Super Bowl Ad Party

I didn’t get invited to any big Super Bowl Parties this weekend. At first I was a little hurt because I’m all for a raucous house party and am a huge fan of football food; my chili and guacamole (see recipe below) are pretty great. When I thought back to the last few game day parties though I knew the reason was my husband and I don’t have football fever. Every year we end up sitting in the corner away from the game chatting with a handful of others and only turning our eyes to the TV when the commercials come on. That’s our team.

Last year our little corner of the room waited on the edge of our seats to see the Doritos commercial that was created by a guy who graduated from UNL. It was Snack Attack Samurai, which still cracks me up when I see it. For me, that winning commercial was the one time I felt true Husker pride.

It’s not that we hate football. Both of us have lived in Nebraska for 20 years, where people bleed Husker red. We are just way more excited about the commercials. We’ve both pitched ads in the past and a lot of our friends are marketing mavens, graphics arts gurus, or modern day ad men.

We kept up on football, mostly because we’re hip-deep into pop culture. Also, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that the cryptic one-liner Sunday Facebook updates everyone but us posted were football related: Nooooo! And Ruuuun! And my favorite: Where is God now?! Which was answered perfectly in December by SNL’s hilarious skit where Jesus visits the Denver Bronco’s locker room.

I was totally willing to spend another Super Bowl game day quietly chatting while the game went on around me and watching like a hawk for the ads.  Until I found out that another couple didn’t have a party date for the big game and I saw my opening.

You see, this football season as we Netflixed past episodes of Mad Men and got caught up on Archer I was thinking how great it would be to host our own Super Bowl Ad Party where the commercials were center focus and the game was when you chatted, grabbed another beer, and went back for a second bowl of chili.

I know everyone loves the ads. They spend $3 - $4 Million per commercial to be sure of that. I just wasn’t sure if anyone else would be willing to sacrifice football for the ads. As I scrolled through my Facebook friends to compile a guest list I asked one big question: which would they be more excited about, the new Best Man e-trade talking baby commercial or a touch down?

So this Sunday a riotous group of about a dozen of us will be sipping cold brews and eating as much Velveeta dip as the rest of America, we’ll just be shushing each other when the Ferris Beuller CR-V commercial runs and judging how this year’s Volkswagen ad with its twist ending compares to last year’s Darth Vader kid. Go team!

Holy Guacamole Recipe:

The 3 to 1 ratio of 3 avocados to 1 lime/1 jalapeno makes it easy to increase this zingy guac recipe

3 avocados

1 fresh lime (zest and juice)
1 fresh jalapeno, diced
½ C fresh tomatoes, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice avocados length-wise, scoop out flesh with a spoon, mash with fork until smooth but leaving some chunks. Zest 1 teaspoon of the lime and squeeze lime juice into avocado mixture. Add diced jalapeno and tomatoes, add salt and pepper and then stir until just combined.

 Tips: 

1) Buy avocados a few days in advance and store in a brown paper bag to ripen fully. They should give slightly under your thumb.

2) After avocados are sliced in half the pit can be easily removed by carefully tapping your knife blade into the pit and rotating the knife so the pit pop out cleanly from the avocado.

3) Looking for a low calorie/low carb “carrier” other than tortilla chips? Try celery or thick slices of cucumber.

Episode 19

On this episode we welcome Michael Campbell and Eduardo Milan. It's another group show that involved some interesting conversation and quite a bit of booze. We did learn that it would probably be better to hold off on the cocktails until we are just about ready to record. As you will hear, we were a few drinks in before we even pressed record. We had a great time regardless and we hope to have more friends over for clever conversations on future episodes.

Use the player on the right sidebar to listen to the episode.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur

Here is our first video for our podcast. It was shot, edited, and published completely on Wayne's iphone using iMovie. We had a great time making it and we hope you use it to make your own amazing Coffee Liqueur. We call it homemade Kahlua, but only so people can relate to what it is. It is Wayne's mom's recipe and she has been making it for years. We hope it helps you make your own amazing cocktail!

Grape Smash

So a few months ago we visited Brian at Myth here in Omaha and he took me behind the bar and taught me how to make this amazing little cocktail. Look for more videos coming soon!

Episode 17

It's the holiday season! In this episode we talk about a few gatherings we had over the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays as well as some of our favorite cocktails for the season. The picture above is our "Burkey" a bacon topped turkey we made. Keep checking the blog as we will be updating with new recipes and video very soon.

National Rum Day!

Our friend Chad has been to Mexico dozens of times. He knows the best thing about being in Mexico is having access to Cuban goodies, specifically cigars and rum.
So when we got married in Mexico the first thing he and his lovely wife Kathy did was buy a bottle of gorgeous Cuban rum and some fancy cigars.
The cigars we could live without, but that rum was orgasmic. Buttery smooth, caramel notes, rich and silky. Divine. We drank it neat and we drank it all.
Sadly we can't get that rum here without breaking some really big federal laws, but we can still enjoy National Rum Day!
Drink up, friends!

The Guiltiest Pleasure

Hey everyone, Wayne here. As you can see by the blatant gap in the dates on our new blog site, Laurie hasn't posted anything for a couple weeks. It's been a bit on the crazy side here at the Bedford House due to some family things, household business and a dash of work insanity. Now life has calmed down and as I write this, Laurie is sitting on our deck with a Manhattan in hand entertaining some dear friends of ours. It's the first actual deck gathering we've been able to enjoy, though the gale-force wind is trying to force everyone inside.Which got me thinking.

At our little impromptu gathering, we made simple appetizers, grilled burgers, offered a veggie platter with spinach dip and pesto filled baked brie. Then one of our friends brought over what I think is the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, chili cheese dip. Yes, the office food-day classic. I'm all about the crafting of amazing appetizers for the perfect get together, but there is something magical about processed cheese food and canned chili melted together in a crock pot of molten goodness. I can honestly say I've enjoyed this dip with crackers, chips, over burgers, on top of eggs, with apple slices and yes, right out of the pot with a spoon. That's right, I have no shame. It's easy to make, especially if you have little time and nothing in the pantry. The magical thing is, everyone (even if secretly) loves it. In fact, I even overheard one of my friends tonight say "I wish I could just stick my face in this." Seriously, if it wouldn't cause third-degree burns, it's not such a bad idea.

 I know it's not technically cheese and I realize the chili is probably closer in relation to dog food than real chili, but the combination of these two simple ingredients is something that truly makes a mouth happy. It sticks to the chip (or spoon) is warm, comforting and is somehow delicious. Those that don't think so are either liars, vegans, or have no soul. Or vegans.

So if you would like to make me happy, simply bring a crock pot full of this cheese-like dip to one of our next gatherings. I'll refrain from sticking my face in it.

Peg's Chili-Cheese Dip.