For the Love of Hockey & Food!

Well it's that time of the hockey season again - Steve just left for yet another road-trip.  This time it's a 3-state, 11-game, 20-day road trip! Ouch! Not only does that mean plenty of vegging out on the couch and catching up on my girly shows (cough Pretty Little Liars, 90210 and Gossip Girl cough),  but it also means having waaaaaay too much time to myself.  So, I thought it was about time that I blogged about our Sunday tradition. I guess you could call it both a tradition and a challenge... And it obviously involves food, lots of it! 

We love us some good food! Ever since Steve and I started dating a million years ago, we have branched out and become more adventorous in the kitchen.  Maybe I should rephrase that - Steve has become more adventorous in the kitchen, while I typically sit on the couch with a glass of wine in hand and watch him cook (he's so cute when he's in the zone).  I am very supportive.  Not only does Steve love to cook, but he's really good at it...  Like he's found his calling really good! Thanks to him, our dinners do not consist of your typical meat and potato plate.  For example, this past week after much frustration, he perfected making his own pizza dough and we had potato bacon pizza and a moose sausage, ham and bacon pizza. Delish! (Please do not think that I am a complete wino and dud in the kitchen, I do help out. You can call me his sous chef since I have been known to bring some pretty good dishes to the table. Steve can admit, I make a mean fettucine alfredo with homemade alfredo sauce! I even made a moose/beef meatloaf last week! Impressed myself with that one.)

Anyways, this little foodie challenge/tradition began one night last summer when we were having dinner with four of our very dear friends. We realized that not only were we brought together because of our men's love for hockey (and our love for our men), but also because of our love for food!  The way our challenge works is that every week one couple picks a recipe for another couple and that couple must cook it for everyone (everyone meaning sometimes the 6 of us, sometimes more) that Sunday night.  Still following me? The catch, because there's always a catch:  it has to be relatively inexpensive, contain ingredients we can pronounce and that we might have in our pantries and most of all, be something NEW.  Our own little spin on the FoodNetwork's "Chopped".  Definitely not your normal dinner party! And don't forget the wine, there's always wine!

Oh the things that we've made! Pumpkin and Sausage Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter, Garlic Knots, Orange Sesame Chicken, Egg Rolls, Grilled Thai Beef Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce, Orzo with Vegetables and the list goes on! We even challenged our American friends to make Poutine! I must say, so far there have been absolutely no complaints, everything has been dynamite! 

We have definitely gone outside the box with the recipes, and some have not been easy.  But then again, I guess it wouldn't be called a challenge if it were easy right?! The biggest challenge so far?  I think the award for that goes to Steve and I having to make homemade ravioli for 9 people... 130 raviolis to be exact.  My little sister got the chance to witness Steve and I almost killing eachother while making this meal.  There were times I almost used the rolling pin as a weapon.  But in the end, it obviously turned out to be delicious and well worth the battles in the kitchen.

Tada!  No, the champagne was not to celebrate Steve and I
not killing each other while making the ravioli, our friends had gotten
engaged earlier in the day!

Sunday dinner has always been about a good sit-down meal with family.  It's a time to relax, catch up and chat about the upcoming week.  Our tradition is such a fun way to cap off the busy week, and hockey-filled weekend, and relax with friends, and a nice glass of wine.  It's something we always look forward to in the days leading up to Sunday. While we are not fortunate enough to have Sunday dinner with our own immediate families, we are fortunate enough to share this meal with our very good friends, who are our hockey family... and for me, that's the next best thing :)

I hope that our Sunday dinner tradition inspires you to create one of your own.

        

        Steve taking a much needed swig after
       we finished the homemade ravioli.

Don't let the smile fool you, I was not enjoying this.

For those of you wondering where we get most of our recipes, make sure you check out TasteSpotting.  Possibly one of the greatest websites ever invented. Please click on the recipe name above to go to the original recipe blog.