Grey Cup: Football Party Ideas

The 98th annual Grey Cup is scheduled for Sunday Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be played at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta. You don’t want to watch it alone! Football, friends, food and drinks, all in the comfort of your own home—what better excuse to throw a great Canadian party?

Grey Cup Championship – Sun. Nov. 28

TBD vs. TBD
TSN: 6:30 p.m. EST.

DRESSING UP YOUR GREY CUP PARTY

Creating a fun Grey Cup atmosphere is easy to do, and worth the effort. Here are a few ideas:

Encourage guests to come dressed in their favourite team colours or to wear football jerseys.
Wear a referee striped jersey as the host.
Decorate your party room with tablecloths, shirts, jackets, hats and other paraphernalia in team logos or team colours.
Add team and player posters, football equipment, pennants, and photos.
Use white tape or chalk to mark off the yard lines from the curb to your front door—this is also a fun activity to do with the kids.
Cover chair backs with team jerseys. Unless you are a huge CFL fan it may be hard to cover all the chairs with team jerseys, but even a few sports jerseys add to the atmosphere.
Welcome your guests to the party by putting a sign over the door with your name as part of the stadium name (i.e. Smith Stadium, James Field).
Set up friendly football pools to encourage even the non-fans to become involved. Create pools based not only on the outcome of the game but also more random results, like total points, “random square” pools and even the coin toss.

FEEDING THE CROWD

No grid iron gathering would be complete without snacks. It’s a long game, though, so be prepared to offer up heartier fare for your football crowd—especially if you are serving alcohol. Fun food serving ideas:

Design a buffet to resemble a concession stand to dispense the food and/or drinks.
Use items like football helmets, shoulder pads, etc. to hold baskets or bowls of food. (You might want to clean them first!)
Try Astroturf on your buffet instead of a tablecloth.

Try these snacks and appetizers for an interesting spin on this year's big game.

GREAT CANADIAN DRINKS

Football and beer always go well together, but in staying with the Canadian theme, try offering up some Caesars. The Caesar is actually a Canadian invention: It was developed in Calgary, Alberta, in 1969 by bartender Walter Chell to mark the opening of a new restaurant, "Marco's." Its popularity has grown and it is estimated that 250 million Caesars are sold every year.

Classic Caesar Punch Recipe

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

6 oz vodka
36 oz Clam Tomato Cocktail
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Mixing instructions

Add all ingredients to a large pitcher and stir to mix.

Rim glass with lime juice and rimmer. Fill glass with ice and pour. Garnish with celery and lime wedges. Makes eight 6-oz Caesars.

Pitcher of Caesars recipe »

Canada's favorite mixed drink is the "Caesar" and we have the perfect way to serve them to your guests and still leave you able to enjoy the game.

The Canadian Manhattan »

A true classic matched up with a classic Canadian game.

Hot coffee drink ideas »

Along with the standard coffee and pop serve up some spirited coffee and hot chocolate.

Caesar tip

Caesars are “pitcher-friendly,” and the ability to mix a pitcher of Caesars makes hosting your party even easier. To help ease that November chill, leave a bottle of Tabasco beside the bar for those who want some extra spice.

WATERMELON FOOTBALLS!

Augment your Super Bowl feast with a unique, marbled-green football helmet carved from a single round watermelon.

Many a fall and winter weekend is spent with friends watching football culminating with the Super Bowl in early February. A great way to get your guests pumped for the game while enjoying healthy munchies is with a watermelon carving of a football or your favourite team’s logo. Simply carve the laces and pattern of a football into an oblong watermelon, cut the top off to make a removable lid and use a melon baler to create bite-sized snacks.


	SUPER BOWL Party Planning » Big Sports Events on TV - Great Party Excuses »

Directions on carving a Watermelon

Very simple to do, the completed sculpture acts as a vessel for a defensive-line-sized serving of fresh cut fruit.

Using a round watermelon, slice off a piece approximately 4 inches (10 cm) down on the stem end. Set cut piece aside to use later for mouth guard.
Make a curved cut from one side of the melon to the other to cut out the face portion of the helmet. Hollow out the entire melon.
Take the piece that was set aside in step #1 and place cut side down. Place knife at the center of stem end and cut in half.
Take one half of cut piece and draw mouth guard grid with a sharp pencil or thin marker as shown in picture. Remove flesh and using a small knife, cut out grid design.
To assemble, place mouth piece on a plate. Place the helmet piece on top, pushing the mouthpiece ends towards the inside of the helmet. You may need to carve a little out of the helmet ends to fit the mouth grid comfortably.
Fill with fruit salad.

Watermelon: For the health of it

Regardless of the time of year, watermelon is an extraordinary fruit that is packed with goodness. In addition to being a perfect hydrator, watermelon is packed with nutrients including the antioxidant lycopene, vitamin C, thiamine and vitamin B6, vitamin A, pantothenic acid, magnesium and potassium.

Recent studies on the health benefits of watermelon are even more encouraging. Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service in Lane, Oklahoma, have confirmed that watermelon is an excellent source of the amino acid citrulline.

The human body uses cirtrulline to make another important amino acid – arginine – which plays a key role in cell division, wound healing and the removal of ammonia. Citrulline is not only abundant in watermelon but it’s also readily usable by the body and watermelon is one of the few foods that contain high levels of it.

The possibilities for enjoying watermelon are endless. For more inspired recipe ideas, general information plus tips on creative watermelon carving visit » www.watermelon.org