It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, but what you eat during the big game. Right?

“Super Bowl weekend is extreme. It is busy and comparable to Christmas,” said Kathy Lockwitch, bakery manager at Kinsley’s ShopRite in Brodheadsville. “It is another reason to have a party.”

The store can be a one-stop shop for partygoers’ needs as they prepare to watch the Los Angeles Rams versus the New England Patriots this weekend.

The bakery has cupcakes and cakes made and decorated in-house, as well as Carvel ice cream cakes with the football theme. There are six-packs of cupcakes with either plastic Rams rings or Patriot rings.

“Our cakes in the serving case will be decorated in the football theme,” said Lockwitch, a store employee for 32 years.

Individual chocolate and vanilla cupcakes have been put together in a football shape, covered with brown icing and the laces are either in a smile or frown with a set of eyes above.

“We have a happy face for a win, and sad face if their team loses,” said Lockwitch.

The bakery also sells plenty of rolls, bruschetta breads for dipping, party platters, cannoli, large chocolate chip cookie cakes with messages and cookie trays for Super Bowl, Lockwitch said.

She prefers if clients call orders in ahead of time, so she and her staff can be prepared.

Foul in the end zone

Let’s get back to the starting point: Pizza, wings and subs.

These are the top main dish sellers, said John Hunt, executive chef at Shop Rite for six and a half years.

“We will have a huge, temporary wing bar set up with 12 different styles of wings,” said Hunt, who is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and who worked as an executive chef and chef garde manger at two Pennsylvania ski resorts.

He makes some of his own sauces, including: Cajun, honey garlic, salted caramel, Korean barbecue, smokehouse barbecue, buffalo curry, PB&J (yes, that stands for peanut butter and jelly! Sweet.) and yakitori. He shared his yakitori sauce recipe.

The other sauce flavors come from a bottle or jar, he said.

Behind the display counter is a double-stack pizza oven, where he and his staff will make 12-, 14- and 18-inch pizza pies for Sunday.

Chicken bacon ranch is one of the varieties available, as well as plain and pepperoni.

“The Italian hoagie and the American hoagie are our popular ones,” said Terri Skill, a deli worker of five years.

For Sunday, all hoagies are available in 3-foot and 6-foot length. The 3-foot serves 10 people, and the 6-foot serves 20, according to the store’s catering brochure.

Skill also encouraged call-ahead orders since the bread is not made in-store. It is ordered, and then the sandwiches are assembled in-store.

Garlic knots and stromboli share a display area with the variety of pizzas. Nearby is the refrigerated case of sushi and the Asian hot bar with a variety of dishes. There is an island with eight styles of soup.

Need munchies? There is football-shaped container of peanuts and pretzels near all the baked goods.

Touchdown: Pizza

“Super Bowl Sunday is the whole package. It’s pizza, wings and beer while having a good time watching the game on TV at home,” said Mike Santorelli, who owns and operates Mike’s Pizzeria Italian Restaurant in Effort and Brodheadsville.

It’s one of the busiest pizza days of the year, along with Halloween and the night before Thanksgiving, he said.

He and his wife, Melissa, opened the Effort store in 2010 and the Brodheadsville store in 2013.

Each store has three big-screen TVs that his customers can view the game on, however, “most times, people order takeout for their house parties,” he said.

Santorelli said there will be food specials all day long, including wings, pizza and party-size subs.

“It’s a day for finger foods,” he said. “We also have mozzarella sticks, breaded ravioli and french fries.”

For kids, they have chicken fingers and fries, plus personal pizzas, he said.

Is it getting hot in here, or is it just the dip?

“Usually for Super Bowl I make a jalapeño popper dip, but it’s not my own recipe,” said Amanda Choy of Palmerton.

She uses Kraft’s Kickoff Popper Dip recipe, but with some modification.

“I use less onions, and I sometimes add bacon. I serve with crackers,” said Choy, who will go with her husband to a party hosted by friends who run their fantasy football draft.

Delish.com has a recipe for a football-shaped bread bowl, and there’s a link to a YouTube how-to make it video. A spinach dip goes inside to be scooped out with pieces of pumpernickel bread. If you run out of bread but dip remains, eat the football!

We all scream

for ice cream

Don’t go to the locker room just quite yet. We all scream for ice cream.

My mother, Carla George of Palmerton, shared her homemade ice cream recipe that will be part of the family Super Bowl party.

“Homemade ice cream is my only addiction. I’m never satisfied with just one bowl. I made two batches of vanilla and one of chocolate so far this winter,” said Patricia Mackes of Effort.

Garnish a scoop of homemade ice cream with a Pillsbury Ready to Bake football-shaped sugar cookie. “They look so good. I can’t wait,” my 5-year-old Molly shrieked repeatedly while lining the baking sheet.

Super Bowl LIII airs Sunday on CBS. Be prepared, because everyone will start eating long before the 6:30 p.m. kickoff!

Recipes:

Chef John Hunt’s Yakitori Chicken Wing Sauce

3½ cups sriracha

½ bottle yakiniku

1 cup of teriyaki

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

2 cups Thai chili

2 cups water

Mix the above in a bowl and spread over the wings.

Football Bread Bowl with Spinach Dip

From www.delish.com

3 tubes French bread dough

1 egg, beaten

1 box of frozen spinach

1 pack of Knorr vegetable recipe mix

1 16-ounce container sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

Roll out first tube onto a baking sheet. Form a football shape with the other two tubes. Toothpick the sides. Trim excess and use it for football laces. Brush with egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees F until bowl is deeply golden.

To make the spinach dip, thaw, drain and squeeze one box of frozen spinach. In a bowl, mix 1 pouch of Knorr vegetable recipe mix, a 16-oz container of sour cream, 1 cup of mayonnaise and the spinach. Chill in fridge while bread bowl cools down. Add to bread bowl when ready to serve. Decorate with the baked football laces.

Kraft’s Kickoff Popper Dip

1 8-ounce cream cheese, softened

½ cup Miracle Whip original spread

4 ounces Velveeta, cut into ½-cubes

3 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped

12 rich round crackers, crushed

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 scallion, sliced

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat cream cheese and Miracle Whip in medium bowl until blended. Stir in Velveeta and peppers; spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate sprayed with cooking spray. Top with combined cracker crumbs and butter. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. Top with onions.

The 50-Yard Line

Recipe courtesy Mike Santorelli

2 ounces Hennessey

½ ounce Grenadine

3 ounces sour mix

Finish off with Coca-Cola

Homemade ice cream

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

5 eggs

1 cup Eagle brand milk (condensed)

1 cup evaporated milk

1 quart milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

Soften cream cheese at room temperature. Cream well. Then add all ingredients to ice cream maker.

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