Recipe of the Week

Wazzu Tailgate Chili -

This looks complicated and time consuming with a lot of ingredients, but since you can make it the night before it is actually a quick fix at your tailgate party…just reheat and eat. I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com where you can find other great recipes for tailgating or just dinner on a Monday night.

Ingredients:
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped, divided
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 habanero peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle lager-style beer
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Cook ground beef and pork in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 of the onion and all of the green pepper, habanero pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir the drained meat into the onion mixture along with the green onion, chili beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, beer, and water. Sprinkle with the cornmeal, then season with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.

3. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate overnight.

4. Reheat the chili over medium heat until it begins to simmer again. Top individual servings of chili with cheese and remaining chopped onion.

Bon Appétit!

The Tailgate Society

Along with my blog posts, I have been working on creating my own website that is directly related to my blog. I am providing the basically the same information about tailgating, but I just expand on some of the topics and provide additional resources. The title of my site is the same as my blog because I wanted to keep consistency between the two in order to make easy for my followers to stay current. It is just in the initial stages, so it is not entirely complete. It probably will not be done for some time either, but I will be continuously making updates for you to check out.

It is my goal to provide you with information that can help make your tailgating experience even better than it ever has been. I will write articles on typical problems that tailgaters run into, and how they can prepare themselves to avoid those situations later. For example, if you are unsure how to start a charcoal grill then my site would be an excellent place to visit because I will be providing tips on subject content just like that.

In addition, I will try to find the best possible resources for tailgating gear, recipes, and so forth to where you can expand your search to a broader area. Not solely relying on my information alone because by no means am I the most knowledgeable tailgater. Although I do have my fair share of my own personal experiences, and that is why I am trying to provide content that I feel is relevant to tailgating. The best way to do this is to point you in the direction of other experts and companies that provide information and accessories that will only improve your tailgating experience. I hope this additional content is helpful in your search for the best products and knowledge when it comes creating the best atmosphere at your tailgate event.

Come check it out…The Tailgate Society

The Drunken Tailgate!

The Drunken Tailgate is your guide to college football tailgating. The focus of this particular blog is to display the colors and pride of tailgaters across the nation from a student’s point of view. One blog post that I found exceptionally humorous was one about USC student taking down a beer pong or should I say lack thereof. They even provided a video with some subtle comments about this poor guy’s sad attempt of drinking a beer (probably the weakest beer pong I have ever watched). If you are in for a good laugh I definitely recommend looking for this site and video.

I think one aspect of tailgating they do cover that almost all college students would be interested in is the quality of different beers. They have several posts describing and detailing what they think are of some of the better beers in cans and on tap. Comparisons are also made between the same beer whether it is has more quality out of a can or out of the tap. There is quite a unique selection of beers that they covered. Most of them I have not even heard of. If I find the time and money I myself might go out and by a few of them just see how accurate of information they are providing. That is only permitting if I can hit the lotto in the next few days. Hah! Good luck right?

One nice thing about the blog post is they broke all the types of categories that they discuss and provide them in a panel for you to search by topics depending on the relevance of your search needs. I like how they did that because it makes it ten times easier to find articles related to a certain area of tailgating. Say you want to find something to wear for this weekend’s big game, but you have nothing left in your closest. Well, go The Drunken Tailgate and you might be able to find your answer. They have just about all the basic things that a college tailgater would want.

Check it out…and stay safe tailgating today!

Essentials of Tailgating

My first and foremost number one rule of tailgating is just too simply have a whole bunch of fun and excitement. Since tailgating is an activity that mostly partakes on the weekends this is a time for rest and relaxation, so use the most of your time wisely. This should not be a stressful event. If it is you are either taking this way to serious, or you were not quite properly prepared.

That is my next point. In order to optimize your fun level the best way is to prepare yourself a few days or weeks in advance. This will ensure that you have everything you will need at the game, and you will not just be sitting in your chair with a dumb look on your face. I can guarantee you that if you actually take the time to plan out your day by setting a schedule of what times you want to arrive and by preparing a list of items that you will need. It may seem pointless and a waste of time at first, but it will only take a few moments to create these lists. These two steps will prevent any heartache that could arise if you show up unprepared.

You would not want to show up at the lots without a grill, even if it is the smallest Weber charcoal grill. That would be more satisfying than not having one at all because smelling all the good eats would be unbearable. Not to mention the money you can save by not buying food in the game. I would definitely recommend enough chairs for everyone in the group, and to bring large enough coolers to fit your drinks and food. It is a long day when you start tailgating as early as 5:30 am, and you want to save every last bit of energy you have. It will not be good if you go unnourished, and begin to feel weak and sick. This is not a good at all…this happens to me quite a bit when I go to concerts and I would rather avoid this feeling.

