Game Day on the Patio: Easy Football Food and a Free Hosting Guide
Every year around this time, I start looking forward to football season. Not just because I like football—although I do—but mostly because our family has a football pool, and we’re a competitive bunch. The trash talk starts early, everyone guards their picks like state secrets, and by Sunday afternoon, somebody is questioning every decision they made.
Johnny B and I also try to make it to at least one Cardinals game every year. Being at the stadium is always fun—the crowd, the energy, and that brief, shining moment when we’re convinced this could be their year.
The Cardinals usually come very close to winning before finding a creative new way to break our hearts. But we keep showing up. Apparently, optimism is part of the dress code.
An Easy Game-Day Menu
My strategy is simple: I am very comfortable letting Costco participate in Game Day. Chips, queso, snack mix, and frozen meatballs? Into the cart they go.
I make the things I enjoy—and the ones everyone would notice if I skipped. That means BBQ ribs, Grumpy Sicilian Pizza, guacamole, and a batch of very good chocolate chip cookies. Seriously, very good.
Here are the three recipes in my game-day starting lineup:
Smoky BBQ Ribs →
Grumpy Sicilian Pizza →
Big Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies →
A Few Game-Day Decorations
The dollar store makes it easy to sprinkle in a few football-themed details without spending much. Grab some striped snack boxes, napkins, and a few inexpensive extras, then add a kraft-paper table runner with hand-drawn football plays. It looks festive, costs next to nothing, and doesn’t require a permanent spot in the holiday-decoration closet.
The suspiciously official-looking plays came courtesy of my brother Greg, who took his assignment very seriously.
Need a few supplies? I rounded up the cooler, serving pieces, and patio extras in My Game Day Favorites →
A Free Game Day on the Patio Guide
I pulled the whole plan together in my free Game Day on the Patio guide. It includes the menu, shopping list, prep timeline, setup checklist, decorating ideas, and printable labels—so most of the decisions are handled before kickoff.
You’ll also receive my monthly From the Nest email—recipes, entertaining ideas, favorite finds, and a little Arizona.
Ready for Kickoff
Now all that’s left is to make our football-pool picks, put the ribs on the smoker, and hope the Cardinals can hang on through the fourth quarter. Win or lose, we’ll have good food, a full patio, and at least one person insisting they knew the outcome all along.
A Few More from the Patio
