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The Dos and Don'ts of Hosting a Great Super Bowl Party

Easy ways to keep your guests happy and yourself stress free on Super Bowl Sunday.

For football fans across the nation, Super Bowl Sunday means one thing...PARTY! If you and your home are playing host to one of these parties you may feel a little added pressure to put on a great shin dig. Here are some do's and don'ts to help you stay worry free and keep your guests happy.

Do- Plan a Menu

As host, the food and beverage menu should be priority number one. Stay stress free by pre-planning your menu. Buying nonperishable items well in advance can help avoid any last minute trips to the store.

Food can be as easy as chips and salsa and as complicated as surf and turf so it helps, when planning, to have a theme.

For example, your theme could be dips. You could serve chips and salsa, crackers and cheese, vegetables and ranch dip, fruit and honey dip, and crusty bread and spinach dip.

If you have a nice barbecue you could have a meaty theme and grill different sausages, ribs, kabobs, and burgers.

Once you have planned your menu look for good food and beer pairings and choose your beverages to go with your theme. Make sure to have non-alcoholic options for guests under 21 and designated drivers.

Grocery stores around South Pasadena are all offering Super Bowl specials on food and beverages, including Bristol Farms, Ralphs and Pavilions. 

Do- Delegate

It is quite likely that your party guests will include close friends and family, asking to them to participate will help ease the burden on you and give you more time to enjoy their company and the game. Have them  bring a favorite appetizer, drink, or dessert for everyone to try.

Don't- Go Overboard.

The primary focuses of a Super Bowl party are to eat/drink and watch football.  Don't waste a lot of time getting out your good china or hand scrubbing your floors. Those fondant covered cakes shaped like footballs might be nice but will go largely unappreciated.

Give yourself a break. Buy paper plates and plastic utensils and make sure your television works.

Do- Brush Up on the Game

A working knowledge of football is essential for any party host. Before your guests arrive you should know some or all of the following:

  • What teams are playing
  • Who the two quarterbacks are
  • How many points a touchdown is worth
  • What it means to be in the "red zone"
  • At least one other way a team can score besides a touchdown
  • What the Vegas odds are

Don't- Be a Know it All

Understanding and appreciating football is great but nobody likes an insipid know-it-all. Keep the ancient football stats and unnecessary trivia to yourself and enjoy the game at hand.

Do- Mandate Responsible Drinking

Remember you are the host until your guests return to their own homes. Making sure they get there safely is an important duty. Collect car keys in a bowl or a small safe, designate drivers, and make sure you have the number for a taxi service on hand. Locally, try Glendora Taxi Service 626-280-44.

Now that your menu is planned and you know how many innings-oops- I mean quarters are in a football game, you are ready to host your party. Remember to cheer loud and have fun. If you relax and enjoy yourself your guests will too!

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Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
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ROBERT E. FISHBACK May 18, 2013 at 07:34 am
This is sad and angering. Supers seem to cursed with a strain of lowsy. This is when the people enRead More masse need to stand up for the teachers and start their own pot of relief until the over due raise comes on line.
Thomas Thieme May 17, 2013 at 07:07 pm
Thanks for the gesture. I'm one of those South Pas teachers. It would also be nice if you could askRead More the superintendent, now that we have historically high reserves (thanks partly to teachers taking on more work and receiving no raise for five years) and stable financing from the state, could we please now get a cost of living increase? He's refusing to allow us to negotiate this matter.
ROBERT E. FISHBACK May 17, 2013 at 02:59 pm
Why teachers pay for supplies and how to help are two different questions. Which one do you mean?Read More They pay because they are quality teacherw who want their studants to get the best they can give. How we can help does not require new programs as to how help can be given. This would open the door for how can we help people who want to help. Answer: stick you hand into your pocket and give the teacher a five or ten. Simple, isnt it?
ROBERT E. FISHBACK March 29, 2013 at 01:24 pm
I cant tell you where I live....you would ban my posts ! But, my childhood roots are in Glendale,Read More but I have many pleasant memories of the Pasadena Winter Garden where I used to skate when I has about twelve (1950). I was playing with puberty and oh, the girls in their shortie dresses and legs....There was such a romantic feel to the place. I think I recall a circular wood burner in which there was a fire going on cold days and nights. I still have a punch card showing I was a member of the Penguin Club. There is an area in Glendale that has a peculiar feel to it and it is between Virginia and Mountain....roughly between Ruberta and Central. This isnt Pasadena, of course. That area was my stomping grounds in the 40's. Right there, I thought...it was right there where we talked and laughed....under the light of a street lamp..she was so very cute and precocious. All gone away so long ago..I "heard" her laugh in a capricious breeze that sprang, up...also carrying the scents of Jasmine...So many stories like this in Pasadena too. The people who came and went, but left in their wake a presence like a fire fly's glowing arc.
Donna Evans (Editor) March 29, 2013 at 01:07 pm
@Robert Thanks! You totally made my day :-)
ROBERT E. FISHBACK March 29, 2013 at 12:25 pm
This has to be one of best posts...ever...so pleasant...great writing...There is an ambiance to thatRead More area which I noticed when I lived out there...Pleasantly haunted with happy little things....BOOO !