{football friday} season kick-off with smoky sweet potato dip + a southern living cookbook giveaway!
Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 2:09PM Inevitably, every year on a weekend in April or May my husband will be surfing TV channels and express with great exasperation, "I wish football season lasted all year."
To those of you around the country and across this globe who have no real love for football, I know this sounds crazy. To those of you who grew up as I did immersed in the culture that is "SEC Football," you get it. I know you do.
Last year's {football friday} posts were immensely popular here on my blog, so I couldn't help but host again this season. And to kick things off, I've got a very, very special giveaway below for one lucky reader! I was lucky enough to snag a copy of Southern Living's new SEC Tailgating book (enter to win at the bottom of this post).
For football fans - even if you're a non-SEC fan - you are going to love this book. Heck, you don't even have to be a football fan to love good tailgating food right?
This book is jam-packed with not only mouth-watering pictures and recipes of gameday favorites, but also layered with priceless recollections and narratives about the spirit of football in the SEC.
This quote in the book from University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt sums up perfectly why we even need an entire cookbook dedicated to SEC football food and why I am devoting an entire season on my blog to tailgating two years in a row:
The one caveat is that this book does - in delicious Southern Living style - not really hold back on the indulgence factor... and I'm okay with that. Not to say there aren't healthy options in there, there are. But I believe there's always room on every tailgating table for some indulgent eats. And I'll be offering dishes throughout the season to provide a little more calorie balance. You can have the best of both worlds...
And if all of that isn't temptation enough to enter the giveaway or head straight over to my Amazon store to grab your copy, then check out this recipe from the book:
My husband's all-time favorite tailgating dish, Brunswick Stew (image and recipe reprinted with permission from Southern Living & Oxmoor House). Trust me friends, this is a dish you need a good recipe for. You don't want to be that wife *like me* that can't ever seem to get Brunswick Stew right.
Need more temptation?
There's also an entire spread devoted to Team Spritzers (which I confess to being devilishly excited about taste testing with friends on The Plains this fall.)
Lastly, I'm sharing today one of my own all-time favorite appetizers - Smoky Sweet Potato Dip*.
If you're thinking "sweet potato? in a dip? what?" Don't hesitate for one moment. You will love it. Smooth, creamy, spicy, smoky... it's all in there. Plus, it's power-packed with fiber + vitamin A... this one will definitely fill you up for those LONG game days.
And as with last season, I've opened up a blog hop below for other talented bloggers to share their own favorite gameday eats all season long.
Best of luck to all you football fans out there. Maybe your team win (...unless of course you're playing Auburn on any particular Saturday and then it's game on. War Eagle!)
Smoky Sweet Potato Dip
Keywords: appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon salsa
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces) shredded Pepper Jack or 50% Reduced Fat Pepper Jack cheese [I used Cabot]
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bake sweet potato at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool slightly and peel.
3. Place baked sweet potato in small food processor or blender; add remaining ingredients. Pulse until well combined. Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh veggies, crackers or tortilla chips.
