AFC Champions! 


Our eldest, Erik, was 5 the last time we watched the Cincinnati Bengals do this.  Gosh, I have lots of memories from watching my former (he was too old by then for such a moniker,) Baby Tiger cheer on that team.  We were living with my Mom, and as luck would have it, the family room carpet was orange.   This was 1988, but anyone who ever had orange carpet knows that they were impervious to carpet-replacing damage.  (https://flashbak.com/a-clockwork-carpet-when-floor-coverings-went-orange-374501/)   Besides, with a 2 year old (also happily cheering on “the Bengoes”) and a 5 year old— and a puppy, what was the point of choosing something new?


We have lots of happy memories of heading toward the Super Bowl. Erik’s birthday was always close to the date of the Big Game, and in our Kentucky years, that meant tacos or chili or some other fun meal with our dear friends Kit and Gerald.  (They were colleagues, Graff’s Godparents and stood up for us at our wedding.  We never move toward this point in the year without missing them.). Eventually, I stopped cooking because
Erik was making his famous five meat chili, (Ask me for that recipe!) We were just setting the table. 


There have been plenty of years when the Super Bowl was more about the food.  Occasionally it was more about the Half Time Show.  But this year, having lived in Ohio the last time those across the buckeye state could scream “Who Dey” with conviction, it may be tacos and chili and pizza


Kudos to the Kansas City Chiefs. They will have their time, it seems certain.  But as always when memory and family and food combine, this Super Bowl is sure to be a classic of some kind. 






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