Yesterday was the last regular season game for the Washington Nationals. While it wasn’t a win, it was a really lovely and memorable game. But what’s most important is that it’s not actually the end!

Thankfully, Nats fans have the post-season to look forward to. I for one, can’t wait. Luckily, I have a ticket for Friday’s game – but the rest I’ll be watching from home. And for all of us who will be watching at home, I thought we could use some ideas for Nationals playoff party foods. Plus this post is my opportunity to gush over the Nats one last time before the season is over.

Each idea below is centered on a cheesy food pun inspired by someone’s name. There are some favorite players whose names I couldn’t come up with anything for. Zimmerman and Trea for example, are left off this list. If you think of any great puns let me know! For now though, enjoy the eight I have below. (PS, number eight is my favorite!)

1. Bryce Cripsy Treats

As a Nats fan, you can’t help but love Bryce Harper. He’s aggressive in the field and at the plate. With a batting average over .300, it’s always exciting when he’s up at bat. It’s wonderful getting to watch him play. Plus he’s young, he’s awesome, and non-Nats fans sometimes just can’t handle it. Think about that Hunter Strickland fight this season, based off a three-year-old grudge. What Nats fan wasn’t fired up over that?! Other people being anti, just makes me like him more.

And for real, he’s just so good, and he knows it. I love that he’s confident and a bit flashy. His gold cleats? That white suit he wore in Miami? Perfection. And you can’t forget his hair flip. Wonderful. 

Bryce Harper is a player staple for the Nationals. We need him, just like you need Bryce Crispy Treats at your playoff party.

Recipe –  Rice crispy treats

2. Michael A. Tater Tots

When Adam Eaton got hurt at the beginning of the season, Michael A. Taylor became the regular center fielder. While sometimes he’s frustrating to watch at bat, he can also be unbelievable. Ryan and I were lucky enough to be at the game this past September when he was on fire. He went 4-for-5, which included an inside-the-park grand slam. An inside-the-park grand slam that happened exactly two years after his little-league grand slam against the Mets. That’s why baseball is great. You can’t write this stuff!

That home run in September, plus the 18 others taters he hit this season make Michael A. Tater Tots a great dish for enjoying the playoffs.

Recipe – Tater Tots.

3. Tony Two Bags of Chips and Salsa

I feel like recently Anthony Rendon has been getting a lot of press for being the kind of guy who doesn’t get a lot of press. I enjoy him so much because he seems like a happy dude who enjoys what he does and just gets to work and does it. And he’s good on offense, on defense – he’s just good.

He’s a pleasure to watch – in part because of all the love given to him by his team. First, he has a lovely bromance with Treat Turner. Then, the whole team’s t-shirt campaign of “Anthony Rendon is my favorite player,” was so endearing! I also loved Daniel Murphy referencing Rendon’s ranking on Fangraphs. Not only does the team support each other, but it’s clear they genuinely like each other.

Rendon’s recipe is inspired by F.P. Santangelo’s nickname for him – “Tony Two Bags.” This year Rendon hit 41 doubles. What’s a party without chips and dip? No good. Same for a game without Rendon.

Chips are Mission tortilla chips. Recipe – salsa.

4. F.P. Santanjello Shots

Ok, while not a player, tv announcers F.P. Santangelo and Bob Carpenter are a big part of my baseball experience. I am a big fan of F.P. Growing up, I wasn’t a baseball fan. As a result, there’s a lot I don’t know about the game. I like how he explains why players do what they do at bat or in the field. Also, I enjoy that by explaining what players do, he also gives advice to young players.

It’s also clear he loves the game and the team. He’s passionate about the Nats, and that’s what I always miss during Nationals broadcasts. But also, I’m a big fan of F.P. because he’s a bit silly. From commenting on the current gold chain trend among players to 2012’s rally napkin, F.P. makes me laugh.

Also, sorry no photo of F.P. I wasn’t sure what I could use royalty free. Instead, let me tell you a story. Once, I tweeted a question at him about scoring a balk and he asked it on the air and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. See, I learn from F.P.

I had been hoping to make these shots in an actual tangelo, but couldn’t find any so used oranges instead. Making these in fruit adds a little polish, and F.P.’s a man who dresses well so hopefully, he’d appreciate it.

Recipe – Fruit Jello Shots, substitute half of cold water with rum.

5. Dusty Baker’s Dozen (Hug Cookies)

Since I’ve strayed from players for a bit, let’s next turn to manager Dusty Baker. He has had an incredible career in baseball and just a cool life in general. I mean, he wrote a book about Jimi Hendrix and had a hand in the creation of the high-five!

I like that he’s considered a players coach. As well, I love that he straight talks during his press conferences. He’s enjoyable to watch and he seems like a man who loves what he does. Earlier this summer Ryan, Ryan, and I got to watch batting practice and we saw Dusty smile and shake hands with everyone. He’s a busy guy, but he warmly greeted everyone.

