Well, now that How2Blogger is back from his mini-vacation, it’s time to get down to the business of planning your upcoming Superbowl party.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I believe that you can’t really have a great Superbowl party unless you have the following:

• Friends
• A big screen television
• Beer
• At least 1 Cheese Ball

So, seeing as the first three things on that list are something that I can’t really help you with - we’re going to be focusing on the Cheese Ball.

There are a great number of variations on the Cheese Ball, and sure, you could buy one in a store. But there really isn’t any greater satisfaction in life than putting your cheese ball that you made out on a plate with some crackers and watching your friends dig into it and then say, “Wow. Good cheese ball.” I’m pretty sure it’s a feeling of pride similar to that of sending your kids to their first day of school.

Anyways - for your first cheese ball we’re going to stick to a basic recipe so we don’t lose anybody. For future Superbowls, feel free to venture out and get a little creative with it. Shoot, you might even want to fashion your cheese ball into a football! Brilliant.

How To Create A Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. 8 oz Cream Cheese
• 8 green onion tops
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pkg. dried beef
• 1 tsp. Accent

1. Leave the cream cheese out to soften it. Not over night, just for like an hour. Don’t be silly.

2. Chop up green onion tops and mix into the cream cheese.

3. Cut the dried beef into small pieces. Add half of it to the cream cheese mixture.

4. Add Worcestershire sauce and Accent to the mix. Mix it all up good.

5. Shape it into a ball or a rabbit or some other cute animal. Roll it in the other half of the beef.

6. Put it on a plate, chill, and serve with crackers.

Easy. Good luck.
If you’re planning on betting on the game - you might want to consider entering the $100 Contest to cover any losses!

Just in time for the holidays we’re posting our old-fashioned eggnog recipe. This should help if you’ve had a long day battling the masses at the mall.

Img Credit: krisdecurtis

How To Make Eggnog

Ingredients:

• 1 quart milk
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 12 egg yolks
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 pint whiskey, brandy, rum (not optional)
• 1 pinch nutmeg

1. In a bowl blend with a hand mixer the milk, cream, egg yolks, vanilla, and whiskey until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue to whip while slowly sprinkling in the sugar until the egg whites are stiff. (If you don’t know what a soft or stiff peak is when beating an egg, you can go here for remedial cooking lessons).

3. Fold the egg whites into the other mixture and then pour into a large bowl or pitcher. Serve chilled and top with the nutmeg.

I like to call the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s the ‘Casserole Season.’ I eat casserole this and casserole that. Seeing as it is the day after Thanksgiving and I have over a month to go, it’s not good that I am casseroled out already.

I’m trying to combat this by introducing some new casseroles this year - something to combat the over casseroling of my life.

So, I’m going to start with a staple - the good old green bean casserole. One of my least favorite casseroles when it’s done with cream of this and cream of that soups mixed with green beans. Instead, I’m offering this green bean casserole alternative that has no cream of anything besides sour cream and melted butter. Yum.

How To Make A Green Bean Casserole

1. Gather the ingredient:

• 3 cans French Style Green Beans, Drained
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup crumbled butter crackers (I used Ritz)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white flour

2. Over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Mix in 2 tablespoons flour and stir until smooth.

3. Add sugar, salt, and onions and mix it all up real good.

4. Next, add sour cream to mix.

5. Finally add green beans and mix it together.

6. Place green bean mix into 3 qt. casserole dish.

7. In another pot melt 1 tablespoon butter and add crumbled crackers too it.

8. Sprinkle cheese over top of green bean mix.

9. Spread crumbled cracker mix over the top of the cheese.

10. Bake in oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Voila!

This is one of my favorite lunchtime sushi recipes. It’s quick, easy, and about the same amount of effort as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ok, maybe a peanut butter and banana sandwich (there’s some slicing involved).

1.  Gather your ingredients.

• 1 Pita - sliced in half
• 3 - 4 slices smoked salmon
• 1/3 cup salad greens - a nice mix of romaine and fresh spinach works well
• 3 slices of avocado (if you would like a sweeter treat - use a few slices of fresh kiwi in place of the avocado)
• Wasabi paste

2. Open up the pita and stuff it lightly with the salad greens.

3. Take the salmon slices and spread them across the greens.

4. Repeat step 3 with the avocado slices (or kiwi if you desire).

5. Top with the wasabi paste (or horseradish if you prefer) - a little goes a long way!

6. Enjoy!

Have you been asked to bring something to the party? And a 2 liter of Pepsi just isn’t going to cut it? Here’s a dip that’s cheap, simple, and takes all of 3 minutes to make but will make you the life of the party! Ok, maybe that last part is an exaggeration, but everybody will love it. Trust me, I’ve been using it for years.

1. Buy the ingredients. Careful - there’s 3 of them, don’t forget any!

• One Jar of Salsa (any will do, though chunkier is better for this dip)
• One 8 oz brick of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (make sure you get the little brick, not a tub)
• One bag of tortilla chips (again, any will do, whatever you like - I prefer the scoop kind)

2. Get out a bowl.

3. Place brick of Cream Cheese in bowl.

4. Pour Jar of Salsa over brick of cheese.

5. Eat.

Yes, that’s it. You can mix the cheese and the salsa - but I like to leave it as a brick with a jar of salsa dumped over it. Much classier presentation - plus, everybody will get to see just how hard you worked on the recipe. Now, you’ll probably get plenty of questions about the recipe - but don’t tell anybody - as you don’t want competition for the next party. Anyways - enjoy!