You’ll watch the Super Bowl on February 3 for at least one of these reasons: the sport, the commercials, the halftime spectacular (Tom Petty, really?), or the chance to sit on the couch for an afternoon and snack.
We can’t ensure the quality of the first three, but we can help with the food. Here’s a Tex-Mex mix of snacks and hearty grub with some of the scary bits (fluorescent orange cheese dip) tweaked to make them less reminiscent of something that came out of a pump at the movie theater. This menu is packed with make-ahead recipes, meat-free and meat-full options, and things to dip into (if you’re feeling ambitious, you can make the chips yourself). And if you’re not so pumped about the prospect of men in padded suits running into each for hours on end, we’ve included the fixings for a sundae station so you can feign ice-cream-scooping busyness, and blended margaritas so you have an excuse to get up every time your glass sinks below half full. (If blended isn’t your thing, try our Perfect Margarita. If beer is your thing, try some of these smoked brews. And impress your friends with your bottle-opening prowess.) Just be careful with those drinks: You should at least attempt to keep your composure for all four quarters.