Remember to stay full and hydrated…and most importantly always, always have the most fun you can have. Without taking it too far…you do not want to end in the drunk tank!

Tailgating Lots from Tailgating America

So you want to travel around the nation finding the best places to tailgate at, but you are unsure of where to go. This site will give you directions to tailgating lots related to these sports NFL, colleges and universities (I assume for football games, but it does not specify), NASCAR, baseball, and arena football. I love that they give a wide variety of sports to visit tailgating lots because not everyone enjoys the same ones.

This allows anyone to pick and choose between the places they want to stop. For me personally, I would probably try to stop at as many NFL football stadiums because that would be my first to sport to watch (and the best for tailgating). Usually the parking lots around football stadiums are easier to access because they are prepared for large crowds when they planned during the development stages. Plus NFL stadiums tend to hold larger crowds, and are packed every weekend no matter how bad the team is. You know it will be a good time everyone weekend because there will be at least 50,000 plus people all the time. I will let you be the judge though. The list of the other sports is also limited to fewer lots because I believe they are not as prepared for tailgaters. Even though that may be the case I recommend the following.

If you have the time and resources I would suggest looking at this page, and finding several lots to partying at. I would also suggest visiting different sport lots because it will give you a better appreciation of how these divisions of fans tailgate. I think you will come to find out that it is not that different from sport to sport. All fans seem to congregate in the same when it comes to tailgating. One final note, it also gives direct links the stadiums official parking lots informational pages. So if you are unsure of their resources you can double check that they found what you are looking for. Here is a link to the site “Tailgating America”, and just find the tab on the home page that states “Parking Lots”. I hopeful this is helpful for your journeys this year.

Good Luck Hunting….The Tailgate Society

"The Ultimate Tailgater"

As I was researching for more ideas related to tailgating I came across this great blog that details many aspects of tailgating. If you had not noticed the name from the title of this blog it is also the site to be directed to “The Ultimate Tailgater”. This was established by several well accredited individuals that range from authors to life timers of dedicated tailgaters. One is even a VP of Marketing for a grill website that is specifically focused on grills for tailgating purposes. They each have their own niche when it comes to tailgating, and this allows them to give many perspectives of tailgating.

The range of concepts they cover is so vast. They have everything from recipes to rankings of the best places to tailgate. They do an excellent job of embracing the several styles of tailgating that you could enjoy. They even have a blog post on tailgating on a budget. I found that amazing because most of the time you want to go all out to have the best time, but if you continue to do this every week it could become quite costly. It is great they have assorted array of ideas that you can go and find. I definitely recommend checking out their site(s).

Their blog might be slightly outdated only because they transferred to a different web page. You can get there from the blog post, and they also provide other links that they found to be useful to their topics. I am almost positive you could find anything you could possibly think of that is related to tailgating. You will most likely not be left unsatisfied. If you cannot find what you are looking for here then I am unsure of where to direct you. The information provided is first-rate. Let me know what you think of the blog and website, and if it helped you out at all. To find their site I would suggest searching by the title “The Ultimate Tailgater” to find it.

Weekend is soon…that means tailgating can start as earlier as Saturday morning. We can only wait!

Top Activities to do while Tailgating

1. Drinking
2. Grilling/BBQ
3. Drinking Games (Beer Pong, Flippy Cup)
4. Bag Toss
5. Socialize with the neighbors
6. Throw football around
7. Eating your food and possibly the neighbors
8. Yelling/Screaming/Cheering for your team (Setting the atmosphere)
9. Walk the Lots
10. Watch/Listen to pregame announcements

