Football Sunday Appetizers!

Who's ready for some football!?!?!?!?!?!?

Excessive punctuation. My apologies.

It's a rainy Sunday here in the Boston area, which means it's the perfect day to gather up some friends, cook up some tasty appetizers, and enjoy hours and hours of football! Sounds fun to me--just add beer!

Here's some inspiration to get your appetizer gears grinding. Follow the links to the step by step recipes and get cooking!

BBQ Chicken Nachos.

Swoon. You need these in your life. Traditional nachos with a cheesy, barbeque-y, twist. Plenty to share, if you're willing of course.

Pepperoni Pizza Dip.

What do you get when you add cream cheese, pepperonis, melted mozzarella cheese and warm marinara sauce? If you said, APPETIZER BLISS, you'd be right. This dip begs to be eaten with slices of warm Italian bread.

Crispy Sweet Potato Ravioli.

It's all the flavors of autumn, packed into a tasty little bite. Sweet potato, caramelized onions and mushrooms are packed into wonton wrappers and fried until crispy. These are going to fly off the table like crazy!

Crab Rangoons.

You're favorite Chinese take-out snack, right in your own kitchen. What is better than cream cheese and crab meat fried to golden brown perfection? Very little, in fact.

Creamy White Bean Dip.

The elegant older brother of hummus, this white bean dip is packed with fresh herbs and bright lemon juice. White beans are soft and subtle. Dip anything into this dish, and you'll be a happy camper. I enjoy it with celery sticks, english cucumbers, and whole wheat tortilla scoops!

Enjoy!

Crab Rangoons

It's Super Bowl Week! That can only mean one thing -- lots and lots of appetizer recipes flooding the blog-o-sphere.

I want to get on this bandwagon for a couple of reasons. First, I absolutely LOVE making appetizers. Bite-sized snacks that are tasty to eat and fun to make really make my heart go pidder padder (or is it pitter patter? Life's great questions...)

I also think that homemade appetizers can elevate any game day party to the next level. And since this coming Sunday is the ultimate game day, this can't wait.

One thing I have been dying to make at home is Crab Rangoons. Back in college, any bad week could be made instantly better by ordering Chinese take-out with an extra order of crab rangoons. What part about cream cheese and crab meat fried to perfection WOULDN'T make it better?

Be still the college student inside my heart. Turns out making crab rangoons is totally easy. There is a little bit of assembly required, but other than that they cook up quickly and get eaten up even quicker!

It starts with cream cheese, softened to room temperature, alongside chopped scallions and shredded crab meat. I used the imitation crab meat because, honestly, after the mixing with cream cheese and the frying, it didn't seem necessary to splurge on lump crab meat.

Using a fork and some elbow grease, incorporate the cheese, crab and scallions along with Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and cracked black pepper.

Each wonton will be made using a wonton wrapper. These things are amazing, especially if you like cooking appetizers! They are usually right in the produce section of your grocery store -- just ask a nice employee to point you to them.

About a teaspoonful of the cream cheese mix is placed in the middle of each wrapper. Then, to seal the wrappers, dip your finger in water and run it along the outer edges. Fold the wrappers in half into triangles and seal well by pressing down on all sides, letting out as much air as possible.

Added bonus -- these keep really well in the refrigerator, so feel free to prep the night before that way on game day all you need to do is fry 'em up!

For cooking, heat a large amount of canola or vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat. The level of the oil should be just high enough to cover the rangoons.

Cook in batches until golden brown. Best served hot with soy sauce or duck sauce for dipping.

There's not much more I can say about this app recipe. It's essentially everything you want in an appetizer. A bit sinful, but totally delicious. Easy to eat while crowded around a big TV with a bunch of friends. Just a complete yum-fest (I just made that word up...how do we like it?)