Most Popular Articles

• FEED ME: Get our RSS feed »
  1. Click to add our syndicated content. » Copy the URL to your RSS reader or subscribe using your browser.
• TOUCH ME: Signup for our newsletter »
• TICKLE ME: Get notified when we add new content»

• More
• • Digg
  • Fark
  • Feedmelinks
  • Furl
  • Netscape
  • Newsvine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Champion Munchies

Tis the season--no, not that season--football season. Whether your kids are paticipants or you're a family of fans, we have lots of munchie ideas to keep everyone's energy up for the games, both on the field and on the couch. Check out Munch n' Crunch Caramel Corn or Pretzel Chicken Nuggets. Betsy Block has contibuted a killer wings recipes and a story to go with it---try to forget she's a Patriot's fan and enjoy in the spirit of sports fans everywhere!

Tis the season--no, not that season--football season. Whether your kids are paticipants or you're a family of fans, we have lots of snack ideas to keep everyone's energy up for the games, both on the field and on the couch. Check out Munch n' Crunch Caramel Corn or Pretzel Chicken Nuggets. Betsy Block has contibuted a killer wings recipes and a story to go with it---try to forget she's a Patriot's fan and enjoy in the spirit of sports fans everywhere!

Fuel for the Game: Pretzel Chicken Nuggets
By D. Kubovy
Watching sports on TV needn't be a parents-only activity. Share your love of the game with your kids, and rooting for your favorite teams can be fun for the whole family.

Prep the kids for an afternoon of sports by giving them an overview of the game, with an intro to the basics of play. That way, they'll have a better idea of what's going on while they're watching. "I think watching sports on TV is boring," said one mom. "But once my husband took the time to explain the game to me and the kids, I saw what he loved about it, and we were all able to get into it."
Jump to full text of this article here

Munch and Crunch!
By Elizabeth Wells
Nope, that's not the sound of autumn leaves. It's a snacker's delight. Mmmm! - Microwave Caramel Corn and Nutty Bear Crunch snack mix. So simple you will want to make both while you're in the kitchen. The S. family said they made both treats following school one afternoon. "The cleanup was certainly easy, which I liked," said Beth S. "It was a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon."
Jump to full text of this article here

Easiest Wings Ever
by Betsy Block

In our opinion, the key to great wings is almost over-salting them and almost over-cooking them. And for our kids, no sauces or blue cheese, thanks.

So:
12 wings (about 2½ lbs)
2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lay the wings on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle the salt on both sides of the wings, 1 tsp. per side, then grind pepper on them to taste. (My kids don't like pepper, so if we want them all to ourselves, we know what to do.)

Bake for half an hour, then flip and bake for another half an hour. This ensures that both sides essentially fry in their own fat. I fully understand that if you make these, you'll probably eat them while cheering on your own home team. That's good -- I'm trying to appeal to a national audience here, after all. But maybe you could dedicate just one wing to the Pats ....

One day last year, nine-year-old E came up to me with a smile on his face.
¨"What's up?" I asked.
"I don't know," he answered, sounding mystified.
"I was in the other room and I just started feeling happy, but I can't figure out why."
We went over a few possibilities - a visit from a friend, a particularly good dessert he'd had - but nothing rang a bell. Then I had a thought. He'd just been in the TV room, and fall was approaching.
"E, could this be about the Patriots?"
His smile grew wider in recognition and he nodded vigorously. We hugged, and I wondered: Was it good that we'd managed to create some of our son's warmest, most joyful childhood moments while watching men violently tackle each other onto a stone-hard field?

I remember growing up watching the Redskins with my father. He drank beer, I had my cup of grape juice, and we shared the peanuts. These are some of my fondest early memories, and I've tried to recreate them for our kids. Except for the part where Dad used to yell, "Get him! Kill him!"
So when the Pats are trying to stop the other team from getting a first down, I'll swallow my (obviously inherited) urge to scream "Hurt him." Instead, I'll pump my fist in the air (as gently as possible), or shout out something lame, like "Go! Go!!!" After all, BD and I want to keep our Sunday afternoons with the kids as educational - and nonviolent - as possible. So after we've cheered a particularly rough tackle, I'll make sure to say something preachy about how the players are real people with real feelings. E will nod the first time, then subsequently roll his eyes.

Four-year-old P, meanwhile, isn't having any of it, other than happily yelling "touchdown" when we tell her to. BD and I take turns having tea parties with her in the other room, but we're hoping this changes soon. The signs are pointing in the right direction - at least this season she knows Tom Brady - but when she asks if the Pats have gotten a home run, we realize there's still work to be done.

Often, of course, the game runs into dinnertime. When we first started watching as a family, I insisted that we serve healthy food, so E started equating the NFL with balanced meals when he was just a preschooler. In fact, one of E's favorite football night dinners is baked potatoes and artichokes. (Touchdown!)

But BD and I don't always want a baked potato and artichokes. Those are the times when we - well, he - bakes up a mess of chicken wings. We plate 'em up in the kitchen, then race into the TV room, not wanting to miss a minute of the action.

Not wanting to miss even one of E's beautiful, soul-warming grins.

Betsy Block grew up in Washington, D.C. She worked in catering companies and casual restaurants throughout high school and college. She spent a semester in Kenya during her junior year at Brown, graduating with honors in 1988. She then worked for a year at the renowned Harvest restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Somehow, a few years later, she ended up in a master's degree program at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Just as she was getting dangerously involved with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, she read Ruth Reichl's Le Cirque review. Next thing anyone knew, she had dropped out of graduate school. Since then, Betsy has written hundreds of food features and restaurant reviews for publications such as Gourmet, Epicurious.com, The Boston Globe, Boston magazine, and online city guides Sidewalk and CitySearch. She is a regular contributor to NPR Online's weekly food column, Kitchen Window. She has written on other topics for Natural Health Magazine, Entrepreneur, and Family Fun. Betsy lives outside of Boston with her husband, two kids, an aging but still rowdy mutt, any number of wilting or dying plants, and one (formerly) hardy betta fish (blue, now dead).