I know you have a whole Pinterest board or maybe even two: Super Bowl snacks and Super Bowl decor.  Don’t even mention the third one:  Super Bowl Sweets. Super Bowl XLVIII is this weekend and yes, I know that pizza with the pepperoni in the shape of a football is super cute, but really do you have the time to make all that stuff on your Pinterest board?

I’m excited for Super Bowl Sunday. I mean I’m looking forward to seeing Renée Fleming do the anthem and have an evening of we just hanging around waiting to see a few 1/2 decent ads.  What I love most about this culmination of the football season though is that dinner loses all structure. It’s a meal of modern day All-American mezze of sorts.  And yes, I admit I have pinned a few great dips and dishes in my time, but what local chefs are offering up is way more exciting than most of what I’ve put on Pinterest.  So here is the plan:  pick a pinned recipe or two that you really want to make and do it, then browse the options below and choose one local chef’s kitchen to do the rest of the work.

Even though Chef Tony Maws has both feet walking down The Road Less Travelled this week, he’s not one to overlook a little mainstream pigskin game known as the Super Bowl.  Now that The Kirkland Tap & Trotter is on the scene as well as Craigie on Main, he’s got two “to go” Super Bowl packages for you.

Craigie on Main’s Pigskin Package – $75

• “Head to Tail”  Roast Pig’s Head and Fried Tails, Two Salsas, Tortillas – serves 6-8
• Add 1 quart of Wild Boar Chili and Corn Bread – $20

To reserve a Pigskin Package now, call 617-497-5511

The Kirkland Tap & Trotter’s Super Bowl Package – $75

• 6 Kielbasa sausages accompanied by all the fixings (brioche buns, sauerkraut, KTT mustards, pickles)
• 2 dozen Green Chili Chicken Wings
• 1 quart of Guacamole & 1 quart of Black Bean Dip with Housemade Tortilla Chips

To reserve The Kirkland Tap & Trotter’s Super Bowl Package now, call 857-259-6585

Craigie and Kirkland will be taking orders up to the day before (2/1) – pending availability. Orders will be available for pick up at the respective restaurants on Sunday, February 2, 2014 any time after 1:00pm and before 6:00pm – just in time for kickoff at 6:25pm!

Strip T’s Super Bowl Jewish Deli-Style4 People $120 (additional $30/pp) will get you:
1 lb of corned beef, 1 lb of pastrami, Jake’s dark rye, 16 tzimmes wings, 4 pints of grandma pearl’s matzo ball soup, 4 sweet potato knishes, 8 chocolate rugelach, and all the condiments needed ( house mustard, half sours, pickled green tomatoes, housemade sauerkraut, and russian dressing)

Additional noshes available are:  1 pint of chopped liver ($10), 1 pint of egg salad ($10), 1/2 lb of house smoked turkey breast ($7), 8 tzimmes wings ($11), 1 quart of brisket and bean chili ($15), 4 pieces of kugel ($10), 2 chocolate rugelach ($6), and NYC cheesecake ($6/slice)

Preorder by Friday January 31st, pick up day of between 1 and 3.

Redbones will be open with a limited menu for Super Bowl Sunday

You can call now to reserve your takeout order so that all of your favourites will be served at your party on Sunday.  The catering menu is unreal!  As for my favourites at Redbones: it is all about the vinegar bbq sauce and baby back ribs, but I always get all of the bbq sauces because they are too good to pass up. Call now to place your order 617-628-220

Formaggio Kitchen’s BBQ comes out of Hibernation for the Super Bowl

Each year, the bbq crew at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge pull the flaps out of their toques and head outdoors to fire up their Huron Village pit and cook up a storm for the Super Bowl.  Saturday, February 1st you can see the whole thing in action and experience the camaraderie as we all wait in line inhaling the smell of wood smoke and hmming and hawing over what to order.  The BBQ starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday and ends usually at around 2 p.m. when the last item is crossed off the chalkboard after the final lucky customer walks off with their goodies. If you are in a rush you can skip the line by pre-ordering and picking up inside the shop.  Small pre-orders must be made by 5 p.m. on Friday, January 31st and largers pre-orders are due by tonight (Tuesday) at 5 p.m. Preorders are not heated on the grill at pick up time.  In addition, hot dogs and sausages will not be available for pre-order.  All pre-ordered sandwiches are packaged “deconstructed” with the meat separate from the bread so it doesn’t get soggy. Orders may be called in or given to a member of staff in our Cambridge shop.

Here is the complete menu of what will be available on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday, February 1 at our grill. Please note Formaggio will not be grilling on Sunday, February 2nd – that day will be for pre-order pickup only.

If you are in the ‘burbs then you can check out old standard Blue Ribbon BBQ and newcomer Slow Bones in Burlington.

Blue Ribbon BBQ has game day packages that feed 6-8 people.  You need to order 48 hours in advance.  Delivery is available on orders over $150 for a fee.  Check out the Game Day menu here and then order by calling the catering office (617) Big-Ribs or email catering@blueribbonbbq.com.

Slow Bones has a Tailgate takeout menu too.  From wings to bbq chicken they have packages of all sizes.

If game day food is not your thing then you can always have Heirloom Kitchen bring dinner in.  Or you can have a chef from Kitchensurfing stop by and make your Super Bowl party anything you want it to be.

On the other hand, if you want to leave the house behind there are plenty of great places to watch the game including these two newcomers.

Row 34

Row 34 will have a freshly tapped cask of Domaine Dupont French Cider and Chef Millan is planning a few game day snacks of his own: lobster roe popcorn ($6), 242 fries ($6), Old Bay onion rings ($6), crispy glazed fish collars ($12) and Chef Jeremy’s fried chicken wings (sm. $8/lg. $14)

Commonwealth Restaurant

Then again, maybe you want to throw a party but have someone else do it for you?  Chef Nookie Postal has an offer for you.  $30,000 and you’ll have the party of a lifetime with 300 of your closest friends at Commonwealth in Cambridge.  More details here.