Are you ready to impress your guests on gameday with your beautiful new McHenry County home and delicious cooking? By adding a dash of creativity to the dishes in your gourmet kitchen, you can create tasty snacks that will satisfy everyone’s taste buds and leave your guests buzzing long after the game is over.

Here are a few winning recipes for your football parties this season:

• Everyone will cheer for delicious baked potato dip that includes bacon crumbles, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, chives and sour cream. Serve with hot, crispy waffle fries for an irresistible appetizer!
• For younger fans, try baked buffalo chicken strips with a basic dipping sauce like ketchup, ranch or honey mustard.
• Macaroni-and-pimiento cheese bites might be small, but they pack a huge punch that will leave your guests craving more. Be sure to keep ingredients for a back-up batch close by, because these are sure to get gobbled up quickly.
• Touchdown pinwheels combine cream cheese, ranch dressing, onion, olives and pimentos in a flour tortilla wrap and are excellent served chilled or at room temperature.
• Put a spin on traditional hot dogs by using mini cocktail franks and whipping up your own pâté a choux (the same dough used for cream puffs) for a bite-sized and adorable version.
• Add chopped smoked pork to your traditional deviled eggs for a unique twist with winning flavor.

For more information about these and 94 other gameday recipes, visit MyRecipes.com.

Of course, when hosting events and parties at home, it’s important to have ample seating and space! Gerstad Builders homes in Poplar Grove, Richmond, Williams Bay and McHenry are built for entertaining, showcasing spacious open layouts for guests to mingle seamlessly from the kitchen to the family room, dining room and even to the backyard or Four Seasons room.

For more information about the charming new homes in McHenry at Liberty Trails or another one of Gerstad Builder’s communities, visit the website at www.gerstadbuilders.com or call us at 815-385-4495.