I also like him because he’s a hugger. To play off the name, I knew I needed to make thirteen cookies – and then I threw in hugs candies to represent the lovelyy way he appreciates his players.

Recipe – buy a pack of Tollhouse sugar cookies, shape into circles, press an unwrapped hugs candy on top, and bake according to package directions.

6. Scherzer Stalks of Celery and Karrots

Ok, I wholeheartedly believe that Max Scherzer deserves a more interesting dish than a crudité plate. However, Max is an incredible athlete and I need to include him somehow.

He is a ferocious competitor. There aren’t words to describe how good he is, how aggressive, and how compelling. When he’s pitching there is always an added intensity and excitement to the game. I love how he stalks around the mound after a pitch. This season when he told Dusty off and then was able to stay in the game – that was incredible television. But it’s not just pitching. He helps himself out at bat too – this year he hit his first home run. Plus, I just have to mention he boos the fans in Philly on behalf of Jayson Werth. That’s teamwork, right?

So, I know Max is more amazing than raw vegetables but stalks of celery to celebrate his stalks around the mount and karrots, with a K for all of Scherzer’s many incredible strikeouts. Plus Max is relentlessly good for the team, just like vegetables are for you.

If you want to make this yourself, cut up some vegetables and pour out your favorite dip. Recipe – homemade ranch dressing.

7. Jack Daniel(s) Murphy Chicken Thighs

This might be the food pun that is the biggest stretch. Even so, I really enjoy it. This season, I have been obsessed with Daniel Murphy and his batting stance. We all know he’s a power hitter, and that’s due in part to his stance. He holds the deepest squat and remains nearly motionless during the whole time he bats. How does he do it?! I am constantly in awe of the muscle strength he must have in his thighs.

So, that’s what I got this recipe idea comes from. I made a Jack Daniel’s sauce and baked into some chicken thighs. It’s a little weird, but I hope if Daniel Murphy ever saw this he’d know I’m just a fan impressed by his athleticism. Also, it’s not just the stance. He’s a thoughtful baseball player – looking at stats, analyzing the play, and always talking to the umpire. I think he’s a joy to watch.

Recipe – Heat oven to 425° and bake chicken thighs for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make this Jack Daniels sauce. When the 25 minutes are up, brush each thigh with the sauce then bake for 5 minutes more.

8. Werthcake

In my opinion, I’ve saved the best for last because Jayson Werth is my favorite player. I started becoming both a baseball fan and a Nats fan in 2009. So when Werth signed with the Nationals in December 2010, I didn’t have a lot of preconceived notions about him because I hardly knew anything about baseball.

But I liked him. I liked that he moved to DC and made it his home. He came to the district and worked hard to be a leader and help foster a winning team. I liked that in 2011 he meddled in the President’s Race, trying to get Teddy to win and thereby change this city’s losing attitude. Also, I was tickled when he said he was the last member of the Bull Moose Party.

And then in 2012, we all fell in love with him after the “Werthquake,” his walk-off home run in game 4 of the playoffs. What more could we ever want from Jayson Werth?

I can still picture where I was during that moment. Surrounded by unfinished IKEA furniture, I was sitting on the floor of my apartment in Arlington. Earlier in the evening, I had planned to meet Ryan at the bar – but superstition told me “same seats.” So I remember holding my breath and then happily screaming for joy throwing my Allen wrench aside and leaving the furniture un-built. For seven years he’s been a wonderful National – working hard, playing hard, and being a leader for young players.

Also generally, Werth seems like an awesome guy to know. From cursing on camera with Dan Kolko to posing like “Step Brothers” with Bryce Harper – he’s funny and quirky and I am going to miss him so much. I am glad we will have at least a few more games with him, as it was so hard to watch him walk off the field yesterday. Thank you, Jayson for all you’ve brought to DC.

Recipes – gluten-free cake (because Werth is g-f) from ATK, fondant recipe, and t-shirt used as design inspiration.

How will you celebrate the playoffs? 

I hope you enjoy these ideas for Nationals Playoff Party Foods. If you have any Nationals food pun ideas please share them in the comments! There’s something to Charlie Slowes and slow cooker recipe. And Mike Rizzotto (risotto) got left on the cutting room floor. But I do want to hear others! For now, see you later.

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Sometimes you have the best of intentions. You intend to make healthy vegetable based meals, but instead you just want something that has no nutritional value, feels like summer, and will make your taste buds sing. And sometimes, your husband is really happy and excited when you make said unhealthy meal that you just can’t help yourself. So you do it, you make pretzel dogs and eat that instead of the huge amounts of produce that just got delivered from Waitrose. Oops. 

This is a wonderful weekend treat though. The work to make this isn’t all that difficult but it is time consuming, which means it’s not a weeknight dinner. Although, it does make a pretty indulgent and happiness inducing workplace lunch.

The first time I made pretzel dogs was for lunch on my 30th birthday. The end product was delicious but making them was extraordinarily frustrating. I could not get the dough to come together. It stayed sticky until I added almost a cup more flour than listed in the recipe. And once it was dough, it was hard to handle and roll it out to wrap the hot dogs.

