April Johnson is a gamer.

During the course of last season, she faithfully accompanied her husband Brandon to every home game-weathering extreme heat, heavy rain and bitter cold as the Deacs stumbled to a disappointing 5-7 finish. In our opinion Brandon should still be working on a mile-long "Honey-Do" list for the Vanderbilt game alone.

In any event, Brandon let it slip that April is a fantastic cook who has a varied culinary arsenal. On the eve of this weekend's tilt with N.C. State, here is a full picnic basket of stuff for you to enjoy while looking for airplanes in the sky:

Sausage Dip

1 pack of Neese's Sausage

1 pack of Philadelphia Cream Cheese

1 can of rotel

Place cream cheese and rotel in crock pot, allow to melt.

Fry the sausage, place in crock pot.

Stir all items together, then serve with tortilla chips.

note: keep the crock pot on warm until finished serving

Buffalo Chicken

1 lb. of boneless chicken

1/2 cup of buffalo wing sauce

1/2 cup of ranch dressing

1- 8oz. cream cheese

1 cup of shredded cheese

Boil Chicken until fully cooked (30min.)

Place Chicken in skillet and heat with buffalo sauce until boiling.

Add cream cheese and ranch heat until melted.

Pour in crock pot and add shredded cheese.

Note:  keep crock pot on warm until finished serving

Best served on pita bread, 8 in flour tortilla, or tortilla chips

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Truffles

For the filling:

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cups finely-crumbled gingersnap cookies, plus an extra few tablespoons for the topping

3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt

4 oz. cream cheese (I used low-fat)

1 cup white chocolate chips, melted

For the chocolate shell:

14 ounces white chocolate (or vanilla almond bark), chopped

1 Tbsp. shortening or vegetable oil

Combine all of the filling ingredients together in a food processor. Pulse until well-blended. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, and freeze for 30-60 minutes, or until the mixture is fairly hardened.