The tiniest detail can make the largest impact when hosting a party, so I’m especially eager to share some simple Game Day tips that I recently gleaned from KraftFoods.com.
Enhance the Game Day atmosphere by setting your table with team spirit. Use team colors for napkins, plastic utensils, plates and cups. You can even wrap a place setting with “coach’s whistle” to help keep the sets together. Neatly display each set of napkins and utensils in a helmet that has been lined with either a colorful napkin or foil.
Simplify your hostess responsibilities – and add to the Game Day ambiance – by letting people serve themselves from a buffet during breaks and halftime. Make simple paper pennants that help direct them to the food. For example, the pennant labeled “Pre-Game” could point guests to the appetizers. Serve your entrée during “Half-Time,” and save dessert for the “Third Quarter.”
To get you started, we’ve included a link to this football-themed appetizer. We’ve also included Deb Hellinga’s recipe for White Chicken Chili, and everyone knows that chili is always a perfect Game Day entrée. What ideas do you have for the Third Quarter?
As the busy mom of three energetic girls under the age of 5, Kathi Johnson of Kiron, Iowa, savors hearty meals that can be made in minutes. Chunky Italian Soup is one of her go-to recipes during the winter months because it makes good use of their home-grown beef and incorporates a kids’ favorite, Rotini. Plus, it “disguises” lots of vegetables.
“I do my best to make nutritious meals, so hopefully my kids won’t grow up to be junk food junkies,” says Kathi. “Anything I can do to help them take part in making the meal helps increase the likelihood they’ll eat it.
Grating carrots and pouring cans of vegetables into a pot are just a few ways kids can lend a helping hand in the kitchen this time of year. In the summer time, they can help raise fruits and vegetables.
Gardening is a highlight for the Johnson family. “Our girls love picking raspberries. They’ll fill each of their fingers with berries,” says Kathi. “It’s fun to see them excited about how things grow, and I’m glad they enjoy something that’s so good for them.”
Nurturing crops and raising food is a Johnson family tradition. Kathi’s husband, Troy, was raised on a family farm and has farmed on his own for the past 20 years. In addition to row crops, he raises feeder cattle and sells seed.
With spring planting still a few months away, the Johnson family values family time inside. Their girls enjoy building with the Tinker Toys they got for Christmas. They also enjoy play dough.
With wind chill values reaching as low as -20 and a northwest wind gusting as high as 23 mph, I’m looking forward to a warm fire and a hot bowl of soup tonight. (After all, there has to be something to look forward to on a day like today!)
Thanks to our Souper Bowl promotion on TheFieldPosition, I even have a new Corn Potato Chowder recipe to try. The real beauty of this recipe is that I have everything on hand, so I don’t even have to brave the elements for a quick trip to the grocery store. Plus, meal prep is quick and easy. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Bring the tailgate indoors; put your burger in a bowl!
With the big game coming up this Sunday and the snow piling up outside, I can’t help but reminisce about the warm fall days we spent tailgating at ISU football games. Now, I don’t know about you, but I won’t be tailgating in the snow next Sunday! So, why not bring the tailgate indoors?
Put your burgers in a bowl with one of three featured recipes for Cheeseburger Chowder and Cheeseburger Soup. Thanks to Tjode Cooper, Tammy Lansink and Nancy Lichty for submitting these recipes! Each variation is a bit different, and after looking them over, I might have to put a pot on the stove today!
Soup and sandwiches are perfect Game Day foods, so today we’re going to feature a recipe for each!
Whether you’re feeding 4 or 40, there’s a direct correlation between the quality and quantity of the food that gets served and the success of your party. Special thanks to Jenny Felt of Adel, Iowa, for sharing her favorite recipe for French Onion Soup.
French Onion Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
3, 14-ounce cans of beef broth
3/4 cup canned French-fried onions
1/4 cup dry sherry
4 slices stale French bread
4, 1-ounce slices Swiss cheese
Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. Arrange four, 10-ounce, oven-safe soup bowls on a baking sheet. Divide the broth and onions among bowls. Add 1 tablespoon of sherry to each. Float a slice of bread in each bowl and top with a slice of cheese. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the soup is bubbling.
In case you didn’t know, “fiesta” means “party” — so let’s get it started with this delicious Fiesta Chicken Chowder recipe, just in time for your Super Bowl party planning. You’re welcome.
Soup is one of American’s favorite comfort foods. According to the Campbell’s Soup Company, chicken noodle soup and tomato soup are two of the most popular soups in the U.S. today.
Although I enjoy making home-made chicken noodle soup and my kids enjoy dipping their toasted cheese sandwiches in tomato soup, I’m always willing to try something different. If you’re looking for a new twist to soup night, keep on reading.
One of my good friends, Angie Lookingbill, recently shared her mother-in-law’s recipe for Creamy Tortellini Soup. It sounds delicious and easy to make, which is always a plus in my book! I’m looking forward to trying it this weekend.
What’s the most unusual recipe for soup in your book?
Potosi, Wisconsin… home of Latham® dealer Andria White, the Potosi Brewery and the National Brewery Museum.
Potosi is nestled along the Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin and is only a 30-minute drive from Dubuque, Iowa. It’s well worth the drive – even a two-hour detour – in my humble opinion. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by all this little village has to offer! The National Brewery Museum is interesting; the pub grub is some of the best I’ve ever eaten; and the tidy farmsteads dotting the countryside make rural Grant County equally enchanting.