But, since pretzel dogs taste so good Ryan and I wanted to make them again. We’ve been missing baseball a lot this summer, and pretzel dogs remind us of the ballpark. I love getting a pretzel dog, with some cheese dipping sauce, and sitting out in the sun, sweating and cheering on the Nats.

For this recipe, I combined what I’ve done before with soft pretzels with some general research, and a recipe from Buns in My Oven. Her recipes uses Auntie Anne’s pretzels from any mall in America as her inspiration. Both those mall pretzels and ball park food are junk foods that you know lack nutritional value, but you just have to have them. Seriously, I just gotta eat pretzels when I smell ’em. They are staples for those places and it’s not a proper outing to the mall, or the ballpark, without a pretzel. This time to ensure successful dough I mixed everything by hand instead of with the stand mixer. Kitchen gadgets are my favorite, but sometimes doing it manually is a safer bet. You’re just unlikely to overwork dough when you do it by hand. Your (ok, my) arms are going to give out before the dough does. And I think that was part of the problem in my first attempt. I used the dough hook attachment in my mixer and I think it overworked the gluten in the flour, which ultimately made everything tough and dense.

This time I used a wooden spoon to bring together the liquid and dry ingredients together. Once they formed a messy dough that could be handled I kneaded it for 4 minutes until it came together as a smooth ball. It’s pretty easy. I think when you’re a dough/bread novice (like me) it’s best to start out using your hands to get a feel of what well done dough looks and feels like. Unsure how to knead? Check out the step by step photo tutorial on Wikihow.

This dough makes enough to cover 10 hot dogs. Originally though I only cut 8 pieces of dough because I didn’t realize how many dogs were in my pack. Oops. This recipe works for 10, but then the pretzel layer is a bit thin. I think 6-8 hot dogs is the sweet spot for this recipe. That way you have a thick enough layer of pretzel so you can really enjoy its flavors, but not so much that you lose the hot dog and feel like you’re just eating bread.

I know the pretzel dogs might sound like a crazy recipe you might never actually make, but I encourage you to think about trying it out. It’s delicious and I think it would please any member of your family – especially children. It’s fun and it’s a different way to eat a classic summertime barbecue food. Also did I mention?  It’s delicious!

Finally, if you can go to a baseball game this summer, please have a pretzel dog for me.

Messy level: I badly want to say this is an easy mess free recipe, but it’s really not. You need to make the dough, then roll it on the counter, then boil the dogs quickly, then bake them. It’s a lot of steps. None of them difficult, but it requires a lot of dishes. And also, drops of baking soda water leave white marks on dark surfaces so you definitely have to wipe down the stove afterwards.

Pretzel Dogs

 

Print

Prep time

90 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

 

Serves: 8-10 pretzel dogs

Ingredients

• ¾ cup warm beer, or water (about 110°F/43°C)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2¼ cups flour
• 1 tablespoon/14g butter, melted
• Vegetable oil
• 10 cups water
• ⅔ cup baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• Coarse salt for topping
• 6-10 hot dogs

Instructions

1. To heat the beer or water microwave it in 15 second bursts. Use a thermometer if you have one to check its temperature. Otherwise, if it feels warm to your finger but not scalding hot, then it's probably fine.
2. Once the beer is warm stir in the sugar and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. In this time the yeast will get foamy and smell like bread.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the salt and flour. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture.
4. Pour the beer mixture and the melted butter into the well of the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon (or a dough hook on low) mix together the liquid and flour mixtures. Mix until you have a shaggy ball.
5. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes or until it forms a smooth ball. I recommend doing this by hand, but you can use the mixer.
6. Lightly oil a medium bowl with vegetable oil. Put the prepared dough in the bowl and roll it around a bit so it's lightly coated in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 hour or until it's doubled in size.
7. Towards the end of that 1 hour, preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C.
8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
9. In a large pot combine the water and baking soda. Bring to a boil.
10. Now that the dough is ready, divide it into the same number of pieces as the number of hot dogs you have.
11. Using a rolling pin or your hand flatten the dough so it's about ¼"-1/2" in thickness. Put the hot dog in the middle and wrap the dough around it. Depending on what look you prefer you can cover the hot dog entirely or let the ends stick out. Pinch the edges of the dough together to form a seal so that the dough won't unravel.
12. Once all the hot dogs are covered, in batches of 3-4, drop the hot dogs into the boiling water. Let them boil for 30 seconds them remove with a slotted spoon.
13. Place the pretzel dogs on the prepared baking sheet. Leave at least 1" in between the pretzel dogs.
14. In a small bowl beat together the egg and 1 tablespoon of water.
15. Brush the egg over the tops of the pretzel dogs. Sprinkle each dog with some coarse salt.
16. Bake for 15 minutes, or until nicely browned all over.
17. Let cool just slightly.
18. Serve with ketchup, mustard, or cheese sauce and a beer.

3.3.3077

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