Boomer Sooner!!

Today is the day for all Sooner fans - The Cotton Bowl 2013!!  I was just sitting here wondering the percentage of Normanites who took off work early, or mysteriously caught some sort of sickness today, just to get out and gear up for the game tonight?  It's okay to have football fever, my friends.  Especially when your team makes it to a bowl game!

Ok, so the pre-game actually starts tonight at 6:30 (Central time) and kickoff is at 7pm.  So, if you haven't already been to the grocery store - good luck!  Go!  Take off work now and get thee to a food supplier!  And for goodness sake, DO NOT FORGET THE BEER!  You still have time to put together some awesome gameday recipes, especially if you bought the University of Oklahoma Cookbook, so don't panic.

Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M.  Both teams stand 10-2 so it should be an exciting game, to say the least!  So start coughing loudly if you are still in the office, and get some supplies.  Don't have the book with you to make your super-fast grocery list?  Here, start off with these, and remember, you can never buy too much cheese...or corn chips.

Ok, you got this!  Now get out there and start your watch party!  We got a bowl game to win!

Boomer Sooner!!

Fun, Food, & Football!

Sorry I've been away from here for a few weeks, it has been really busy on this end.  I've spent the last few weeks preparing a new book proposal and sending it off to my publisher.  I've also been setting up signing events for my new book that came out this weekend!!

Here are the first signing event dates that I will be attending this month:

September 8th - OU Bookstore (Gate 3 of OU Stadium) just before 1st home game, from 3:30-5pm.

September 15th - Full Circle Books, from 12-2:30pm.

I am also in the midst of setting up two different publication parties on the University of Oklahoma campus the last week of September, and the first week of October, if you can't make the first two events.  The publication parties will feature a sampling of some of the recipes from the book (and free food is always a fantastic reason to show up!).  I will have copies of the book to buy ($14.99) and I will sign them there as well.  Solidified dates and times of these 2 events will be updated on my FaceBook page soon!

Now that we got all that business out of the way, how 'bout those Sooners yesterday?  The game started off neck and neck, then after half-time, OU pulled ahead scoring 3 points in the third, and nailing the game down with 2 more touchdowns in the 4th against UTEP.  The Miners lost to #4 University of Oklahoma, 24-7.  Way to start off the season, guys!

Labor Day weekend was THE weekend for kicking off the college football season, from coast-to-coast!  There were seventeen games just on Saturday alone, and the season is just getting started!  So if you will be hosting any game day tailgating parties, watch parties, or other seasonal events that require tasty treats, entrees, dips, or beverages, then pick up your copy of the Official University of Oklahoma Cookbook and have fun this football season!

The Hideaway

Do you like local eateries?  How about pizzerias?  Well, if you live in Oklahoma and want to try something other than the boring ol' pepperoni and cheese variety, check out Hideaway Pizza.

The Hideaway got its start in 1957 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.  If you are interested in the full history and philosophy of this restaurant, click on the link here, it's a fun an interesting read.  This place is awesome  not only for the fresh ingredients they use, but also for the different specialty pizza combinations that they have on the menu.  They have a pizza contest each year, encouraging employees and customers to make up new creations.  The winners get put on the menu, some for a limited time, and a few have made it onto the permanent Specialty Pizzas page.

First of all, I always start with a 50/50, which is half a plate of fried mushrooms, and half a plate of cheese sticks.  

Now, I used to come here every Sunday afternoon in the summers and get the Maui Magic pizza pie (red sauce, mozzarella, Canadian bacon, pineapple, and mandarin oranges) and a chilled goblet of Blue Moon and ate it on the patio.  

But then they stopped carrying Blue Moon, and other beers just didn't go with the Maui Magic as well, so I started getting it to go, so I could drink Blue Moon at home. However, when I dined in here recently, Blue Moon was back on the menu, and I was a happy girl!

My lunch companion and I decided to try one of the new Specialty Pizza's as well as have the usual Maui Magic, so we ordered a half and half pie, the other half being the new "Apollo" (Pesto sauce, fresh spinach, parmesan cheese, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mozzarella and kalamata olives).

After pizza, there was just enough room left over for dessert.  The dessert list was full of hard choices, but ultimately, I had to have the Frozen Lemonade Pie.

I already took a bite or two out of it before I remembered to take a picture.  It was much prettier when it was set on the table.  Sooooo goooood!!

The food is great and the interior screams FUN!  However, if you want to get your food as take-out, Hideaway has an amazingly easy online ordering system!  Just go to http://www.hideawaypizza.com/ and click the bright green button on the left.  You have to sign up one time with an email address and password, then after that, you are good to go.  You can even re-order whatever you got last time without going through and making your selections again.  You just sign in, type in your zip code, and begin your order.  You can pay for it online or pay on receipt at the store.  You can include any special instructions and set the time you want to pick it up.  They don't have delivery, but it's worth your time to go get it.

Have a wedding, reunion, or other grand shin-dig?  Hideaway does catering.  So what are you waiting for?  Give them a try if you haven't before, and go back for more if you have!