Green Bay Packers

This is a biggie; it's our arch rival Green Bay Packers. I had to pull out all the stops on this one. Of course, I knew it had to be cheese something. After talking with friends, I decided to modify a recipe to create Cheesehead Chowder. It would include Cheese, Beer and Mike Ditka Hall of Fame Salsa. A no fail approach I was certain.

I began in the afternoon so the soup could simmer and be warm when I returned from an early evening meeting. I wore my jersey to the meeting and hustled out of there arriving home just minutes before kick-off. The door was left open for the rest of the fans to hurry in and take their places for kick-off.

My apologies to Robbie Gould. I was slow handing out the soup which may have caused him to miss the early field goal but, once we started eating, the Packer mistakes just kept coming. 18 penalties, wow! Even more impressive was Hester; it's so great to watch him run! It was a perfect ending, when Robbie had the chance to show off his skills by kicking the winning field goal moving the team to an awesome 3-0!

The recipe for success follows:

Cheesehead Chowder

3 cups peeled and diced potatoes

2 1/2 cups water

Step 1. Placed potatoes in a bowl with the water, set aside.

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 minced garlic clove

1/2 cup chopped celery

12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

Step 2. Melt butter in a 5 quart Dutch over, saute vegetables over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

2 cups cauliflower, cut in small pieces

Step 3. Add potatoes, water and cauliflower to the pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

1/2 bottle of beer (you can add the whole bottle if you want)

Step 4. Remove pan from heat, add beer.

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 cups milk

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cups Velveeta, cut into cubes

Step 5. In medium sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper. Cook 3 minutes stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly. Slowly stir in the milk and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until thickened. Add cheese, stir until melted. Add sauce to the potato mixture.

16 ounces canned, diced tomatoes with juice

1/2 to 1 tsp Mike Ditka Hall of Fame Salsa

Step 6. Add tomatoes (with juice) and salsa to the potato mixture. Heat stirring frequently but do not boil.

Enjoy and Go Bears!