It’s on one of these Grant County farms that Andria White and her husband, Jim, make their home. After graduating from the University Wisconsin – Platteville in 2008, Andria returned to her family’s farm. She also decided to become a Latham seed dealer because it allowed her to put her degree to work by starting her own business doing something that she’s passionate about: agriculture.
Andria farms in partnership with her parents. They raise corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sod and have a cow-calf operation, as well. Andria and Jim also raise Angus cattle, Katahdin sheep and fainting goats. Because Jim works off-farm as an electrician, Andria spends the majority of the day tending to livestock.
There’s nothing like a hot bowl of home-made soup to help warm you up after working outside all day. And it’s only natural that these Wisconsinites would enjoy a hearty cheese soup, featuring the area’s favorite brew. Add a side salad and a little home-made beer bread, and you have a complete meal!
“Unless you are a big ale drinker, a mild beer such as the ‘Good Old Potosi’ may be a better option. The ale flavor comes through farely strong,” says Andria. “I made this soup last night and it was a great ‘comfort supper’ on a cold night!”
Fast Facts on Potosi, Wisconsin
Population of 703 in July 2009
“Catfish Capitol of Wisconsin” and hosts an annual Catfish Festival Fireman’s Fish Fry the 2nd weekend of August
Boasts “the longest Main Street in the world without a cross street,” according to a 1950s item in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
Andria says, “I found this recipe online and decided to try it because it starts off similar to the baked potato soup recipe (which is my FAVORITE!) that you posted last winter on The Field Position.”
Cold, winter days like those we’ve been experiencing lately make me especially thankful that I no longer have to trek across Iowa State University’s campus to attend class like I did last winter! It was on one of those bitterly cold days, when we were frozen after walking across campus all day, that my roommate made this recipe for taco soup. Being the classic college students that we were, our grocery supply was stretched over multiple weeks. Fortunately, we were both Ag students and our families made sure we had home-grown meat in the freezer and home-made salsa in the pantry. Ajá! We had everything needed to mix up Taco Soup – what a perfect way to warm up!
My roomie, Chelsea Ewen, actually concocted the original recipe when she was trying to come up with a prize-winning entry for a soup cook-off in her hometown. I’d say this one was a winner!
Now that I’m married, I make this recipe for my husband and he absolutely loves it. He works hard and has the appetite to match it, so it’s nice that it makes a big batch. This soup freezes well, so you can save the leftovers for another day if you don’t have someone around like my husband to make sure you don’t have leftovers!
Taco Soup can be made with any type of meat, but we’re beef producers ourselves and always make it with our home-grown beef. I love that it is so easy to make but also leaves room for interpretation as to what ingredients would make the “perfect taco” soup for you. Plus, it’s just so easy to make. You throw all the ingredients together in the crock pot in the morning and enjoy a hearty bowl of soup at the day’s end.
Reaching Consumers through Recipes: Debbie Lyons-Blythe, Mother, Blogger, Agvocate
Amazing.
It’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of Debbie Lyons-Blythe. She’s the mother of 5, an advocate for agriculture, blogger, and central Kansas cattle rancher. But that didn’t happen overnight.
Debbie Lyons-Blythe, Mother, Blogger, Agvocate
Growing up, Debbie’s mom ran their family’s Angus ranch while her dad worked in town. That tradition lives on: Debbie takes care of 500 cattle daily while her husband works in town but helps her in the evening or on weekends.
Debbie and her husband are the proud parents of 2 girls and 3 boys, who lend a hand on the ranch when they can: Meghan, 19; Allie, 17; Trent, 16; and identical twins, Tyler and Eric, age 15.
“I can’t say enough how blessed we are,” Debbie said. “Our kids are hard workers, and they love working on the ranch. They just finished building 2 miles of fence. But as we put it, they’re not building our fence – they’re building their fence.”
Helping ensure a future in agriculture for her children is one important reason why Debbie became involved in the agvocacy movement. She writes content on her blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to help educate consumers about modern agriculture and how their food makes it from the farm to the table.
Debbie said while she loves connecting with others in agriculture through social media, her main goal is to connect with those who are buying groceries. She wants to educate them about their food choices, helping bridge the gap between the knowledge we often take for granted in rural America and the average consumers’ experiences.
“That’s where recipes blossomed into my blog,” Debbie said. In conjunction with the educational agriculture messages she shares on her blog, Debbie also posts recipes to help encourage consumer choices at the grocery store. She said she tries not to miss an opportunity where she can remind readers that being a part of modern agriculture requires constant attention and effort.
“I look at Facebook like it’s my job,” she said. “I don’t just post on Facebook that my children’s Christmas program is tonight. I say, ‘Gotta get the cows fed and bedding down before we go to the Christmas program tonight,’ to remind people that farming is a 24/7 job. I remind them that I can’t go anywhere, do anything, unless my cows are taken care of first.”
Debbie said being an agvocate doesn’t have to take an exorbitant amount of time or equipment.
“I think you can incorporate social media into everything you’re already doing in a day,” she said.
Debbie’s social media involvement started with drafting blog posts and sharing photos from her phone, and now, it’s become a regular part of her day. In the winter, when she comes inside to warm up with a cup of coffee, she brings it over to the computer and drafts a blog post. In the summer, when she’s bailing hay, she grabs her phone and Tweets to shares photos with her followers.
We couldn’t be more thankful that individuals like Debbie who are helping educate consumers about modern agriculture. A big thank you to Debbie for taking time from her (incredibly) busy schedule and for sharing this wonderful Beef Enchilada Soup Recipe with us. It’s easy to see why it’s one of her readers’ favorites! Visit Debbie’s blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts today!
