Tailgating Ideas

Tailgating is all about friends, family, good music, good company and of course good food and drink. Most tailgaters break out the standard hot dogs and hamburgers because they are easy and have wide appeal. After all, who doesn’t eat hamburgers and hot dogs? If you are one of those tailgaters, not that there is anything wrong with burger and dogs, but if you are, you may need a little help to spice things up a bit.

Paul Swaney is the primary author of Stadium Journey and he has joined forces with chefs from around the country and have compiled 96 recipes – an appetizer, entree and cocktail, inspired by every NFL team and their respective home region.

Upon receiving a sample copy of the Pro Football Cookbook, I figured it would be filled with run of the mill recipes stolen off of the internet that are the stereotypical tailgating foods you would expect to see in the local parking lots. You’ve seen them before; Philly Cheese Steaks for the Philadelphia Eagles. Clam Chowder recipe for the New England Patriots. Even the cliche shrimp gumbo for the New Orleans Saints. But just like a good offensive coordinator in the NFL, the Pro Football Cookbook calls an audible every now and then and mixes it up for a surprise play that results in a touchdown.

(Disclaimer: We did receive a complimentary copy of the Pro Football Cookbook. The fact this sample copy was provided to us free of charge in no way influenced our opinion of the book nor did it impact our ability to review it fairly and objectively.)

As you might expect, some of the classic recipes reflecting the culture and tradition of a number of NFL franchises are included in this book. Classics like the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich (page 89) for the Kansas City Chiefs is a can’t miss. Paying homage to the Baltimore Ravens, the recipe for Maryland Crab Cakes can be found on page 21 because, if we learned anything from the movie Wedding Crashers, Crab Cakes and Football – That’s what Maryland does.

In addition to those recipes you would come to expect to represent a certain team or region of the country, to use a baseball term, you get thrown a curve ball every now and then. The entree recipe for Indianapolis is the Turducken Cordon Blue Burger. (page 77) You have to try the 49 Clove Garlic Chicken recipe (page 139) which not only pays homage to the San Francisco 49ers but pays respects to the Bay Area’s close proximity to Gilroy, Calif. which hosts the largest Garlic Festival.

I’ve only highlighted a few of the entrees but there are a total of 32 of those, 32 side dishes that accompany the entree and a cocktail that is either indigenous to the team’s region or uses a local ingredient that region is famous for. A classic example would be the Shiner Margarita (page 55) which uses Shiner Bock beer for the Dallas Cowboys drink recipe suggestion. Another would be Fried Pickles with Remoulade Sauce (page 107) for the side dish for the New Orleans Saints. (Fried Pickles are a New Orleans staple and no trip is complete without scarfing a dozen of these little babies.)

In all, food writers from 12 different states contributed to create this unique NFL themed cookbook. Other contributors to the cookbook include:

• Baron Von Gottsacker, CEO and “Flavor Junkie” of Bent Spoon Gelato in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
• Christopher Crump, Owner/Operator of Nomad Catering in Phoenix, Arizona
• Joshua Guiher, Owner/Operator of the Frasier Street Deli in State College, Pennsylvania
• John Dawson, Food Blogger for Patio Daddio BBQ in Boise, Idaho

Of course I was not able to cook and grill all 64 entrees and side dishes. I surely was not able to make and drink all 32 pro football inspired cocktails. But I know a good recipe when I see one and I will definitely be making some of these for the remainder of the football season and into the playoffs.

For tailgaters stuck in a rut, this cookbook would be great for some new recipe ideas to make everyone in the parking lot stand up and take notice. The Pro Football Cookbook is a fantastic road map for tailgaters to have a built-in menu to reference for a meal theme based on that weekend’s opponent. Your team is playing the Washington Redskins? Make Hogs Sandwiches, Roasted Redskin Potatoes with Mustard and a Red Gin Rickey (pages 160 – 163) to wash it all down. When it comes time for your Super Bowl party, find the section of the two different teams playing and make those recipes for your guests and people will think you are a world traveling genius.

