Saturday, January 31, 2004

The "Big Game"* party that almost was but then wasn't

About six weeks ago, James and I had the brilliant idea that all our friends should come to New York to watch the big game tomorrow and gorge on chili, nachos, and other fattening dishes. Two weeks ago, James told me that none of our friends were coming due to various conflicts and travel issues. No problem, we said; we'll have a party here with some people we know in NY. Then, on Thursday, I had this conversation with James:

Him: "Those bastards."
Me: "Who's not coming to the party now?"
Him: "Counting you and me, there will be two people at the party."

So we're down to the two of us watching the game and eating soul food, the current menu unless James changes his mind again. Rather than make Az-Tec Calendar dip from The Border Cookbook, I'm taking things in a completely different direction and making dessert, specifically lemon chess pie, from In the Kitchen with Bill, a collection/satire of Bill Clinton's favorite recipes. I'm not really a dessert person: while I enjoy eating them, I'm not interested in making them. But the feast of fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, and cornbread doesn't need an appetizer. Around the end of third quarter, though, I'll be looking for something sweet to take the edge off all the salt and spice, and chess pie is perfect for rounding out the menu. I'd never heard of chess pie before meeting Liz's family and spending holidays in Mississippi, and now I wonder how I lived for 21 years without ever eating it.

You might think that our choice of a Southern-style dinner means we're pulling for Carolina in tomorrow's game, but that's not the case. I don't care who wins, I just hope it's a good game. We could just as easily make New England clam chowder, except that James already had all the ingredients for the fried chicken dinner. I don't think we've ever tried to match the meal to the teams in the game, it's just too hard sometimes.


*I'd use the term "Super Bowl, but I'm afraid I'll get sued by the NFL. Damn! I said "Super Bowl!" And I said "Super Bowl" again! Oops, I can't say "NFL" either. $%@&%&^!@%!!!

Please, NFL lawyers, don't sue me!

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