College Football Weekend

Over here in the Bishop household, we love us some football. The hubs and I cheer for different teams, but we cheer for each other's teams as well. The Friday before opening weekend, me and little man wore our college football gear to school. On Saturday, the hubs put up his flags. Yay for fall and football! Go Iowa State! Go Clemson!

His First ISU Game

The hubs went to Iowa State University. I'm a Cyclone fan by married default. (Go Tigers!!) One thing we both love? Going to football games. We thought about getting season tickets this year, but with a new little one we weren't sure how often we would go. Next year. We did want to get to at least one ISU game this year though. Dayton is such an easy baby and we thought we would take advantage of that! We got the chance to buy some nice tickets and a parking pass from one of Brad's co-workers who does have season tickets. The game was on a Saturday at 11 am and we could not have asked for more gorgeous weather!!

I carried Dayton in the carrier most of the day and game. He. was. so. good!! He loved looking at all of the cardinal red and gold. Loved it! He was so enthralled by all there was to look at. He watched the game, played with the people around us, ate his cereal, nursed, and even took a nap in the stands. Seriously. Easiest baby ever. We had such a great time and we even got to see Jeff Johnson and his wife. Brad worked with Jeff at the Alumni foundation and pretty much became part of their "family." We've seen Jeff and his wife twice now at games and this time we had a baby to show off! We also got to see Brad's friend, Nicole and her husband. This was the first time I've met them in person, but Nicole and I have became "friends" via social media. It was great to finally meet them!

Iowa State ended up losing the game (so close!!), but we had such a great day. It definitely won't be the last time we go to a game this year. Go Cyclones!!

Football Season is Here!

Our favorite time of the year is heeeeeerrreee!!!! It's time for some college football, my friends. Woop! Best part about it this year? Dressing up our kid in all the game day gear. We're a house divided...but we all get along. Thank heavens our teams are not in the same conference!

Goooo Cyclones! Morning game.

 

 

Wardrobe change for the night game..until he blew out of it. Woops.

The Day "H-E-Double Hockey Sticks" Froze

Just kidding! Hell didn't freeze! We just went to an Iowa game. (Almost the same thing, but not quite ok not at all, but you get the idea!)

Background...the hubs went to Iowa State. Iowa State and Iowa are the big state rivals. For those of you in the south, it would be like me (Clemson fan) going to a USC game. Yikes.

Brad and I have not been to one football game this season! *gasp* Yep, not one...until Saturday. A bunch of our friends were going to the Iowa game (only 2 of them are actual Iowa fans) and they asked us if we'd like to go. Since we would be going with a group AND we've been dying to go to a football game, we decided to say, "Yes!" The guys coordinated and got the tickets, the girls coordinated the food, and we all met down in Iowa city on Saturday.

The friends got up and left CF at 6 am. This prego girl got up at 6:30 am. That was as early as it was going to happen in the Bishop household. The hubs wasn't too excited about getting up that early either! I mean, it was Saturday!! We did get coffee on the way, which was my first morning coffee in 3 months! Somehow, that decaf Pumpkin Spice Latte sounded too yummy to pass up!

PS- We did not wear black and yellow. I wore pink. The hubs wore black and camo. This Iowa game was  first for both of us!

We got down to the tailgate spot, ate some food, had a few beers (well, everyone else did), and tried to keep warm. It happened to be COLD that day! Not as cold as the Iowa State game we went to with Sister Beth and Gene last year, but the wind sure was whippin'! We headed into Kinnick stadium about 30 minutes before the game started.

Our seats happened to be on the field, right behind the goal - that was pretty cool. The game was fun. Iowa won. I will say, the yellow and black is pretty cool, but the whole atmosphere seemed to lack something "special." I don't know...maybe it didn't click because we're not fans? I didn't pick up on anything that was specifically "Iowa" or Iowa traditions. It just seemed like a regular football game to me. No complaints here though! I was glad we got to go! The stadium is really nice and the yellow and black did look sweet. Not gonna lie.

Good job Hawks. Good win.

Big Game...Sad Loss

Iowa State vs. Iowa.

It's a pretty big game up here. Brad is an Iowa State alumni, so I've been "cheering" for Iowa State since we met in 2010. So, I've also been a fan of Iowa State for a while now. At some point, I'm planning on completing my second Master's through Iowa State, so our little family is pretty partial.

Some of our friends, Shawn and Amanda, decided to have a Football/30th birthday (for Amanda) shindig at their house. You see, Shawn and Amanda just recently painted their 3 stall garage. Then they installed a 130" projector on the ceiling as well as surround sound. Hello man cave. Guess what Brad (well, and I) want in our garage now..yep a big 'ole projector and surround sound. Seriously, it was awesome!

