Recipe for Success

What goes better together than football and food? I mean, what else is there to do while watching 200-300 pound men running up and down a field for a few hours than eat?

I think it's time to get a head start on prepping and fine-tuning your menu for the big game in January. We try to rush everything else in this country, why not get ready now for a few hours in February? The inauguration will be over so we'll need something else to obsess over.

So for the rest of the season (or as long as I feel like doing it, we'll see) when I make my picks I'm going to link to a recipe I've found to share. You can begin delighting your friends and family right away, and you'll have them perfected by the time the Super Bowl lands in Tampa Bay. Really, there's nothing worse than trying to bust out a new recipe under the pressure of cleaning the house and expecting hungry hoards to land on your doorstep. Practice now, reap the praise later.

Depending on how late I end up sleeping in on Sunday (Two notes: 1. I have no kids, I can sleep in as much as I want, and 2. I'm in CA so the games start a tad earlier here than for much of the country), I may or may not make the recipes myself that day but that will be the "goal." Ha!

This week's recipe, from the recently completed 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off, wasn't a winner in the contest but sounds pretty good to me: Breakfast Quiches to Go. I don't think they're particularly breakfast-y but are simple to make and would be a good game snack. Just call them something else so you don't have to endure any stupid "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" cracks. Like here I'll call them "Niner Nuggets" or something; Amy could call hers "Bengal Bundles" and Insta-mom (this past week's MVP!) could call hers "Chargers Cups" -- you get the point.

OK, so here are my picks. They look delicious in that lovely shrimp color, don't they?

NY Jets @ New England
Denver @ Atlanta
Detroit @ Carolina
Minnesota @ Tampa Bay
Baltimore @ NY Giants
Oakland @ Miami
New Orleans @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ Cincinnati
Chicago @ Green Bay
Houston @ Indianapolis
St. Louis @ San Francisco
Arizona @ Seattle
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
San Diego @ Pittsburgh
Dallas @ Washington

Monday Night Football
Cleveland @ Buffalo
Total score tiebreaker: 30

I'm going to assume that if you haven't joined the BFL by now, you're not going to do so. If I'm wrong, go see the Commish, follow her instructions and help us try to take the winner's badge away from her this week. Or if you're going to sit on the sidelines but want to see if I can trounce the competition for the fourth time, check out the nifty spreadsheet throughout the course of the games and see how I'm doing. Just don't get any crumbs from the Niner Nuggets in your keyboard while you do, okay? They're a bitch to get out of there.