grumble grumble grumble FOOTBALL!!!!!

I do enjoy the football. Not completely of my own choosing, but after about 10 years with the Notre Dame alum husband, it's rubbed off on me. But to be honest, I could not have cared less about the teams playing in the Super Bowl this year -- if it's not my boo Tom Brady, I'm not interested. This year, it was more about the food.

Menu highlights:
Bacon-Wrapped Tater Tots
"Loaded Baked Potato" Tater Tots (sour cream, chives, cheese, bacon)
Plain Tater Tots (for the vegetarians in the room)
Baked Jalapeño Poppers
Popcorn Chicken with three dipping sauces (including BBQ sauce all the way from Texas)

There were other, more healthy, choices as well, but these were the ones I was most excited about.

and of course . . . .

CAKE POPS!!!!

They were SO GOOD!!! A big coma-inducing, but totally worth it!

The How-To:

First I made the obb-long balls (I smoothed out the lines after they had firmed up a little).

Sticks:

Dipped in Dark Chocolate candy:

This was actually pretty tricky. The balls were heavy (enough cake for about 24 balls stuffed into 11 footballs!) and oddly shaped.

White decorating gel for the laces:

I also made a few bonus pops . . . I had extra candy, and some Oreos lying around . . . I didn't want to waste any!