Love is in the air! Can you feel it?

I’m talking about that unwavering love and loyalty, seen exponentially at game time, by true football fans! For us, it’s all Fútbol! In Spanish, Fútbol means soccer.  Fútbol Americano means American Football. All fútbol and football fans make the whole world seem like a happy place.  They are smiling, rocking their favorite team colors, and living just in the moment!  Game time nights are simple; food pizza, friends, and a lot of noise.

It’s called Spirit! Game time is the best time.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, we have a lot of that! So, let’s bring it! In honor of one of the most loyal communities I know, I came up with these super easy #GameTimeGoodies to show off your spirit and support of your favorite team.  Don’t worry, if you’re not from the Bay Area, you can modify these awesome game time dishes to support the other teams.

In the Bay Area, we’re going Red & Gold, no doubt!

When I told friends that I was going to make San Francisco inspired #GameTimeGoodies they wanted to know how much my game time dishes would cost them.  Have no fears.

We’re going big on a budget!

Game time should never being about spending all day in the kitchen.  Nor should it be about spending your season tickets savings on hard-to-cook food or catering.  We’ll start with the pizza.  You have to have pizza.  It’s the law, isn’t it? Right now, Walmart is having a special rollback sale on DiGiorno pizza, so hurry to grab a bunch before game time!

Did I mention they’re just $4.50? Yeah! Grab a bunch. Remember, we’re going big on a budget.  Your teen or guest might want seconds and thirds.  Don’t be surprised if they grab really big slices.

For extra spirit, reposition your ingredients into the shape of a football in the middle of the pizza before cooking.  Don’t overdo it on making too many dishes.  Don’t make a big mess for yourself to clean up after game time.  Again, it’s about food, friends, and noise.  The pizzas are super yummy, and are done in about 18 minutes.  So you can keep them hot and keep them coming without missing the game.

Some people like salsa, others like dip, but everyone loves a great cheese spread.

Loyal Fan Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 8 ounces of cream cheese with chives & onion
• 8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese. (shavings are best)
• 7-8 ounces of roasted sesame seeds
• 1 single string cheese
• 1 package of wheat grass
• decorated salt dough hearts and numbers (shown below)

Preparation:

Mix all the cream cheeses and cheddar cheese together in a bowl.  For best texture, use the finest shredding side of your grater, to get “shavings.” I’ve used shredded here but prefer texture of the shavings for best outcome. Put the mixture on a bowl.  Use a spatula to shape the football.  Pour sesame seeds over the formed mixture until it is completely covered.  Once the mixture is completely covered in sesame seeds you can use your hands to perfect the mold of the football.  Slice the string cheese into  4 pcs., lengthwise.  Cut those pcs. in half.  Position the cut pcs. onto the top of the football cheese.  Cut the wheatgrass and position it around the cheese football. Add your favorite team’s salt dough decorations (shown later in this post) Done!

Loyal Fan Salt Dough Decorations

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups water
• cookie cutters in shapes, letters,  & numbers you desire
• Pilot gold paint pen and/or acrylic paint
• Food coloring (optional)
• straw or toothpick for making holes and designs

Preparation:

Add the flour, salt, and water to a large bowl.  Add food coloring if you want to create colored batches.  Mix together and knead for about five minutes.  Add more water/flour as needed to get a firm but flexible dough.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Roll out the dough.  Use cookie cutters to cut out your shapes.  Use a straw to cut out the holes if you plan on hanging the decorations now or later. It’s easiest to do this before picking up the excess salt dough around the cutouts.  Once you’ve made the holes you want, peel up the excess salt dough and move to the side for garbage or use on another batch.  Raw salt dough will not keep for very long.  Use a spatula to lift up the cutouts and place on a non-greased cookie sheet.  I used a broiler pan.  It’s okay to substitute the flat baking surface.  Bake for 2 – 2 1/2 hours. (Some people like to use higher degrees and shorter bake times.)  I like baking at this low temperature because it keeps the salt dough from browning too much.    The salt dough should be completely cooked and hard.  Remove from oven.  Allow to cool.  Use acrylic paint, glitter, and even gems to finish your handmade decorations.  You can use a clear nail polish to give a little shine once the paint and other embellishments are dry.

 We also painted lots of red hearts for placing a simple “SF” in the middle of the table alternating between fresh strawberries and salt dough hearts for a beautiful and mostly edible center decoration.

Just for fun, we decorated some brownie bites!

The only thing that was missing is some noise! Okay – that might be a lie.  I mean, that’s a lie.  Noise is never missing in my house.  It’s can get very loud.  On the bright side, I’m used to it so game night noise is actually welcome!  We even made some cool noise makers to cheer for San Francisco and get even louder!

Loyal Fan Noise Makers

Ingredients:

• 16 empty water bottles.  It doesn’t matter what kind, as long as they are the same.
• masking tape
• 1 1/2 cups of dry kidney beans
• 1 1/2 cups dry white rice
• food coloring
• glitter
• markers and/or acrylic paint
• scissors
• stickers
• ribbons
• salt dough decorations

Use two water bottles per noise maker. You can substitute kidney beans and rice for other colored beans that are closer to your favorite team’s colors and/or use plastic beads.

Preparation:

Add food coloring to dry rice and stir until all the rice is covered and you have your desired color.  Lay on  a flat baking dish and allow to dry.  Mix the dry colored rice, beans, and glitter, gems, or any other creativity twist embellishment together.

Cut the top off of one water bottle, to the height you desire your noise makers to be.  Cut off the other water bottle, leaving only about 4-6 inches at the bottom.

Fill the tallest cut water bottle with about 2-3 inches of the rice and beans mixture.  Place the short cut water bottle over the tall cut water bottle, like a cap.  Maneuver the short part OVER the long bottle.  Make sure that the short bottle goes down as far as it can over the long bottle.

Tape around the edge where the short water bottle ends on the long one.  Be sure the table is adhering to both the short and long bottle.  Use paint or ribbon to cover the tape.  Decorate with your favorite colors, ribbons, and salt dough decorations!

Let’s make some noise!

Pizza, friends, and noise!

By:  Alicia Gonzalez

Photography: Alicia Gonzalez

Illustrations: Kayti Welsh