Super Bowl Sunday! Broncos! Seahawks!  Manning! Sherman! Bruno Mars and The Red Hot Chili Peppers! Cool Commercials!

No Beyonce? Who cares?

Let’s get real here for a moment. The most important thing on Super Bowl Sunday is the eating. That is really what the day is about. Some may hate football, some may hate the overblown ridiculousness of the event, some may hate the blatant commercialism of all of it, but there is one thing all of us as red-blooded Americans can agree on: Eating in front of the TV all day is what we were born to do. It’s a big bag of awesome (especially if that big bag is filled with chili cheese fries).

So in honor of this special holiday –  here are some different takes on classic Super Bowl Sunday grub. It’s a chance to expand your palate while stuffing your face. The game will probably suck, but at least your food won’t.

Super Nachos – You can’t watch the Super Bowl without nachos. It is actually a NFL law that if you fail to observe will result in a penalty flag plus ten yards. But a Super Bowl game deserves Super Bowl style nachos, not just a bag of chips drowning in a pool of Velveeta. Use real shredded cheese and take the time to cover each individual chip (cover it with love), add black beans, and shredded chicken. Bake in the oven for about eight minutes at 425 degrees. Special note: Do not add salsa to the nachos before you bake, as doing that will leave you with a soggy as hell nacho chip. Add it after the nachos come out of the oven – along with the guac – and everyone will love you. Special fact: According to the Wall Street Journal, on Super Bowl Sunday Americans consume more than 71.4 million pounds of avocado.

Wings – So you love wings but you’re tired of buffalo style but you don’t want your friends to think you’re a wimp for not running the traditional spicy route. What do you do? Call an audible and get Thai wings. Thai wings are just as spicy and almost always more flavorful. They are a good way to go different without losing face on the heat factor.

Pigs in a blanket – You really can’t change it up much on the beloved pigs in a blanket. But what you can do is blow it out on the dipping sauces. Offer like twenty or thirty different flavors – anything from lavender mustard to North Carolina BBQ sauce to mango chutney. Come up with one “mystery sauce” and dare your friends to taste and see if they can figure it out what it is. (Seriously, the game is not going to be all that absorbing.)

Calzones – Everyone does pizza. Don’t be like everyone else. Order a few differently stuffed calzones, cut them up and share. It classes the day up a bit. People will remember the calzones more than they will remember the final score of the game.

Bacon – Yup, bacon. Just cook up a massive amount of bacon, pile it high on a plate and serve. Done. It might seem on the simplistic side but, really, are you telling me that there is someone at your Super Bowl party that is going to be disappointed about a huge platter of bacon?

Deluxe Fudge Grahams and French Onion Dip – Wait! Come back! Don’t run away. It may sound weird but it is crazy tasty. You get the sweet and the crunch from the Fudge Grahams mixed with the tang and the creaminess of the French Onion Dip. It is soooo much better than regular chips and dip. People may look at you strange at first but once you get them to try it you will be hailed as the MVP of the day.