I made some of the food for Jay’s Superbowl party this year. It was pretty easy – I chose things that I could do ahead or that came together quickly, and he had the rest (tea sandwiches, fruit platter, crostini) catered.
РI sliced and saut̩ed the sausage yesterday, then heated it in the microwave before the party. I kept it warm in a mini Crock Pot.
– The phyllo triangles can be made far in advance and frozen. I do this often.
– I had a major problem with my avocados today. I usually buy nice big avocados from Costco, and they work out great. Costco had a different brand last week, from Chile. As I was making the guacamole, I discovered stringy fibers of avocado that wouldn’t mash up. I spent a lot of time picking through the avocado and taking out the strings (most of which were brown). It was repulsive. Needless to say, I didn’t eat any guacamole today, even though I got the majority of the strings out. Larry said it tasted fine.
– This is my favorite cheesecake, and everyone really likes it. It’s easy to make. It’s super rich. I don’t know where I got the recipe.

• Sliced and Sautéed Aidell’s Chicken Apple Sausage
• Phyllo Triangles with Goat Cheese-Peppercorn Filling (Fast Appetizers, Hugh Carpenter, p. 84)
• New Age Guacamole (Fast Appetizers, Hugh Carpenter, p. 22) with tortilla chips
• Hummus (Fine Cooking #10, August September 1995, p. 66) with pita chips
• Seven Layer Dip (Sheri’s Recipe Box) with tortilla chips
• Crab Cakes with Chipotle Aioli (Viking Home Chef, Fabulous Fish & Shellfish class)
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Fine Cooking #56, March 2003, p. 55)
• Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake (Sheri’s Recipe Box)