Amanda asked all us girls to bring a football appetizer with us. I brought baked corn dog minis, spicy chicken roll ups, buffalo chicken dip with chips, and s'mores bars. What...I have a problem...I over bake/cook...every time. Brad just shakes his head now and then asked me why we brought more than we could carry. Ok...he wins! Ha!

There was a pretty good mix of Iowa State fans and Iowa fans. We all set up our chairs in the garage, got our plate(s) of food, and watched the game. Iowa won. Boo. But we had a great time hanging out with everyone! We played bags, lit a bonfire, and ate and ate and ate. Even though ISU lost, it was a great night!

Happy 30th Birthday Amanda!! You make 30 look amazing. Love you lots!! (Amanda is from North Carolina, so we hit it off immediately! She's my people.)

Go Cyclones!

House Divided, but full of Love

In this house...we do football. Love love love it. Brad was a quarterback in high school (as well other sports) and I played all the sports in high school as well. Football has ALWAYS been a favorite.

Brad is an Iowa State fan and I am a Clemson fan. We always say, "It's a good thing our teams don't play in the same conference!!" I don't know if we could handle the rivalry ;)Since our teams will *probably* never play each other, I have adopted the Cyclones and Brad adopted the Tigers.

We are an Iowa State/Clemson household. Woo!

The following are a few pictorial descriptions on how we feel about football and football season.

All that being said....this was one of our favorite wedding gifts from Brad's cousin and her husband (along with our previously owned flags).

We love it. It's awesome. Gooooo Clemson! Gooooo Cyclones!

2013 Super Bowl Party

The Super Bowl. Woohoo! However, both Brad and I did not care about either team that was in the game. We tend to root for the Vikings, so we both just picked a team and halfheartedly rooted for them.

Our Super Bowl parties started back in 2011. Brad and I met in Dec 2010, and by Feb 2011 we were planning our first Super Bowl Party! Brad had mentioned that he wanted to have one, but wasn't so sure about the food part. I was asked/volunteered to help out in that department. I made the menu, we went to the grocery store, and away I cooked! Our first Super Bowl party went really well and we had TONS of food left over. I tend to over-cook...like every time.

Our second Super Bowl party was in 2012. We invited friends, co-workers, and had yet again, waaay too much food. This time I started cooking on Saturday and cooked the rest of the goodies on Sunday. Having parties, cooking, and hosting is definitely something I LOVE to do! Brad and I both love having people at our house and hosting, so I think this year we will think of lots more excuses to do so!

We wen back and forth about having a Super Bowl party this year. We've been in our house for about 3 months and we're still pretty new to the area. About 2 weeks before the Super Bowl, we decided to go ahead and have a party. We invited several of our friends - Deere friends/couples, church friends/couples, and work friends/couples. We quickly realized how blessed we are to have made so many new friends here! A lot of people had already made plans, were going to be out of town, or um...having a baby at any minute, so we ended up with 3 of our close friends coming over. All together there were8 of us. It was a good number for our little Super Bowl feast.

I say "feast" because I had told Brad, "I'm just going to do something easy this year. Small appetizers and goodies. Let's keep the menu smaller and ask people to bring something small with them." At least I tired?!? Yet again, my hosting personality kicked in and or small menu turned into a medium..."largish" menu. Our dining room table turned into the food table with overflow on the kitchen island. All in all, we had yummy food, good friends, and lots of laughs. I'm really glad we ended up having our 3rd annual Super Bowl party. We'll plan ahead a little more for next year!

These are the pictures I snapped right before our friends started showing up. I added about 4 more dishes to this while friends were walking in the door! Pluuuus, everyone brought at least one dish with them! Food-fest!!

The table...

Most of the food! Yum Yum!!

Good thing we saved Sunday as our cheat meal day....

It was FREEZING ~ Iowa State Game

Yep...somehow Sister Beth and I were talked into going to the Iowa State vs. West Virginia game the day after Thanksgiving. At first, it seemed like it would be a good idea. The weather had been gorgeous up here - a little chilly, but the sun was out and the wind wasn't terrible.

Well, all of that changed over night. When Brad and I got up Friday morning (no we did not go shopping), um there were definitely SNOW flurries! The sun was out, but it was frigid!! Around 11:30 am, we drove out to Ames (where Iowa State is). It was about a 2 hour drive and we were very bundled up. I'm talking 2 pairs of pants, 3 tops, hats, gloves, goats, socks, etc. Brad and I met Sister Beth and Brother Gene in Ames. We got to our hillside seats and had blankets under us and wrapped around us... Let's just say...

I/WE FROZE TO DEATH!

Seriously people, I'm talking frostbite. I was convulsing shaking the whole game. I know, I'm a wimp, but even Beth, who is used to this, was freezing! We toughed it out and stayed the whole game. It was a good game, pretty close, but Iowa State lost. Sad.

