game day Archives - Cupcakes and Cutlery

Artichoke Dip Sliders with King’s Hawaiian

March 31, 2014 by Sharon Garofalow 1 Comment

*This post is sponsored by King’s Hawaiian. All opinions and calories consumed are mine.
Artichoke Dip Sliders. So good. I mean, how can they not be? They are filled with a very popular cheesey dip. And they are served on Kings Hawaiian rolls. The only thing that could make these better is if they somehow had chocolate in them. On second thought, that would probably be kind of gross.

Chances are you have your own recipe for artichoke dip. I find this is one of those personal preference things. But they generally vary only slightly. Feel free to sub your fave recipe. Mine is far superior, but that’s ok, go ahead and still make yours…The dip can be made ahead of time. I love dishes like that for entertaining. Don’t you? The King’s Hawaiian rolls are already slider size and have the perfect sweetness to accompany this salty, tangy dip. I don’t want to get gross, but I’ve been known to eat these Hawaiian rolls, heated in the microwave, with butter, for meals. Nothing else, just the rolls. And I love every minute of it.

Make the dip. It wouldn’t hurt to make a double batch. With the leftover dip you can serve it with tortilla chips for those who don’t feel like eating a sandwich at the moment. Or you could just eat it for breakfast. The star of this show is the unmarinated artichoke hearts and the garlic. Oh and the cheese. These ingredients play really well together.

Once the dip is all bubbly and golden, you can start making the sliders. Simply toast the rolls (this will help them to not get soggy as quickly and provide a nice little crunch) then dollop some dip on top. It is as easy as making, well, a sandwich.

Are you salivating? You should be. These are delicious. Maybe I should start a new blog. It can be all about making dips in to sandwiches. I already eat onion dip on my hamburgers so I KNOW that would be good.

These sliders are perfect for game day entertaining but also great for BBQs, weeknight dinner, movie night, baby showers, bat mitzvahs, and Tuesdays.

I have out-of-town guests coming in this weekend. I should probably make some of this dip and have these rolls on hand to create a fast snack. Are you going to make these? You should!

Artichoke Dip Sliders with King’s Hawaiian

Ingredients

2 cans unmarinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
1 cup mayo
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 package King's Hawaiian rolls

Instructions

Combine the artichoke hearts, mayo, garlic, Parmesan and Swiss cheese in a 2 1/2 quart, oven-safe, baking dish.
Heat, uncovered for approximately 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
The dip should be bubbly and melted through.
Cut King's Hawaiian rolls in half with a serrated knife.
Place on a baking sheet, cut side up, and broil until golden brown and toasty (approximately 1 minute).
Spoon warm dip on one cut side of King's Hawaiian roll and top with the other half. Serve warm.
Serve any extra dip with tortilla chips. Or spoon it straight in to your mouth.

http://www.cupcakesandcutlery.com/artichoke-dip-sliders-with-kings-hawaiian/

*Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep Cupcakes and Cutlery running!

Filed Under: Food, Recipes Tagged With: appetizer, entertaining, game day, recipe, sliders

Beer Chocolate and Chile Ice Cream

January 29, 2014 by Sharon Garofalow 2 Comments

Yup, I made beer ice cream. Well, it totally had chocolate and chile in it too. And it was good. And it is another great recipe for game day. People seem to get excited about game day. But I get excited about ice cream.

Beer Chocolate and Chile Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 large pasilla negro chile, stemmed, seeded, deveined (I found this is the International Foods Aisle at my grocery store. It was not called exactly as it is written above, but look for key words…)
1 1/3 cups half-and-half
2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped in to small pieces (I could not find Mexican chocolate so instead I used a bittersweet chocolate and added a touch of cinnamon to the recipe)
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla, preferably Mexican
1/4 cup Bohemia beer

Instructions

In a small skillet heated over medium, toast the chile, pressing it flat against the skillet with a metal spatula until it is very aromatic—about 10 seconds per side. Place in a small saucepan and add the half-and-half, Mexican chocolate and the semi-sweet chocolate; heat over medium until steaming (but not boiling). Remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes, then pour into a blender jar and process until the chile is completely pureed.
Set up a 4-quart saucepan, filled halfway with water, into which you can nestle a 3-quart stainless steel bowl. Bring the pot of water to a boil over high heat while you’re preparing the custard base. Reduce the temperature under the pot of boiling water to maintain a gentle simmer.
In the 3-quart stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thoroughly combined, then whisk in the chile-infused chocolate mixture. Set the bowl of custard base over the simmering water and whisk frequently, scraping down the sides of the bowl regularly with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens noticeably, about 5 minutes. The custard is sufficiently cooked when it reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. (You can also test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the custard, then running your finger through the custard: if the line holds clearly, the custard has thickened sufficiently.) For the finest texture, strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean bowl.
Fill a large bowl halfway with ice. Nestle the bowl of strained custard in the ice bath. Whisk the mixture until it is completely cool. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
Stir the heavy cream, vanilla and Bohemia into the base. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s directions. Scrape into a freezer container and freeze for several hours to firm.
Recipe courtesy of Bohemia Beer

http://www.cupcakesandcutlery.com/beer-chocolate-and-chile-ice-cream/

Filed Under: Food, Holidays, Party Planning, Recipes, Sip it Tagged With: Beer, dessert, game day, ice cream, recipe

Beer Brownies with Stout Whipped Cream for Game Day

January 23, 2014 by Sharon Garofalow 1 Comment

I’m sure that most of you have never had beer in your brownies. And even more of you have probably never had beer in your whipped cream! Head over to Savvy Sassy Moms to see this man friendly, but lady approved game day dessert. Go team!

