Plan Your Own Football Party

If you know me personally, you know that I'm a huge Duck football fan (University of Oregon for those not familiar) and I pretty much don't miss a game on tv. Every year the biggest game of the season (or at least biggest to Oregonians) is the Civil War where the University of Oregon Ducks play the Oregon State Beavers. If you live in Oregon, you are a Duck or a Beaver. Few are neither, and so it even becomes a huge deal at your workplace (we're all supposed to wear school colors at my hospital on that day), in addition to with friends and family.

This year Civil War is probably one of the biggest games ever, as it will determine which team goes to the Rose Bowl (our Pac-10 Conference Winner Bowl Game), and I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened in a long time. So you can imagine we're all super excited about the game.

In honor of Civil War, I thought I would share some recipes and decor ideas for your football party...maybe think pre-planning for Superbowl if you're not into college football.

First of all you need to invite some people over to party with you. While you could take the time and create an invitation (I did a Superbowl postcard invite once) I would actually recommend going through Evite.com and using one of their many online invitations for a football party. This will save you so much time and effort. Here's a direct link to their site.

Next plan the menu.

Of course you need a good drink to celebrate your victory or to choke down if you lose. I recommend a Tequila Touchdown.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Orange Juice
• 1 Cup Tequila (8 oz)
• 6 Tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice (from about 2 lemons)
• 1.5 oz Grenadine
• Ice, for Serving
• 3 Cups Club Soda
• 8 Strips Lemon Zest, for Garnish

Directions:

1. Pour orange juice, tequila, and lemon juice into a large pitcher. Tip pitcher at a slight angle and carefully pour grenadine down the side.
2. Divide mixture among 8 ice-filled glasses, and top off each with club soda. Stir, garnish each with zest, and serve immediately.

For appetizers, try one of these three recipes from Martha Stewart or go here to see a giant list of recipes from Rachael Ray:

1. Emeril's Crazy Nachos
2. Spicy Citrus Caramel Chicken Wings
3. Sliders

For dessert, you can go wild. Make something traditional like a cake or a favorite of mine, brownies with mint icing on top. Or do something totally different. Try making homemade caramel corn or serving "your-team-colored" desserts or maybe desserts in each team's colors if you're having over friends who will route for both teams. Be creative, and just remember as long as it tastes good, they will eat it!

Finally, for decor, I wouldn't go overboard. Most of the time people are there to watch the game and not to spend a lot of time oodling over the effort you went to to make it look like a real arena. For easy touches, I saw on tv once that you can actually cut a football in half and then fill the half-football shapes with chips...a great centerpiece for your table. Or you can go the extra effort and turn green butcher paper into a field complete with yard lines for a table runner. Making football shaped coasters is also super easy, and use an appropriate white pen to mark the laces. And of course, feel free to decorate with team memorabilia. Bring out your team blanket, your foam fingers, stuffed mascots, whatever you've got. It's sure to make you feel as if you're at the game, even if you're lounging in your sweats.

And PS...always wear your team colors to get in the spirit. I can guarantee you I'll be head to toe yellow and green come December 3rd. Go Ducks!