Lord & Hodge 1073A-0 Grommet KitsThis is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of RO*TEL & VELVEETA for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine. #QuesoForAll
My husband just started following football two years ago when the Seahawks finally made their way to the top after 30-years. As someone who’s always prided herself on not being a “football widow,” I was having to come to grips with either becoming interested for his sake or losing him to the television a few hours each week. It was obvious from the first game we shared that I wasn’t cut out for football. But when a big game like this weekend’s Super Bowl comes up I’m happy to supply food and beverages to make his game better. I may not like football, but I love the tailgating and food that comes with it.
Create Your Own Easy Souper Bowl Party
For this year’s match-up between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, I decided to do a head-to-head with food. Since both Washington and New England have a lot in common – we’re both known for our seafood – I decided to play on the words Super Bowl and make it our Souper Bowl party. I choose soups, desserts, and drinks to represent both areas, but first I filled in the end-zone with foods both teams would agree on. The centerpiece was the famous RO*TEL Queso Dip with two varieties of chips, something I knew everyone would enjoy, plus veggie dogs in bakery buns and condiments.
RO*TEL Queso Dip wins for the easiest recipe ever – it’s foolproof. It takes about 5 minutes to make and requires just two ingredients – RO*TEL tomatoes and VELVEETA. I served the queso in a cast iron caldron to keep it warm and to keep it fresh I served half the recipe with the other half staying warm on the stove ready to refresh the table. Everyone loves creamy cheese dip, so it’s a definite win for the end zone.
For the head-to-head, I separated the table with the left side representing the Patriots and the right the Seahawks. On the New England Patriot’s side, I chose a lobster bisque, maple oatmeal cookies with raisins and flax seed, and Boston beer.
For the Seahawks side I went with salmon chowder, caramelized apple cheesecake with oatmeal pecan pie crust, and white wine.
I didn’t make either of the soups because this vegetarian was not going to toss a live lobster into a pot. Heck, even my meat-loving hunter said that task was beyond him too, so I purchased the soups from a famous Seattle seafood restaurant which left me more time to make desserts and create the DIY décor.
Souper Bowl – Easy DIY Decor
Creating the tablescape was as easy. I painted large paper mache letters – “S” and “B” – with my favorite Sailor Blue Vintage Decor Chalk Paint and then antiqued them with Vintage Decor antiquing wax and highlighted the edges with Vintage Decor Chalk Paint in linen. Above it I hung an extra-large wooden pennant banner with cutouts printed on matte cardstock with my color printer.
Next I lay down a crisp white tablecloth and then covered that with some black and white striped placemats I found on my last shopping trip to designate the end zone. Then since both teams have blue in their logo, I used over-sized blue napkins to cover the boxes I used as risers to create different heights to make the table more interesting. To serve the RO-TEL Queso Dip, I used a dark brown napkin and added eight grommets and laced it with a white shoelace to hint at a football. I filled a tin with yellow napkins (penalty flags) and spoons and then using my electronic cutter and some red vinyl, labeled the soup tasting bowls. Finally, I added a little white crinkle paper for a festive look and glasses for the wine (which may have been sampled during the décor process).
Putting together the party for my husband was a lot of fun and while I’m still never going to be a football fan, I am a fan of hanging out with my husband while he watches the game and enjoys his food and beverages – it’s hilarious to see him react to the plays, yell at the TV, and wolf down the snacks – and for me that makes the day.
What are you planning on Super Bowl Sunday? Is RO*TEL Queso on your party menu? Find out more at Queso For All and then follow the Ro*Tel Facebook and Velveeta Facebook pages.
Go Hawks! 🙂
The thing I love about Super Bowl ideas like this is that you can use them at pretty much any get together. I love all of these!
Wow, everything looks so yummy! That queso looks especially delicious!
Love this! It looks like a really easy spread but also fun and festive.
Your table spread looks amazing! I was just thinking we needed to start a bloggers road trippers club so we can travel and try out each others eats!
This is uber adorable!! I love the lobster bisque bowls!!
I love queso. I haven’t been able to make one I loved but I’ll have to try rotel
hat queso dip looks amazing! Great for any occasion!
I totally want to come to your Super Bowl party! What a delicious display of food!
All the plans we had are cancelled. We cancelled a blog trip because an extended family member went to ICU for a heart attack (happy to report he’s conscious today… woot!) and we cancelled tomorrow at a friend’s because of a winter weather advisory. I picked up stuff for homemade pizza at the store today, that’s what we’ll be having for the game. It’s just the four of us (two kids and us) so no need to go all out. Gonna miss those treats though!! Def. going to miss queso!
So sorry about you family member and hope for some healing. Enjoy the game – I’ll be at my in-laws hanging out in the kitchen enjoying my MIL while the boys yelp it up in the den. I can’t wait.
Your setup is amazing! I’m excited for some good game day food! That dip looks great!
You’re so sweet! It should be a great game though my husband is doing the “we’re never going to win” chant already. Good grief. 🙂
It surely isn’t a Superbowl party without queso! Looks fabulous and I can’t wait to try!
I am rooting for the Seahawks tomorrow. Looks like a great food spread.
Wow all that food looks incredible! We don’t follow football or hVe parties but I’m really starting to wish we did! This is great!
I don’t do football either, but it’s a good excuse to get together and have fun. 🙂
We do not watch superbowl over here but it would be great for a match we do watch.
That is a nice layout. Love Rotel.
It’s a brand I’ve not noticed before – now I know they’re terrific and I’ll seek them out again! Thanks!
If you are making lobster bisque, I am heading up to you now! And I love queso, I could sit and dip chips all day long!
Oh no, I bought the bisque. No way was I putting a live lobster in a pot. Not in this lifetime! 🙂
Look at all that food. Of course it will all get eaten. LOL that is funny that you won’t toss the lobsters into a pot. I have never cooked a live one either.
You’re so sweet to do that for him. And you’re right about the Rotel queso recipe– foolproof indeed.