Filed Under: Food, Holidays, Recipes Tagged With: Beer, brownies, chocolate, dessert, game day

Whiskey Cocktails and Entertaining Men and Women

September 3, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 18 Comments

I have been wanting to do this post for a while now. Whiskey in teacups. It is the perfect mix of really feminine and totally masculine. And I kind of love it.

I originally put this table together as a part of a game day celebration. My family doesn’t really entertain for sports events. Our house is pretty small, and well, I don’t really like watching sports. So with that in mind, I decided to create a set up that would appeal, to both men and women. Rough woods are right at home with delicate china and delicate treats pair just fine with packaged snacks.

It’s not that men wouldn’t want to use a little china saucer for their food. I don’t want them to use the little china saucers for their food. The china that I used belonged to my husband’s grandmother and it is something that I take very good care of and would love to be able to share with my niece or son’s wives (remember I have two sons – I am not implying a sister-wife situation which is how that sentence kind of reads) some day. I would die if a china plate was used in a mimicked touchdown celebration. So a nice sturdy wood plate it is! And it just holds more snacks.

The perfect way to elevate salty snacks is to serve them in fine tableware. A man is not going to pass up on this peppered beef jerky just because it is in a pink floral footed bowl. Trust. The gals will drink their whiskey cocktails from mismatched tea cups. I know that some women love to watch sports but I don’t think they would hate cocktailing from a lovely little vessel. Ain’t no party like a cheese plate party.Delicate creme puffs set on a wood block will satisfy any sweet tooth. And OH MY GOSH I made itty bitty salted chocolate sandwiches! I’ll be sharing the VERY simple recipe on Friday! Delicious! The ladies could sit around and chit chat about clothes and tight ends with delightful plates of delicious food.

Who doesn’t love flowers? I made sure to keep it to mainly greens to not totally alienate the mens. There Funyuns were served to them in a pretty dainty way…The whiskey sour is a drink that my husband enjoys so I thought we could serve those to the men in a simple short glass. For the women, I changed up Mrs. Lilien’s Whiskey Smash recipe from her cookbook. You guys! It is SO good. Muddled peaches, lemon juice and a good bourbon.

I think this party would work really awesome for a shower involving both sexes, a guy’s birthday, an anniversary party or well, for anything.

While you might want to do a larger spread with more options I think you get a good sense of the feeling I was going for. And oh yeah, I ate all of those little chocolate sandwiches after I took all of these pictures. And I’d do it again. Don’t forget to check back on Friday for the recipe!

Filed Under: Party Inspiration Tagged With: china, entetaining, feminine, game day, masculine, teacups, whiskey

Preparing for Game Day

August 21, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 7 Comments

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tide through their partnership with Circle of Moms. While I was compensated to write a post about Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport, all opinions are my own.

We are still a few weeks out from school starting. So while we are relishing the last few weeks of lazy summer days and sleeping in we are also starting to look forward to all the things that fall has to offer. Like soccer!! My youngest son is finally old enough to play and he couldn’t be more excited.

Although he doesn’t have his uniform yet, he likes to put on my oldest son’s old uniform and practice.

He gets so excited over how high the socks go on his little legs. And of course he loves to wear his cleats.

He said it feels like he is wearing high heels when he has the cleats on because it makes him taller…

This is his mean soccer face.

I’m really hoping that he likes playing soccer more than his older brother did. My husband is a soccer lover and was nearly devastated when my older son said he didn’t want to play anymore.

I had no idea what to expect years ago when we had first signed up. Our games were on Saturdays and they started at different times. Sometimes as early as 8 am. Seriously, people. No one needs to play soccer that early. And for some reason, I was always scrambling before the games trying to track down all the pieces of his uniform. This time I am going to be far more organized. To prepare for game days, I will have his uniform set out, ready to go, the night before. I will know where both shoes are I will make sure that the shin guards, which he has been wearing on his arms all week as a robot, are accounted for.

I will make sure that the folding chair I borrowed from my parents for soccer games is in the car or, at least, by the door (this one is so cool, it has a pop up canopy on it to help keep my sensitive skin out of the sun). I will have our insulated bag packed with waters and snacks, ready to go, so I just need to add an ice pack in the morning.

I will have my insulated coffee mug on the counter by my Keurig. I will have the sunscreen out and ready to be used and taken with us for reapplication. And I will have my sunglasses with me even if it starts out totally overcast. It doesn’t always stay overcast. I learned that one the hard way.

And since my husband has signed up to coach, I will make sure his bag is ready to go as well. He is in charge of all the medical release forms for our team and other important gear so it is imperative that we have it all with us at each practice and game.

And once the game is over, I will immediately do a load of laundry with my son’s uniform and my husband’s coaching clothes. It is amazing how smelly little boys can be. And you know how funky your husband can end up. While he won’t be as sweaty as when he plays in his adult soccer league, he will most def be sweating with those kids. Being the mom to two active little guys and married to a sporty man, I’m excited that Tide has a new product, Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport, to help get soiled sports clothes clean and fresh. It is formulated to fight sports related stains like grass, clay and blood (I just dare some kid to make my son bleed. I don’t want to get all mama bear on them, but…). And the Febreze helps leave a fresh, clean scent. When the laundry is done, I’ll have the uniform set aside for next week’s game and I’ll feel all organized and on top of it. I’m sure that feeling will last all of five minutes before my household gets out of control again. What fall sport are you looking forward to? How will you prepare?

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tide through their partnership with Circle of Moms. While I was compensated to write a post about Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport, all opinions are my own.