Super Bowl Spice

What do I love most about the Super Bowl?

          The Food. Imagine that?!

Oh, wait... and the company, commercials, and then the football. If you know my husband he likes spice. His favorite condiment is Tabasco. We buy it by the gallon at our house. I've come to"respect" his tastes buds but I occasionally make him taste one bite of my homemade meals before covering it with the heat. One of our favorite appetizers is Buffalo Chicken Dip and we always follow the Franks Recipe . As the Super Bowl was approaching he begged me to make the dip Tabasco Style, substituting the Franks for Tabasco! Who out there knows the difference in the heat? Whew. So, since we were in mixed company I decided to bring both. Franks Buffalo Chx Dip and Tabasco Buffalo Chx Dip.

I also wanted to bring something else to the party so I decided to keep with the spicy theme and make Jalapeño Popper Pull Bread. Oh, so good!

We had a really good time eating, drinking, and watching the good sport with some of our closest friends.

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

I wanted to do something special for the ladies I work with for Valentines this year, so I decided to bake. Bake a cake!! One of my coworkers is gluten-intolerant so I made it my mission to find a cake that was gluten-free. Low and behold, Pinterest was to my rescue ta-da. And let me tell you, it was a hit. Half of the cake was gone before lunchtime.

Here is the recipe: ((and just FYI, I used all off-brand items))

Strawberry Cake with Lemonade
for the cake:
· 1 1/2 - 2 cups fresh strawberries
· 1 package (15 ounces) yellow gluten-free cake mix (conventional cake mix would work too! I just used Betty Crocker — inexpensive for a GF mix and it was delicious)
· 3 tablespoons strawberry Jell-O (half of a 3-ounce package)
· 1/2 cup vegetable oil
· 3 large eggs
· 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350. Oil two 9" pans. Mix cake mix and strawberry jello in a bowl. Rinse and cut off green tips of strawberries and use food processor to pulse to a purée (need about 3/4 cup). In another bowl mix purée, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Slowly add wet mix with dry using an electric mixer. Pour evenly into pans and cook 18-22 mins. When done, let cakes completely cool on wire racks before icing.

for the lemonade frosting (the best part, if you ask me!)
· 2- 8oz. packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened to room temp.)
· 1 packet (0.23oz.) of Kool-Aid Lemonade
· 1- 7oz. container Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
· 1/3 c. powdered sugar
· 8 oz. Cool Whip Topping (thawed)

Mix cream cheese and lemonade with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add marshmallow creme and sugar and mix until smooth. With a spatula add cool whip to cream cheese mixture until well combined. Ice cake when they are completely cooled.