A Super Spread

Even though I rarely watch the Big Game, I like to prepare several finger foods for my family. This year there will be four of us as my daughter's friend is coming over to watch the big game on the big screen.

I started working on the food on Friday: chopping vegetables for the veggie pizza.

Then, last evening after we got back home, I got the beef roast into the slow cooker so it could cook slowly all night long.

The beef roast is ready to be seared and then slow cooked.

The beef roast and a cup of beef consomme in the slow cooker.

Now it's time to shred the meat. I ended up picking it apart by hand.

The shredded beef in the homemade barbecue sauce.

Some of the potential players for the sauce. I opted to not use the balsamic vinegar. But I did add some pre-made barbecue sauce to the mix.

Really, you can add anything to your barbecue sauce. And before you ask, Rosie, yes. Even those smelly old gym socks. For the rest of you, that's a joke. Smelly gym socks do not make for a good sauce.

I reduced the beef consomme from the roast and used some of it in the barbecue sauce.

The finished sauce.

Now, this is looking good. And it tastes even better. I'm good. Oh yeah.

Today I baked the crust for the veggie pizza. I bet you can't tell what whack-a-dough product I used for this.

I spread a light ranch veggie dip on the reduced-fat crust. Healthy, isn't it?

And here we have the special teams members. Pre-shredded cheddar cheese, broccoli florets, cauliflower, sliced carrots, chopped sugar snap peas, diced red onion, and celery. I sometimes also add bacon, but as my husband points out, then it is no longer a veggie pizza.

Looks like we have a touchdown, folks!

And now for the adult libations. Cocktail time is the best time of the day!

One cup water and one cup granulated sugar. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. This should give you about 1 1/3 cups of simple syrup.

Meanwhile, measure out 2 cups of whisky and juice about 8 lemons.

Strain the lemon juice and add 2 cups of the juice to the mix. Add about 3 cups of ice and stir.

And we have whisky sours. Please notice the lack of choking hazards (besides the ice).

Cheeseball and crackers, cheese cubes and cut fruit with dip round out our dinner. Play ball! (Oops, wrong sport.)