Touchdown!

Eli Manning. Tom Brady. Brett Fav-re. Mandy Heaston.  Each of these individuals has been victorious in his or her own field.  While the three gentlemen were awarded a shiny new Super Bowl ring for rushing, tackling, and kicking, Mandy is walking away with a enviable new $250 Sam's Club gift card for mixing, rolling, and baking. 

Question: Mandy Heaston, now that you've won the Peanut Butter and Julie Ultimate Super Bowl Showdown, what are you going to do next ?? 

Answer: I'm going to Sam's Club!

Selecting the winner of this contest was not an easy decision by any means.  Over the past week, I received dozens and dozens of creatively-titled mouthwatering entries that any Big Game fiesta attendees would be lucky to gobble down.   Whether or not your favorite team wins, I know that your guests will leave with smiles on their faces (if you can get them to leave, that is.)  Thank you all so much for your participation.

In the end, however, the recipe that was deemed "most valuable" was Mandy Heaston's Touchdown Taco Pockets, a creatively simple (and much neater) twist on the popular hand-held party food.  By enclosing the ingredients between refrigerator biscuits and then baking, these "tacos" become easier to eat.   What really scored the winning points for this recipe was the fact that Mandy shaped the pockets like little footballs, complete with laces made from leftover biscuit scraps (I can hear the oohs and aahs from your party guests now.)  What a fantastic idea!  In fact you could apply this technique to fit the theme of almost any celebration: heart pockets for Valentine's Day, eggs for Easter, etc.  Kids will love 'em.  Adults will love 'em.  Most importantly, you'll love 'em because they are a snap to make.

The recipe for these Touchdown Taco Pockets is featured on Mandy's blog, Gourmet Mom on the Go, along with a helpful video tutorial during which Mandy shows you her techniques for shaping and cutting the pockets.  Her pictures look much better than mine do too, so I encourage you to visit her site!

Congratulations to Mandy!  Mandy, if you will send me your contact information, then I will arrange for the $250 Sam's Club gift card to be sent directly to you.  Start composing your shopping list now......

Thank you again to everyone else who sent me a recipe.  I was so impressed with the variety of ideas, football-themed titles, and range of ingredients.  Enjoy the Super Bowl and Happy February!   

Here my personal notes after making these terrific taco treats:

• Instead of using two regular sized refrigerator biscuits for each side of the pocket, I found that using one of the extra-large sized biscuits (a.k.a. Grands) per side is sufficient.
• As a variation I tried adding a bit of salsa on top of the cheese, inside the pocket, as opposed to using it for dipping or as a condiment.
• I baked my pockets on parchment paper as opposed to a greased cookie sheet

• If you are having a tough time getting the sides of your pockets to stick together, try brushing the inside rim of the bottom pocket with a bit of water before adding the top side.  Bushing the "laces" with a bit of water also helps them to adhere.