SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

So, the Super Bowl is upon us again. Whether you like the commercials, the football, or just being with people, everyone needs munchies.

And since you, my friend, are a college student, (with a college student budget, and possibly living in a dorm) or someone interested in the art of dorm cooking, I have a list of recipes that won't break the bank, and are totally worthwhile.

I have a couple of dips and a saucepan cookie, so get ready to make some food.

Beer Cheese Dip

(I am not saying go try to get beer if you're underage, but if you happen to be going to a party with overage drinkers then you could certainly ask for half a beer. Because, of course, you won't be drinking any.)

14 ozs. cream cheese chopped into cubes for melty fun
1/2 cup pale beer
1 clove of garlic, chopped (see sidenote, if you like)
Salt'n'Pepper to taste
1 Tbs. pimentos, well drained and throughly chopped
1 Tbs. chopped parsley (or a t. of dried parsley)

Microwave the cheese on medium, stirring every minute or so, until it's throughly melted (three or four minutes).
Add in the beer, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Microwave on high for another one to two minutes, stirring once, until it's all heated through.
Toss in the pimentos and parsley and stir.

Now serve it!

I like to serve it with bread, kinda like college kid fondue.

GARLIC SIDENOTE!: Because some of us are newbs to cooking and her ways, I will talk about garlic for a moment here.
Now, the thing you buy in the store is a bulb of garlic. It's made up of lots of little cloves. To chop a clove, pull it off the bulb, peel the hard paper-y skin away, and then use the broad side of your knife to smash it. If you're using a little knife, a spoon works well too. This releases all the delicious garlic-y flavors. Then you chop as normal.

The following recipe is from a magazine called "Light and Tasty" and it's produced by Taste of Home people. It was sent in by Tami Escher of Dumont, Minnesota, and while I'm not positive on the legality, I don't own this dip recipe. But it is available on the internet, I am just reproducing it here, so it is easy to find.

8 ozs. cream cheese (reduced fat or normal) cubed
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 marshmallow creme (or fluff)
Apple slices (with a little lemon juice on them to keep them from browning)

Put the cream cheese and ice cream topping into a bowl that can go in the microwave. Now stir. Don't stop. Keep going until it's super mixed. If you have a mixer, kudos, but if not, you can do it by hand.
When it's mixed, add the marshmallow creme. Repeat the mixing process.
Now, toss it all in the microwave. Microwave it on medium for a minute, and then take it out and stir. Microwave another fifteen seconds and stir. Repeat the fifteen seconds until it's warm and yummy looking. Serve.

Now, everyone has their variation on the no bake cookie recipe. You know, it's cocoa, oatmeal, peanut butter, some other stuff. I even found a recipe without peanut butter, so I could make them for my kids at the YMCA I worked at over the summer.

But here's my recipe:

No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut or pecans (finely chopped or grinded) (optional)

Put the sugar, milk, cocoa, and butter in a saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium high, and hang out there with it until it boils (stirring regularly).
Is it boiling? Take it off the heat and add the cup of peanut butter. Now stir until you can't tell the peanut butter from everything else in the pan.
Now, add the vanilla, oatmeal, and coconut or pecans, if you wish (I prefer them without).
Now stir frantically again!
Find some wax paper or aluminum foil and lay it out on the counter.
Plop spoonfuls of the cookie stuff onto the foil or wax paper. They're cool and harden, and not soften again.

And there's my Super Bowl Sunday recipes. I know it's not enough to feed an army, but most parties I attend are potluck deals. One person supplies the main dish, and everyone else brings something to share. So get your sharing on and go make some cookies.

P.S. I hope your team wins.

-K

The Flu and a basic on a few foods

I'm sorry I haven't updated (to anyone out there, hi! How are you?) but the flu descended on my school in a fit of madness, and I've just gotten past the charming high fever part of it. I still have a cough and a runny nose, so here's my warning:

Wash your hands. All the time. Use hand sanitizer. It can't stop everything, but it won't hurt.

Now, I'm going to talk about a few really basic dorm foods, one ingredient wonders that you might not be sure on the time it takes to cook them.

First, baked potatoes.

Take a potato (sweet, russet, whatever strikes your fancy, but make it a little bigger than your fist. You're better off boiling new potatoes.) and scrub it until it's super clean.

Take a fork and jab a few holes in it. If there aren't any holes in it, it could explode. They don't need to be deep, but there certainly needs to be some.

Pop it in the microwave and let it run for five minutes for a smallish potato, and seven for a largish one.

When it's done, carefully ('cause it's hot) reach in a squeeze it. If it's pretty soft, leave it in there for another minute, without running the microwave. If it's not, set it for another minutes, and repeat this set until you're on the let set for a minute.

Remove, and top with butter, and whatever else you like.

I like making potatoes after I've gotten a sandwich and didn't eat all of it. I don't really like mustard or mayo, so it's basically meat, cheese, veggies, and bread. The veggies usually only taste so-so in a potato, depending on what you have. Toss in the meat and cheese, regardless, and munch away.

Another easy to make food is hard-boiled eggs.

Put your eggs in water in a hot pot (or on a pot on the stove) and then slowly bring it to boiling. Keep and eye on it, so it doesn't boil over. After ten minutes or good boiling, they should be done, but for safety reasons, I usually boil my eggs twelve to thirteen minutes.

As soon as they are done boiling, take the pot or hot pot over to the sink and fill and let it over flow with cold water. This will hopefully make the little suckers easier to peel. When all of the water in the pot seems cool, allow it to sit for a couple of minute before replacing the water.

Sorry no real recipes, but these numbers are nice to have on hand.

I'm hoping to be back later today or tomorrow with Super Bowl snacks.