how many times I make them for an event, I never get sick of them. To make pigs-in-a-blanket you only need a package of cocktail hot-dogs (I use Nathan’s), a package of Pillsbury crescent rolls, and condiments of your choice.

Roll out a few of the crescent rolls at a time and press the seams of each together so it’s one big piece of dough. Knead out the dough slightly with your hands, just to stretch it out. Cut the dough into 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide strips. Place a mini hot dog at one end of the strip and roll up. It’s up to you how much dough you want for each hot dog, but I only use enough to circle it twice. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the dough turns a light golden brown. I serve them with spicy brown mustard, honey mustard, and ketchup.

If it has to do with football, I serve beer. I’m a big fan of seasonal beers, so I’d go with Sam Adam’s Winter Lager. Enjoy…Go Giants. (Pshh I’m not a fan, but I figure I don’t have a better choice, right?)

food, sports, tv | No Comments »

 It’s that time of the year again! Winter Restaurant Week 2008: a variety of the best restaurants in the city give me (and the rest of the people who are actually on a budget) an opportunity to indulge in delictable dishes for a very reasonable price.

A three course prix-fixe lunch experience is only $24.07 and dinner will run you a measly $35.00. (Drinks, gratuities and taxes are not included). As an added bonus, if you use your American Express card, Amex will donate $.50 per transaction to City Harvest.

Winter Restaurant Week takes place over a 10 day period – January 21st – 25th and January 28 – February 1st, and over 200 NYC restaurants participate. With that much selection, it’s impossible not to find a menu you like. Check out http://www.nycvisit.com/restaurantweek; it will provide you with a complete list of restaurants, types of cuisine, menus, and the ability to book a reservation.

Mmm. I’ll let you know later what restaurant I choose.

food | No Comments »

Shecky’s Girls Night Out – the ultimate excuse to grab your girls and head out for an evening of shopping and drinking. When you combine free cocktails and the latest trends in fashion, how could it turn out badly? (Ok, technically if you partake in the free cocktails to an extreme it may not end well. I might let you know about my train ride home after the last event I attended later in the post.)

Shecky’s Girls Night Out takes place in cities across America and focus on up-and-coming fashion trends, beauty products and jewelry. Up to 100 vendors have small booths to display their merchandise (up to 75% off!). It can be frustrating at times because if there’s more than four people in front of a booth, you have little chance to browse. The good news is the alcohol sponsors have large bar spaces to mix and provide their cocktails, making it ridiculously easy to always have a glass in your hand. And if you can’t be bothered to get your own drink, male models walk around with trays to provide you with a tasty cocktail and some yummy eye candy.

Vendor prices vary all over the board – items can be purchased for $20 to hundreds of dollars. Come prepared with different forms of payment. Speaking of prices, tickets to the event are cheap! $10 gets you inside and includes all the alcohol you can drink plus free products and giveaways; $30 gets the above + a goodie bag. They claim the bag contains “loads of goodies” (when it’s called a goodie bag, you’d assume that), but every time I’ve attended I’ve been very disappointed with its contents. A bottle of Lubriderm lotion, some hair elastics, and a giant pair of underwear were the highlights of the last bag from NYC.

My last gripe is that food is not offered to soak up all the alcohol you down. The last event had a chocolate fountain with pretzel sticks, but the line was a mile long and they only gave you two pretzels! I’m assuming offering any other food would drive tickets prices up. Bottom line when it comes to eating: don’t do what I did and go right from work without eating anything…and then really enjoy the open bar. You will regret it.

SGNO will be in NYC at the Puck building from March 3rd through the 7th from 5 pm to 10 pm.  For other cities’ dates and times, check out the Girl’s Night Out website. You can also see a list of the attending vendors and browse their websites/products, as well as buy tickets directly from the site. If you’re into even better deals and finding other events to attend in your city, sign up at www.goldstar.com. Being a member (for free) entitles you to browse events, read reviews, and purchase tickets directly from them (for special prices!). Goldstar.com is offering the $30 SGNO tickets for $15!! Hurry and snap them up – these events always sell out.

Oh, and as far as the last event I attended, let’s just say I was in rare form on the subway home…and thought it would be a good idea to hold a contest for the giant pair of underwear from my goodie bag. Some woman out there has a big blue pair of underwear thanks to me.

fashion, favorite things | No Comments »