"We know the Seahawks and the Broncos are as good as advertised, and look to be the two teams best positioned for a meeting in next February's Super Bowl." - 7th Inning Stretch, November, 2013

YES!!

Ok, so I called the Broncos to go to the Super Bowl last season as well, which didn't turn out quite so well, but what the heck. In this gig, you gotta take what you can get. In honor of the big game, and because my son's being five this year gives me real hope we'll be able to resurrect our Snacker Bowl franchise, I've decided to dedicate this month's space to a couple of my favorite Snacker Bowl recipes from years past. I'm looking forward to dusting these off and raising my cholesterol to appropriately laughing-in-the-face of death levels.

WINGS

You can't have a Snacker Bowl (East, West, Central, or any other franchise) without wings. Can't be done. You can do takeout wings. There's no crime in that. But if you want to make your own, and I do, these are they way to go.

This is a Tyler Florence recipe, and is taken directly from the Food Network website at www.foodnetwork.com.

4 pounds chicken wings
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 big, fat rounded tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 lime, halved
Chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Rinse the wings under cool water and pat dry. Put them in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss to coat with the seasoning. Then spread the wings out on a baking sheet and roast about 25 minutes until the skin gets crisp and brown, and the meat is tender.

While you wait, throw the butter, red curry paste, honey and soy sauce into a blender. Season with salt and puree. Scrape into a big bowl. When the wings come out of the oven put add to the bowl with the curry butter. Squeeze the juice of the lime over the wings. Give it a toss and you're done. Garnish with cilantro.

This recipe really is as easy as it looks, and the end result will blow your socks off.

And you can feel better about the whole thing since the wings aren't fried.

Which almost makes up for the fact that they're covered in a whole stick of butter.

GUACCAMOLE

While technically a vegetable dish, and therefor banned from Snacker Bowl participation, guacamole sneaks in because it's consumed atop fried tortilla chips. And because it's good. Damn good.

3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
Hot sauce (your choice, both brand and amount. I'm partial to Tobasco's Chipotle sauce for the smoky heat; Sriracha is nice as well, if you want something a little fresher.)

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and half the lime juice, toss to coat.

Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add as much of the remaining lime juice, to taste.

Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve. (This is important so the flavors marry. I'm not afraid to make the guac first thing in the morning, cover it tightly, and throw it in the 'fridge until game time. The lime juice will keep it from browning.)

TED BREAD

Named after my culinary genius of a friend, Ted Brown, this stuff is fantastic. I highly recommend serving it in the second half, after you've enjoyed a couple adult beverages beforehand.

1 loaf of unsliced Italian bread
1 package of sliced Provolone cheese (10 or 12 slices)
1 lb of bacon (Use good bacon, please. Try peppered, cherrywood smoked, etc.)
1 stick of softened butter
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
1/4 of a medium onion, diced (I like sweet, but up to you.)
1/4 cup of yellow mustard (The "yellow" is important. Ted prefers Heinz.)
1 tspn diced garlic

Mix butter, onion, poppy seed, garlic and mustard together until smoothish and yellow, so if there isn't enough yellow (told you the yellow was important) add some more mustard.

Slice bread vertically, almost the whole way through – so the slices are about 1inch thick.

Spread yellow mixture in between slices. (You should use the whole thing for one loaf. It seems like a lot, but cram it in there.)

Put provolone between all the slices and top the entire loaf with as much bacon as possible. Wrap 3/4 of it in aluminum foil, leaving the bacon exposed. Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes or until bacon is cooked through.

Descend upon cooked loaf like a ravening hoard and accept that your slightly burned fingers tomorrow will be SOOO worth it today. Enjoy the game.

And the Crestor.

Oh, and I like Peyton and the Broncos to win.

Unless the weather's the absolute pits. Then I've got a seat reserved on the 'Hawks' bandwagon.