I associate different menus depending on the athletic event the meal is surrounding. The one I am sharing today sways football to me – chili, apps, and some perhaps light theme-y sweets. One of Autumn’s blessings is the invigoration from playing and watching autumn sports.

Delivery pizza is really fun in the winter surrounding a basketball game. Baseball is more picnic, summer food, and salty snacks. Baseball is my favorite sport, and not just because I believe it has the best snacks and food culture. There’s more beyond this too. Off the top of my head, hockey is homemade calzones or meat hand pies. I’ll stop here, but I could go on. (Turkey legs for polo matches??)

For a special football menu, I first like to make a tablescape, which for an occasion such as this is going to be a very playful concept – a football field. It’s easy with a green table cloth and white tape or stickers for the yard markers, and is a delight to children. With sports food settings, I think part of the fun is being a little kitschy.

(Side note, are you familiar with people building “food stadiums”? A browser search may further illuminate you to this slightly shocking and entertaining world.)

If I asked my husband what’s one thing he would definitely want to have for a game day apps spread, I know he would want these homemade fresh jalapeño poppers. The key word there is they’re made with fresh jalapeños, so it’s a quite different than your typical sad frozen-jalapeño poppers. The dough can be puff pastry or crescent roll. For the spice lovers!

The other thing I know he’d say is this roasted tomato and sweet onion dip. Warm and melty cheeses, like you want in comforting sports food, but also slightly elevated from sad liquid cheese.

Definitely caprese skewers because it’s just my favorite flavor combination of an appetizer, maybe all-time. Also a vegetable board with a good dipping dressing.

For the main dish, a chili! Here’s a one pot quinoa turkey chili and I also deeply love ina’s chicken chili. (Ina’s is lighter feeling. Ignore that the picture isn’t very amazing, and I cut the onion measurement in half.)

And then – the chili toppings!! The toppings can sort of make the chili. Consider sliced limes, minced red onion, cilantro, grated cheddar (freshly grated makes a difference for the better), sliced radishes, avocado, crumbled bacon, ONION RINGS (I especially love those with ina’s chili above), corn bread, green onion, sliced or diced jalapeños, halved cherry tomatoes, and I guess sour cream, which I don’t like but others do!

I’ll throw in some football shaped brownies or these oreo cheesecake cupcakes.

And lastly, lots of fun drinks.

“Be not out of tune with nature.” Charles Spurgeon