Let the countdown begin! The big game is less than two weeks away—time to start planning your Super Bowl party menu! Giants v. Patriots—it’s going to be awesome... Okay, fine. I can’t fake it. Truth be told, we Mixbookers are big Niners fans and it stings that they’re not Super Bowl bound. Me, I’m a fair-weather football fan. If my team’s in, I’m a rabid fan. If we’re out, I’m not bitter. Not bitter at all. I simply choose to focus on the spectacle of it all: the commercials, a handful of clutch moments, and of course—the food.
Clockwise from top left: Manhattan Cioppino, New England Clam Chowder photo by Flickr user yuichi.sakuraba, "Sports" photo book, sourdough
For the big game, I’ll likely spend the first 20 minutes throwing down smack with the best of ‘em and then slip away to the kitchen to cook. I’ll be using this opportunity to battle it out between the two classic clam chowders, with a twist of course. On my menu: New England Clam Chowder and Manhattan Clam Chowder. I’ll also be making some awesome homemade sourdough to accompany both chowders.
If you’re sensing a bit of a San Francisco twist to the classic chowders, you’re not wrong. The entire NFC Championship game coming down to a single fumbled punt return should at least win us an opportunity to feature our superior bivalves since we weren’t able to send our superior players. Prep these chowders to serve at your Superbowl party and see which tureen empties first. Better yet, pit them against some killer San Francisco Cioppino. Then see which tureen empties first. But I digress.
At the end of the day, no matter which team wins—no matter which chowder wins—we’ll get to share soup with friends. We’ll drink beer. We’ll exercise great creativity with our heckling. We’ll come up with even more new reasons why the refs shouldn’t have made that call against the Niners. [Fine, I’m a little bitter.] We’ll celebrate a few heroes. And we’ll enjoy an awesome meal that stretches over a couple of hours. Win, win. Next year, though, forget about it. We’re ramping up our post-season game. I’ll be customizing Super Bowl Party invitations that feature some ridiculous shot of me and my Niners peeps caught in a moment of awesomely unbridled gloating after some final clutch moment gone right. I’ll be the blurry figure darting into the frame from the kitchen and cheering like the rabid fan I am—when the Niners win.
Oh, I almost forgot! Dessert! What’s Super Bowl Sunday without some kind of death by chocolate? Made with locally crafted Scharffen Berger Extra Bitter Chocolate, of course.