After looking over all 96 entrees, sides and drink recipes included in the Pro Football Cookbook, we are going to give it the Tailgating Ideas “Tailgate Approved” stamp of approval. Some recipes may be better prepared at home on a griddle or in your oven but true tailgaters know that a few gadgets like the Sizzle-Q and the Tailgate HotBag can make all the difference.

Stadium Journey Pro Football Cookbook is available in hardcover from Amazon.com for $17.70 and would make a great gift for any tailgater this holiday season.

Just another day at Penn State while out tailgating.

While we all love our weekends spent in the parking lot eating and drinking, the sad reality is that most of us have somewhere to be on Monday.  As we pine for the next opportunity to see our teams play we usually have the entire week to get through before we can load up the car again to tailgate.  Since my wife works at a job that requires her to work several evenings a week I’m usually on the hook for a few solo meals a week, in fact that was the situation I am facing tonight.   On occasion I will fire up the grill and cook a meal for one, but most of the time I fry up some eggs and leave it at that.  Well that can get old quick and sometimes you gotta come up with a different solution.

I’ve been a fan of Ball Park hotdogs for years, and unbeknownst to me they also make a burger patty product.  In fact a few weeks ago I received an email asking if I would like give them a try, which I was more than willing to.  A few days later I had a few coupons in my mailbox.  Not long after that I was off to the store to grab a pack.

• Instagram: Head over to my personal Instagram page and look for the Ball Park Coupon photo.  To enter you must “like” and leave a comment on that photo.
• Twitter:  I’m going to tweet a link to this contest on my personal twitter page, and in the tweet I’ll state that you can enter by replying.  To enter you have to reply to that specific tweet with a reply tweet including the hashtag “#bringonthebeef”
• Facebook:  Head over to the Official Tailgating Ideas Facebook page and look for the post concerning this contest.  To enter you must leave a comment.
• This Post:  The easiest way to enter is simply leave a comment on this post!

Multiple entries via the same method, e.g. leaving four comments on the Instagram or Facebook post, will not count.

You may recall that last year I worked in conjunction with Visa to help promote their #MakeItEpic campaign in advance of the Super Bowl. I am glad to announce that Visa has again tabbed TailgatingIdeas.com as an influential blog to help promote their #MyFootballFantasy Contest which will fulfill the fantasies of select football fans. I am blogging on behalf of the Visa #MyFootballFantasy Campaign and receive compensation for my time, but the thoughts, opinions, words and promotions are all mine and not that of Visa.

Because Visa will be selecting those fantasies of football fans and making them a reality, I thought it would be fun to submit my own. Now of course some aspects of my fantasy are impossible (unless someone knows how to make clouds rain bacon…) it is my football fantasy and I will be as unrealistic I want. After all, this is a fantasy, right?

5:30 AM – Alarm. The sweet sound of John Facenda, legendary announcer from NFL Films awakens me.

5:35 AM – Shower

5:50 AM – Get dressed in shorts, throw back jersey and Flip Flops

6:00 AM – Huge “Madden Cruiser” style party bus pulls up with 30 of my closest friends and family.

6:01 AM – Step onto the bus, immediately handed a Bacon Bloody Mary.

6:02 AM – Bus departs for Stadium for tailgating prior to the game.

6:05 AM – Bus merges onto the freeway. Entertainment in the cabin is a running loop of old school NFL Films Crunch Course videos.

7:00 AM – Enter San Diego County and immediately joined by a 12 car police escort complete with lights a sirens. Presidential motorcades don’t get this much respect.

7:55 AM – Arrive at Gate 1 for some Qualcomm Stadium tailgating five minutes before the gates are supposed to open. We arrive. Gates open. Mental image – Moses parting the Red Sea.

8:00 AM – Bus parks within 12 parking spaces that have been coned off and reserved just for us.

8:01 AM – A racing pit crew comes out of nowhere and immediately unpacks the bus. The grill, beer pong tables, cornhole boards, tables, chairs and even the hi-def satellite signal is locked in in less than a minute.

8:02 AM – Step off the bus to a throng of cheers that would rival the original Beatles in 1964.

8:05 AM – Surveying the grilling area of the tailgate, notice that Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse are nearly in a fist fight over who will be cooking. Flay wins by pulling rank with experience with grilling. Lagasse gets in a few good body shots but has to settle for cooking for someone else.

