Game Night Food and Drink

In addition to games and friends, there are three things I like to have when I'm playing games: music, drinks and snacks. Since I already wrote about my musical preferences in an earlier post, I'll now cover the food and drink I like to have available while playing games.

When choosing drinks for my game events, I like to have something available to suit nearly every taste. I usually pick 3-4 different drinks to have available for my guests, most of which are two liters of soda. I like one of the two liters to be either Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper (my favorite of the three). Many people drink only diet sodas, so I also make sure to have some Diet Coke on hand. For people who don't drink caffeine, 7-Up, Root Beer, or some orange soda usually does the trick. Lastly I feature a non-carbonated option such as iced tea.

It's important to serve food that won't mess up your cards, counters or other game components. Instead of greasy potato chips I serve Fritos or Chex Mix. I also like to make my own party mix consisting of equal parts peanuts, cashews, raisins and M&M's. The always popular chocolate chip cookies are another great choice.

For longer game days where I need to serve a full dinner, I fill up a slow cooker or two with food that can be eaten at any point during the evening. Tacos are my favorite for this, as it's easy to fill up the Crock Pot with meat and put all the toppings in a sectioned plastic container. Chili can be done the same way, with many of the same toppings. Even burgers and hot dogs can be cooked ahead of time and kept warm in a hot beef broth and liquid smoke bath.