After the game, we went to the famous "Hickory Point" restaurant. It's a BBQ/burger place and it was delicious! I'm glad Brad thought to bring me there so I could experience it!

Overall, we were FREEZING...but we had a good time :) Next year...season tickets!

Bishop Fall Trail Mix!

Continued... Here is another recipe I used for tailgating this weekend at UNI with Brad's family!

I love trail mix. Unfortunately, I usually can't eat them, because they almost always have nuts/peanuts in them. So...I took matters into my own hands! I used a few Fall Trail Mixes that I had found and combined and edited them to suit them to our needs! Here's what the "Bishop Fall Trail Mix" contains!

Tailgate recipe #4:
Bishop Fall Trail Mix

Ingredients:

• Cheddar crackers, like Cheez-Its
• Honey Nut Cheerios
• Pretzel squares
• Caramel popcorn
• Marshmallows (I almost got the pumpkin marshmallows, but they were kind of big!)
• Candy corn
• Dark chocolate M&M's
• Honey roasted Almonds (Blue Diamond Almonds) OR Salted Almonds

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients. 
2. Some packages will be bigger than others. Try to add ingredients proportionally. 
3. Put Trail Mix in a large serving bowl. Enjoy!

Happy mixing!

Funfetti Whoopie Pies

Continued... Here is another recipe I used for tailgating this weekend at UNI with Brad's family!

Who does not love sugar cookies, sprinkles, and icing! Um, hello sweetness overload! I know, I know, I'm a child at heart! The hardest part about this recipe...was not eating all of the dough! I take after my mother when it comes to cookie dough. I found this recipe on another blog. I wish I could remember which one it was though!! Oops... Oh well, here's a colorful, sweet cookie for you! These turned out so well! They just might be one of my new favorites.

Tailgate recipe #5
Funfetti Whoopie Pies

Ingredients: Cookies 

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 1  1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. imitation butter flavor
• 1 egg
• 2  2/3 all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup colored sprinkles (I used the long kind)

Directions: Cookies

1. Beat the butter and sugar on high speed for about 5 minutes or until fluffy. 
2. Add the vanilla, butter flavor, and egg. Beat until well combined. 
3. Sift in the flours, soda, and salt. Mix to combine. 
4. Stir in the sprinkles. Chill the dough. (If you're in a hurry, throw in in the freezer). 
5. Preheat the oven to 375º. 
6. Take a small piece of the dough, roll into a ball, dip in the sprinkles, and place on the baking sheet. 
7. Repeat until the sheet is filled. Bake about 7 minutes. 
8. Keep the remaining dough in the freezer while the other are baking. 
9. They will flatten out as the bake and puff up a little when they're done. 
10. Sandwich cooled cookies together with filling if desired (recipe below).
    

Ingredients: Filling

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 sticks cold butter, chopped into small cubes
• 1/2 cup sprinkles (I used the little round ones)

Directions: Filling

1. Beat the cream and vanilla until slightly thickened. 
2. Beat in the powdered sugar until thick and smooth. 
3. Beat in about one fourth of the cold butter cubes at a time on high speed. 
4. Beat for about 10 minutes on high speed in your stand mixer until smooth. 
5. Use to fill cooled cookies. 

Note: I was not excited about how the filling turned out, so I ended up using Whipped Icing that I bought from the store!

Happy baking!!

Bishop Family Tailgating ~ UNI!

This weekend was UNI's Homecoming weekend! The Bishop's tailgate at this game almost every year, but this was Brad's and my first time. Between us 3 ladies, we made entirely too much food, but it was fun!!

Brad and I got there around 12:30 pm.  We met Brad's parents, Beth and Gene, Abby, and a bunch of Beth and Gene's college friends there! We had a big table of dips, cookies, and goodies, a UNI Panthers tent, a grill, hamburgers, bags, ladder ball, and of course beer. It started out a little cold, but the sun came out and it turned out to be a perfect day.

We found out Brad and I are terrible at ladder ball, but still got our bags "game on." Abby and I played a lot all day. We rolled down the hill, raced up the hill, and spun around a lot! Brad and I threw the football back and forth for a while. My hubby's a hottie throwing a football, and I think I impressed him with my "quarterback" skills. ;) Obviously, not as good as him though!

During our football throwing, someone yelled that TC was driving by (TC is UNI's panther mascot). Abby had colored TC a picture, so Grandma, Beth, and Abby ran down to see him while I grabbed the camera. Beth knew someone in the car, so TC stopped and Abby gave him her picture! It was soooo cute (caught on camera below)!! Overall, it was a great afternoon!

Cheddar Bacon Dip

Continued...This weekend we are tailgating at UNI's homecoming game with Brad's family!

