Super Bowl

Once baseball's World Series defined America's competitive nature but today the Super Bowl and football have taken center stage. Times change and although major league baseball players are not yet in bread lines they do seem dwarfed by the popularity of football.

For many households the Super Bowl party is becoming one of the major social occasions. Admittedly plebian compared to the tradition of cotillion and such it is considered to be as much pure pleasure as New Year's Eve once was. Traditions change and its best to change with them or be as overpowered as a salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

Today's Super Bowl Party has a decades-long track record of developing layers of trend and marketing. Magazines are filled with recipes and money saving offers that recommend menus and coach hosts and hostesses on their uses. Many of these contain very good pointers if aimed at selling specific products.

Among the better of these are the snack treats. These tend to be salty rather than sweet. Dips of various kinds are the preferred staple of the Super Bowl Party. Other occasions call for cakes and cookies whereas this is an occasion that highlights the use of salsa and spinach dip.

Paper party goods form most of the Super Bowl decorations but plastic football trays and helmet bowls are used in coordinating favorite team colors. The spinach dip is of course served in a scooped out bread bowl so that the cubes of bread are placed on tooth picks for easy dipping. The chips and salsa can still be served in those ceramic sombrero hats sets though.

Regional favorites work well for Super Bowl celebrations. A roaring fire sets the ambiance in New England while local chowders can, as always, feed the crowd. Rule of thumb? Enjoy!