Super Bowl 2014: Build your own food football stadium

Planning a Super Bowl party and wondering how to lay out the spread? Get creative and build a stadium out of food!

It takes a little planning, but a food stadium can be loads of fun to build, and you can scale it to suit the size of your party. Planning a large crowd? Build a massive stadium with all sorts of snacks, simple main dishes, and even desserts. If you’re limiting the gang, have fun stacking a few items around a favorite dip or spread.

PHOTOS: Tips for building your own food football stadium

In the video at the top, I describe how to build a stadium of snacks for the big game (and deputy Food Editor Betty Hallock walks you through an amazing game day cocktail).

While I’ve seen a number of food stadiums -- just do a basic Internet search, there are a lot of great ones out there -- I’d never made one before. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a few good lessons, so I would love to share some tips with you:

• Plan ahead: Figure out the size of your gathering and plan accordingly. Given how long the game will run, you’ll want enough food. Add some simple main dishes -- hot dogs, sandwiches -- to the spread in addition to the finger foods and chips.
• Give yourself plenty of space. The “field” is typically guacamole, and you’ll need to build out from there.
• Map out your stadium first: Figure out what you’re serving and where it will be placed. This will also help you figure out how much space you’ll need. Decide whether you’ll stick with snacks, or include dessert items or other things. I once saw a stadium made almost entirely out of meat -- it was awesome.
• Build your outer wall: Some people build their outer walls with cardboard or styrofoam (I’ve seen some elaborate set-ups online). I wanted to keep it pure, using all food. If you’re going the edible route, select foods that are dense and won’t give under pressure. These foods will not only need to support the stadium wall, but also the food inside.
• Give yourself plenty of time. My stadium measured approximately 3 feet by 4 1/2 feet. It took a little over 5 hours to construct.

PHOTOS: 61 Super Bowl recipes

Now that I hope you’re inspired, I want to see what you’re whipping up Sunday! Share your game-day snacks and drinks by tweeting us @latimesfood on Twitter or sharing with us on Instagram. Use the hashtag #LATSuperBowlEats.

Happy Game Day!

Do you like to play with your food as much as I do? Follow me on Twitter: @NoelleCarter

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