This. Dip. Is. Delicious!! I have also heard it called, "crack dip." It's really good on crackers or chips! It is super easy too!

Tailgate recipe #3:
Cheddar Bacon Dip

 Ingredients:

• 16 oz. sour cream
• 1 packet Ranch dressing mix
• 3 oz. bacon bits (from the bag, not the jar)
• 1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

Note: I ended up doubling this recipe. It goes pretty quickly and if you have a larger group, you will need a double batch!

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Transfer dip to container.
3. Chill for 24 hours.
4. Serve with chips, crackers, or veggies.

Happy cooking!

Cream Cheese Cookies

Continued...This weekend we are tailgating at UNI's Homecoming game with Brad's family!

This recipe is a family recipe. My mom makes these cookies every Christmas during her 2-3 day cookie baking event! These cookies are so soft and delicious. The best part about these cookies is that you can make them in many different flavors, because you use a cake mix! I have made yellow cakes cookies (pictured below and my favorite), strawberry cake cookies, chocolate cake cookies, and red velvet cake cookies (not my favorite). These are great to bring to any event!

Tailgate Recipe #2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1, 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1 package (18.5 oz.) cake mix (your choice!)

Directions:

1. Cream butter and cheese.  
2. Blend in egg and vanilla. 
3. Add cake mix, 1/2 at a time; mix well. If mixer is used, add last part of cake mix by hand.  
4. Chill dough for 1/2 hr.
5. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  
6. Drop by scant teaspoonfuls on un-greased baking sheet.  
7. Bake 8 to 10 min., until delicately browned.  
8. Cool cookies before removing from baking sheet.

Happy baking!

Apple Brownies

This weekend we are tailgating at UNI's homecoming. We are tailgating with Brad's parents, sister and brother-in-law, and friends. Throughout the week, the girls have been deciding on what to bring. I decided to look up some "fall" recipe's. Here's on that I found!

(UNI is the University of Northern Iowa that is in our town, Cedar Falls. Brad's brother, Matt, and his sister, Beth, both went to UNI. From what I have seen and heard, it is a very nice school. After being in the Cedar Falls School District, it is obvious to see the influence that the University has in Cedar Falls.)

Tailgating Recipe #1

Apple Brownies
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 medium apples - peeled, cored, and sliced thinly (I would recommend only 2)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I substituted slivered almonds since I'm allergic to walnuts!)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Note: I ended up using 1 1/2 cups flour and 2 tsp. cinnamon. I used the 3 apples, and I wanted to make sure the apple didn't over-power the "brownie" affect.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the melted butter, sugar, and egg until fluffy. Fold in the apples and walnuts. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just blended. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Happy Baking!

Iowa State!

This weekend, Brad and I went to my FIRST Iowa State game! We had been emailing back and forth with the Alumni President about tickets and going to the game with him and his wife. (Brad used to work the Alumni Foundation at Iowa State and made some very strong relationships while he was there!) We got tickets, thanks to the generosity of the Alumni president, and headed to the game! Luckily, we are only an hour and a half from Ames, so it was a quick trip!

Obviously, we stopped at the bookstore before the game to pick up some more Iowa State gear! We walked to the Alumni building and met up with the Alumni President and his wife. They were so sweet! I was so glad to meet them and the first thing they said was, "Welcome to the family. We're a family here and Brad was a big part of our family, so you are family too!" They handed us our...VIP!!! passes and off we went!

We were able to sit in the Jacobson Athletic Building...which is ON the field right behind the goal post. The football players went through this building, led by Coach Rhodes and ran out onto the field! We sat in seats on the buildings balcony and enjoyed the best view of the game. What an experience!! We are so thankful to Jeff and his wife!

Fruit Pizza

Until I started dating Brad, I had never had fruit pizza! I know...I know. That sounds crazy right?!? Well, now I am in love! (P.s.- Brad's mom makes the best fruit pizza.)

We were going to a friend's house to watch a football game, so Saturday morning I decided to make fruit pizza to take with us! This was the first time I had made it myself. All I had was Momma Bishop's sugar cookie recipe. I found a few recipes for the topping, but I tweaked one until it was satisfactory. I was pretty pleased with the results!

Fruit Pizza
 
Crust:
The bottom of fruit pizza is a large sugar cookie. I used a family recipe for mine. Any sugar cookie recipe will do. Just spread the dough out onto the pan and make sure it is flat. I used a whole batch of sugar cookie dough on my fruit pizza, so the "crust" was thick - which worked great!

Creamy Topping:

• 2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup whipped cream (I used Miracle whip in the container)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Press dough into an un-greased pizza pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar, whipped cream, and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.
5. Arrange desired fruit on top of filling, and chill.

Happy baking!