Weather or not you are a football fan, you most likely know dozens of people who are set for Super Bowl Sunday — or even for watching the taped game on Monday for Family Home Evening. No matter when you gather around the television, a lot of people are even more excited about the football food than they are for the game itself.

Here is one of my favorites. Football Hoagies can be created ahead of time, and everyone at the party will have a personal, edible football.

Football Hoagies

For four “footballs,” you will need:

Thaw the bread dough until pliable, according to package directions. Remove 1/3 from the end of each loaf. Combine two of the small pieces and set the third piece aside. This means you'll have four large pieces of dough, plus the small set-aside piece.

Mold each of the four larger pieces of bread dough into a football shape, about 10” long, by turning ends underneath and tapering.

From the remaining dough, form a long, thin rope, about one-fourth inch in diameter. Lay a 4” long piece lengthwise on each football. Then place 1.5-inch pieces across each long piece to look like the stitching on a football. Secure the stitching on each end with wooden toothpicks.

In small bowl, beat egg with 1 T. water. Brush on footballs with pastry brush. Cover and allow the dough to rise until double in size.

Preheat oven to 350º. Bake raised loaves for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

The football loaf, filled with chili.

To serve, set out trays of sandwich making (meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, dressing, and so on) and let everyone help themselves, or slice and serve with Caesar salad. You can also slice the footballs in half, hollow the insides, and use as soup or chili bowls.