8:10 AM – Stop by one of the fully loaded bars. Get served by Ted Lang who played Isaac the Bartender from the Love Boat TV show. Hands me another Bacon Bloody Mary and of course the double finger point. Informs me that when he is on break, Sam Malone, Coach and Woody from Cheers will be taking care of us.

8:15 AM – A Las Vegas mobile sports book betting kiosk magically appears taking all kinds of action. Drop $10,000 on the Over.

8:30 AM – The Swedish Bikini Team pulls up in their own van and will be our waitresses for the day.

8:35 AM – Eggs Benedict, bacon, hash browns and orange juice for breakfast.

9:00 AM – Good friend points out the homeless bag lady rummaging through the dumpster scavenging for aluminum cans. Upon closer look I recognize it is the snobby, Homecoming Queen that turned down my feeble attempts to ask her out back in high school. Laugh uncontrollably.

9:15 AM – Play all the traditional tailgating games; cornhole, ladder ball, washers, polish horseshoes and dominate them all.

10:00 AM – First set of all the early NFL games are projected onto an 18-Wheeler sized flatbed screen. Picture if the Sports Book at Ceasar’s Palace was moved outdoors… but bigger.

10:45 AM – Play four games of beer pong simultaneously. Go undefeated.

11:15 AM – Gatorade shower dumped over my head in celebration of my dominating performance. Immediately picked up and crowd surf the tailgate party.

11:45 AM – Fans of the opposing team stop by the tailgating area. Immediately take off their jerseys and hats, place them in a pile at my feet. They douse the clothing with lighter fluid but I get to drop the match.

12:00 PM – Lunch consists of Surf and Turf, and Baked Alaska for desert.

12:15 PM – Tailgate is slightly interrupted by a short thunderstorm. Instead of water, it’s raining bacon strips.

12:30 PM – Tailgating gear gets packed up by someone who is not me.

12:35 PM – Helicopter lands in the parking stall adjacent to ours. Picks me up to take me to MCAS Miramar. Hop into an F/A-18 Hornet to pilot the lead jet for the pre-game fly over.

1:00 PM – Low level fly over the stadium breaking the sound barrier while passing over the 50 yard line.

1:05 PM – Land jet and chopper back to stadium. Upon arrival back, a rickshaw pulled by a bikini clad Jaime Edmondson is waiting to take me to my seat.

1:15 PM – Kick off is immediately returned for a touchdown. My team leads 7-0 with 14:43 to go in the 1st quarter.

4:35 PM – My team caps off a great seesaw battle with a 60 yard Hail Mary that is caught for a touchdown as time expires in overtime. My team not only wins but earns home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Teams combined for 63 points. Hello Vegas Over!

4:45 PM – Back in the parking lot and the post-game tailgate is already underway. Despite having a police escort at our disposal, we opt for the post-game tailgate just because we can.

6:00 PM – Police escort out of the stadium while watching the Sunday Night Football game. Neck and shoulder massage by a bikini clad Kate Upton.

Now that you have read #MyFootballFantasy, how about yours? You can submit yours to Visa HERE and if they find yours to be the most fun and creative, you could have your football fantasy fulfilled.

Key entry details: Enter at vi.sa/ENTER_INF05, follow Visa on Twitter or Instagram, submit your fantasy (up to value of $100K) and #MyFootballFantasy @Visa. Use Visa to enter OR mail-in with No Purchase Required – 18+ US resident. Judged on creativity, Visa’s & NFL’s brand image, match-to-theme & ability to fulfill. Thru 2/2/14 at 12am. 1 entry per person. http://vi.sa/RULES_0908t1

Although it is November and the temperature outside is starting to dip colder and colder, you still need a good tailgating cooler no matter what season you choose to hit the parking lots. It was years ago (2009 to be exact) when we discovered Yeti Coolers from a series of online videos demonstrating their quality craftsmanship and durability. Despite having a strict policy of only endorsing products we have personally tested in a real tailgating environment, we shared the videos adding the caveat that we personally had not tested the product. We recently had the opportunity to test out a Yeti Cooler and not to give anything away too soon, we came away quite impressed.

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