Football Food

For those of you who don’t quite understand the South’s obsession with college football, let me tell you, I used to be the same way. Until they hooked me, that is. It sneaks up on you at first, you go to a friend’s house to watch the big game, you decide to cheer for the team with the best uniforms, that team happens to win big that year, and before you know it you’re hooked.

Ok so it doesn’t exactly work like that, but you get the idea. I chose my football allegiance based on the closest SEC (Southeastern Conference, for the confused northern women who might be reading this) connection I had, my mom’s alma mater Auburn University. My dad is a Tennessee fan, but there are few Tennessee natives who don’t claim the Volunteers. There are a few Georgia Bulldogs in my family too, but we just don’t talk to them on Saturday’s during football season.

Lucky for me, my best friend and (most of) her family are big Auburn fans too.

Lucky for her, the Auburn homecoming game fell right on her birthday this year!

Lucky for Eric, we went to the game and he got to experience his first REAL college football game! (Samford has a very good football team for their conference, but nothing can really compare to an SEC game)

Birmingham is only about a two-hour drive from Auburn, so we were able to drive down and tailgate with our friends before the game and enjoy the full game day experience. This included a visit to one of the bookstores to browse Auburn apparel, watching the traditional flight of Nova, the eagle, at the beginning of the game, following the herd to Toomer’s Corner for the customary rolling of the trees with toilet paper after the win (some crazy Alabama fan poisoned the school’s trees a few years ago, so there are only a few to roll at the moment), and walking past Toomer’s Drugstore to see the mass of people getting lemonade (we decided it was too crowded to go in). All in all, it was a great trip and I was so glad Eric finally got to see what all the fuss was about. I think he secretly loved it, but as a stubborn NFL fan, it’s hard for him to admit it.

See, he loves it

Going to the game this weekend made me think about how much I love the food you eat at football games. It’s always good, simple food that everyone loves, and can easily be made for a weeknight dinner as well as a football tailgate. So for this blog I picked two recipes that are easy, quick, and great for tailgating or sofa-gating!

This first is a great egg salad recipe that I picked up on one of my favorite blogs, Eat Live Run. It looks like your typical egg salad recipe, eggsept a few notable differences (see what I did there?) that make it absolutely delicious.

Easy Egg Salad

Ingredients:

-       4 eggs, hardboiled

-       2 Tbsp mayonnaise

-       2 tsp Dijon mustard

-       1 tsp red wine vinegar

-       ½ tsp of salt

-       ½ tsp of pepper

How to:

Simply mash up the boiled eggs, either with a fork or an egg slicer, and mix in remaining ingredients. There you have it, Easy Egg Salad! This makes about 2 sandwiches, so for more just double or triple the ingredients!

The second recipe I have is one that has been circulating around Pinterest. It is the epitome of quick and easy…and delicious!

Mini French Dip Croissants with Au Jus

Ingredients:

-       One roll of refrigerated crescent rolls

-       Half a pound of thinly sliced deli roast beef

-       Provolone cheese slices

-       14oz can of beef broth

-       ½ tsp pepper

-       ½ tsp garlic powder

-       1 tsp corn starch

How to:

Preheat your oven to 375. Then begin by unrolling the crescent rolls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Then take a second to pet the puppy that is begging for attention....

...oh wait, that's just my puppy

Now place half a slice of cheese and a slice of roast beef on each piece of dough.

Roll up your crescent rolls and pop them in the oven for 13 minutes.

While your mini French dips are baking, you can whip up the Au Jus! All you need to do is pour the beef broth into a small saucepan and stir in the remaining three ingredients on medium-high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil and set aside.

Once your croissants are done, serve them with a small bowl of au jus for dipping and enjoy!

These recipes aren’t just great for a tailgate, but perfect for a casual lunch or dinner home as well!

White Coats and Pumpkin Pie

Well it’s finally here, my favorite month of the year! Alabama doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo, as our high this weekend was 90 degrees, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drink my hot cup of coffee and snuggle up with my dog like it’s 50 outside.

We had a fun and busy weekend as Eric’s parents came to town to celebrate his White Coat Ceremony on Friday. I was one proud wife when they put his fancy white PA coat on him (which made him even more handsome than he already is…) and had him recite his pledge of professionalism in medicine. One part of the oath reads, “I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.” I don’t know if there is any clearer sign that Eric was made for this profession than this statement. His compassion for people is the sole reason he chose a career in medicine, and I am confident that he will be among one of the most sought out PA’s due to his kind, sympathetic heart.

In order to properly celebrate both Eric’s white coat and the first weekend of October, my mother-in-law and I decided to bake a pumpkin pie! What better way to welcome October than a pumpkin pie?!

Well I have a confession to make: I’ve never made a pie crust. I normally just take the easy way out and buy a prepared crust. Well my mother-in-law set out to change that this weekend by teaching me how to make a homemade pie crust for our pumpkin pie. It was actually very quick and easy to do! The recipe for the pie also came from one of my absolute favorite Southern Living cookbooks, The Southern Pie Book. While I was learning to make a pie crust, my husband also got to learn how to use the camera a little and took several of the following pie-making pictures. 

Part one: The "crust" of the matter...

Ingredients (for a single crust):

-       1 ¼ cup flour

-       1/3 cup Crisco

-       4-5 tablespoons of cold water

-       1 tablespoon sugar

-       ¼ teaspoon salt

How to make a simple pie crust:

First, pour your flour into a mixing bowl. See, isn't this easy?

Then, using a pastry blender, combine the crisco and flour until the mixture is nice and crumbly (be sure not to OVER mix it, no matter how fun those pastry blenders are!).

I've been hand-modeling at work for the past two weeks.. does it show? ;)

Now comes the cold water. My mother-in-law simply put some ice cubes in a mug of water and spooned the cold liquid into the flour/crisco mixture.

Then you get to take yourself back to the play-dough days and get your hands dirty. Mix up the ingredients until they form a nice dough ball, then plop it on your nicely floured surface. My mother-in-law uses a pastry cloth, which makes cleaning up a breeze as opposed to getting all that flour off your counter.

Roll the dough ball out into a nice, even circle that is large enough to fit your pie dish. You also want to be sure your crust will make it up the sides of your dish. 

Place your crust into the dish carefully. With the extra edges, tuck the excess under and pinch any pattern your heart desires! And voila! You made a pie crust! 

Now onto Part 2: The pumpkin filling

Ingredients:

-       1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

-       2 large eggs

-       1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

-       1 cup brown sugar

-   1 tsp. ground cinnamon

-   1/2 tsp. salt

-   1/2 tsp. ground ginger

-   1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

-    dash of ground cloves (optional)

-   Whipped cream for topping

How to:

Preheat your oven to 425, then whisk together milk and eggs. After this, add pumpkin and the following 6 ingredients and whisk. 

Once smooth, pour into the pie crust.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for 50 minutes longer or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Now you have a beautiful and tasty pumpkin pie for your perfect (or not-so-perfect) October day!