Super Bowl XLIII . . . It's all about the food, right?

Three families gathered at the Simply Country farmhouse for the 43rd annual Super Bowl game with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Arizona Cardinals. Of course I was cheering for Pittsburgh since that's the town my dad grew up in, but it seemed most of the crowd around me was for Arizona.

All of my life the Super Bowl meant great food, an awesome halftime show, and hilariously creative commercials! The game is the reason we gather . . . but what's a football game without good food?

Ken was in charge of making Baked Beans (following my dad's famous recipe) and Teriyaki Chicken Wings. My job was to make a hot Creamy Artichoke/Crab Dip (a recipe given to me by my friend Mary Lane), and Chile Con Queso, Revved Up from Pioneer Woman, one of my favorite bloggers. Jennifer made a Buffalo Chicken Dip served with cool crispy celery (from a recipe PD heard on the radio which I'm betting is similar to this one), her delicious Bacon-Wrapped-Water Chestnuts, and some mighty tasty stuffed pizzas served after the game. KL made a fresh bowl of delicious Guacamole (of which I failed to photograph, sorry KL). The invited guests brought sodas for the kids, a nice vegetable tray, and a yummy ice-cream cake for dessert. Needless to say, even though I may be biased, all the food was delicious, and not one person went home hungry.

And the game . . . well, the Pittsburgh Steelers won 27-23 and it was a great game with lots of action all four quarters. We had a small pool going with Ken sharing the pot with one other, each winning $5. A very fun day with lots of food, fellowship, and fun!

Clockwise from the top left: Teriyaki Chicken Wings, Artichoke Crab Dip, Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts, Queso Revved Up, the healthy part of the spread: veggies, Baked Beans, Hot Buffalo Wing Chicken Dip!

Ken was up early this morning baking his beans and making the Teriyaki Chicken Wings.

Toward the start of the third quarter Jen and I made a couple of "Stuffed Pizzas" . . . actually it's pizza dough stuffed in the center and braided on top . . . watch:

Jen stuffed hers with Italian sausage, onions, and bell peppers and mozarella cheese . . . and mine was stuffed with baked chicken, pesto, pine nuts, and mozarella cheese.

One more layer of the chicken pesto stuffing and then I'll criss-cross the dough over the top before baking.

Jen's mighty proud of her Italian Sausage/Pepper/Onion Stuffed Pizza.

I went for the Chicken Pesto one, and it was mighty tasty. The guys really liked the Italian Sausage one . . . not much leftover either!

During one of the commercials for an upcoming movie, we all donned 3-D glasses to watch . . . fun!

We all got a big kick out of the 3-D glasses!

A great game . . . a great day!

Life is good!