In case you live under a rock, well or don’t care too much about baseball, you’re well aware that we are in the midst of the playoffs. And hopefully you realize this is the year the Chicago Cubs are finally going to shake off the blasted curse. For us tried-and-true fans this is a time to celebrate and a time to host lots of parties - one for every game. This weekend I hosted a Chicago-style baseball viewing party for the first game against the Mets (no, we aren’t going to talk about the score).

Since it was a baseball party, I figured I’d serve everything you could get in the ballpark while attending a game, but with a Chicago twist. The main entree was a Chicago-style hotdog. That means a hotdog complete with the essential SEVEN ingredients. I set them up in order so it was easy for guests to squirt on the mustard, dab on the green sweet relish, sprinkle on the chopped white onions, place the two tomato wedges and one dill pickle wedge along the sides, drop on the sweet peppers and top if all off with a dash of celery salt (which makes all the difference).

Beyond the hotdog with everything on it, I served Goose Island beer, peanuts in the shell, buttery popcorn, cotton candy, circus peanuts, Baby Ruth bars and bubble gum. Each guest got her/his own box to fill with peanuts or popcorn to make it easy to eat and watch.

For the decorations I kept it simple and color-themed to go with our Cubbies. Square blue plates, red and white napkins and small white plates for those looking to snack made up the ‘china.’ Red pom-pom banner a couple baseballs and that was it. Simple and easy.