If you had grumpily resigned yourself to the belief that pleasing the man in your life entails a garish, greasy, Cheeto-fingered party in front of the TV February 2nd, complete with obnoxious footballs on ALL THE THINGS and a big ole bag of Lays Original with White Trash Dip [no judgment from me, I love the stuff], we have some ideas that might just change your perspective.
Tacky super bowl party with incredibly fatty and processed food? Or pretentious and incredibly un-fun, wannabe party bearing zero resemblance to the game it celebrates? Its a coin toss… [oh snap! see what I did there?] or is it? There may be no ties in football, but when it comes to the party in your living room, you can throw a completely fun and also wonderfully classy-chic shindig that perfectly pleases even the gnarliest of football lovers.
First of all, I completely agree with Country Living that plastic cutlery is a definite NO-NO.  Nothing worse than trying to eat with a plate in your lap and than having your fork snap loudly in two (usually causing you to drop your entire plate out of alarm). The mess crappy plastic cutlery causes is always worse than just throwing the damn silverware through the dishwasher later. Love this presentation idea:
Although, if you’re lazy like me, you’ll skip the painted words on the front… like anyone’s gonna confuse a knife and fork, canigetanamen?! Regardless, to be the kind of cool-girl hostess required to successfully pull off a guy-approved Super Bowl party, you have to be laid-back and practical about presentation. I love the sink full of ice and drinks – much cuter than a plastic cooler!
But I’m also digging the Pinterest-worthy Washing Machine idea… the best part is that when all the ice melts, it drains itself! Mess free.
As for the drinks themselves, the key is variety. I love the idea of having different drinks you make for things like the coin-toss, half-time, and the last quarter. I also love the creative names this event planner came up with:
Totally adorable.
(Simple Bellini and Bloody Mary recipes, in case you need).
I love the idea of having a chalkboard above a vintage bar cart in the living room:
Something like this is especially great if you want to give the drinks fun names. Tip: Guys love that. 😉
[I mean, as long as the drinks are good and strong – I don’t think they can complain.]
When it comes to the food, man oh man did I find some amazing blow-everything-out-of-the-water recipes, y’all! The best ideas revolve around serving your food, as well as drinks, in courses corresponding to the quarters of the game. It makes sure everyone gets to enjoy the food without getting too stuffed and just adds to the general entertainment.
I love the charm and ease of this Hot Caprese Dip:
Get in my belly.
You can serve with a warm baguette or spongy focaccia bread.
I love this idea from Real Simple for a Potato Bar…
… just buy a couple bags of Alexia’s Oven-Fried French fries and serve with a whole array of toppings! Some ideas, red onion, salsa, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, sour cream and onion dip… the options are endless!
Martha of course provides us with amazing spins on the classics… including a recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken Drumsticks and these “Pigs in Blankets” that are unbelievably good-looking. They would make for some kick-ass Half-time Main-courses.
But, Tequila notwithstanding, you may be impeached from Super Bowl Hosting forever if you omit certain Hot Wings from the table, in all their greasy glory. Pioneer Woman to the rescue! True story, every time I take my cues from Ree Drummond when cooking, my husband falls more and more in love with me. (Hence the necessity for a PW recipe right after every Extra 30% Off Sale at J.Crew).
PW does not cut corners or fat, and is the queen of from-scratch, old-fashioned goodness that just can’t be competed with by anything you’ll buy ready-made at Harris Teet.
Ree has a whole arsenal of Super-Bowl-friendly-food that will greatly enhance your sex appeal in the mind of any male in the room (I am not being sexist here, just speaking from honest-to-goodness experience, y’all).
You can thank me later for sharing my ultimate Queen Bee secret.
I personally enjoy football, especially if a certain Tom Brady is on the field (cue gag noise from my brothers), but even if you’re not reallyyyy into the game itself, resist the urge to be on Pinterest or Words with Friends the whole time, because the visionaries at Style Me Pretty have a really fun (free download!) bingo game so everyone can get into things.
Finally, you want to have some creative desserts. But nothing too girly. As tasteful and on point as the SMP stylists are, I was side-eying this suggestion of theirs…
Yeahhh… as a self-admitted Daddy’s Girl with three very close brothers, one husband, and two sons… I know guys. And I don’t know about all that strawberry business.
But I am 100% confident about these Guiness Pretzel Brownie Bars. I am not kidding, I think these babies will seal. The. Deal.
If you would like any more inspiration, check out this adorable vid:
Girls With Glasses – Glam Up Your Super Bowl
Happy Super Bowl! Maybe next year we can be Black and Blue… our faith is in Cam!
