Fall Football Party

This may look like my Halloween costume, but I am embarrassed to say this is what I actually looked like on Sunday morning as I prepped the food and house for our Fall Football party. Jim came into the kitchen and died laughing, insisted that I pose for a picture. He added the rolling pin as my prop...the rest...that's pure Mandy.

I'm learning what a big deal Sunday Football is and I'm embracing it. Using Football as an excuse to have people over and cook for a crowd.
Here is our neighbor Oscar (you've seen him cooking Spanish Rice in an earlier post) along with Jim and our friend Chris. All in the living room watching the game.
Most everyone else was either in the kitchen eating and mingling or outside in the backyard.

I made the chicken enchilada dip again because it was such a hit earlier this week. I cut up some bratwurst served with a very spicy Dusseldorf Mustard from Fredericksburg Farms.
Here is a picture of my fall table - sans the Halloween Cake from Allyson.

Texas spicy pecans (recipe to come later this week)

Homemade Salsa and Jalapeno Ranch Dip but with some improvements.

Homemade taco soup (recipe to come later this week)
Kelie Shrimp, brought by my friend Merritt. (Recipe to come)
And these are the party favors I gave to each guest. Pumpkin Beer Bread. (Recipe to come)

Allyson unveiling her cake for the party.

She did all the buttercream frosting herself.

Isn't this the cutest?!

Leslie's concoction of beer and cider.

We also had some pumpkin carving going on. Here, Leslie and Allyson help pick out a template for pumpkins.
We played a little washers outside in the backyard.

Then on to pumpkins!
...and eating and chatting...

...chatting about cute babies...

...and working intently on carving...

We made a gooey mess cleaning out the GUTS of the pumpkin.

It was a fun day with neighbors, old friends, new friends and kiddos! All new recipes coming this week!