The first two are the most obvious and critical for having a fun filled day of tailgating. Without beverages and cooking supplies the rest of the activities may not even be possible. If you want to experience tailgating the right way, you definitely want to prepare for those two. Having a few drinks and eating delicious grilled food are, to me; have to be the most important part of planning for tailgating. This helps move onto the next category of drinking games, which are always fun to play with your immediate group of friends or to spread out and meet some other friendly tailgaters and ask them to join your group. Creates a bit of competition amongst tailgaters (could ask a rival team that you are playing that week), and gets you excited for the upcoming game. It also gives you time to relax and talk to some strangers see how they made their journey to the stadium. You would be surprised; I have met people at baseball games that traveled from the east coast up to Chicago to watch the Cubs. I think it is interesting listening to other peoples stories and journeys to the game because there is always that one trip that just has a ridiculous amount of problems but somehow they were still able to make it. Some games that are perfect for the tight quarters in the lots are bags and throwing a football around. All you need is a long, narrow section (typically the drives in the lots) to setup your boards for bags or to begin playing a little bit of catch. Not only does this keep your mind occupied for the game, it gets your body moving (for cold weather) and gets you ready for some action. Finally, by far my favorite of all the activities (even though I ranked it as nine) is walking around the lots. Again, you would be surprised to all the different people and sites you see. One time on the way into Soldier Field we stopped at another friends tailgate in a closer lot, and of all luck I got some free chicken kabobs. Man…those were so delicious. It is surprising how everyone’s grilling techniques might be slightly different, but in the end it all tastes good.

Happy Tailgating!

Budlight Appeals to the Taste of Tailgaters

As I sat around watching a day full of NFL games and during the brief moments that I actually pay attention to commercials there were a few that caught my attention. Bud light produced what I believe to be fake infomercials selling quite unique products that made me chuckle when I first saw them. The first commercial that played had a foam finger and a koozie combined into one great item. The koozie was built attached to the foam finger right where the palm of the hand is. It cut two slits on the side of the palm so you could stick your hand through to be able to hold onto your beverage, preferably a beer. Originally I thought what a brilliant idea. You can root for your team and drink beer with one hand. That means you have all kinds of possibilities to use your right hand for. Another beer! Maybe some food of some kind, or anything one’s heart desires. Then I started thinking, how can you drink the beer. Every time you would go to bring the can closer to your mouth, you would poke your eye before having the chance to get a sip. Again, I believe these were used as fake promotional items for Bud light, but if this was a legitimate product would you actually buy it? I think it would be something cool to buy if it were actually a functional koozie. Another product that I found hysterical was a dog carrying condiments. You can have your condiments of choice at your side at all times, unless your dog runs away. It was a real simple design, a strap that went around the dogs back with two pouches connected on the side to hold the contents. Obviously it is not most thought out idea, but I think it is just meant to be funny and stupid. I thought they were clever, cheesy commercials that at least got you thinking about Bud light and tailgating. What inventions have you thought of that would be great for tailgating. Post a comment what you think about the commercial, or any of your own creative ideas. See you next Sunday!

Grill Challenge: Charcoal vs. Gas

The debate to determine whether charcoal or gas is superior to one another is like saying the Red Sox are better than the Yankees or vice-versa. At times they are so evenly matched it is hard to tell whom you like more, or which flavor of the month it is. Each one has its positives and negatives. It mainly comes down to a personal preference to which you end up choosing to grill with. Personal choice combined with a few other factors play a main determining role when picking one over the other.
First, I have to start with taste as the number one influence because from my experience that is what everyone wants from their grill: the best taste. I personally enjoy the raw smokiness that is produced from the charcoal that will give your food that extra bite compared to gas. It seems of late that most people are tending to buy more gas grills than charcoal because of the convenience it takes to start. This is definitely a plus when it comes to gas since it will reduce your cooking time by at least 20 to 30 minutes. Charcoal grills tend to be messier and time consuming when it comes to igniting your weapon of choice; not to mention the cleanup afterwards (not a big factor for myself). I think the additional flavors you receive from the charcoal grill definitely outweigh the convenience factor because to get the same taste you would probably have to spend more money for a smoker as an add-on (this could also cause more work eliminating that benefit).
Price is another factor that heavily weighs on your decision to purchase a grill for the big game. Charcoal grills can be found at relatively low prices up to more expensive models too, but gas grill are generally going to be higher priced. This could be to steep for some of us. I think another big issue some of us folks forget is a transportation factor. I am sure there are some nice gas grills, but when you have to transport a huge bulky grill in the trunk of a car I think you may be persuaded again. Small, portable charcoal grills are easily accessible and can be hauled in any sized vehicle. Based on my personal feelings, I without a doubt would bring the old, classy charcoal versus the new, sexy gas grills to the game because of these factors:

1. Taste = Charcoal
2. Price = Charcoal
3. Prepping Convenience = Gas
4. Transportation Ease = Charcoal

How do you feel? I know everyone cannot agree with me even though I know you want to. Maybe you can try to convince me otherwise, but until then you can keep your gas grills. The best way to tailgate is still with the basic Smokey Joe, Weber.

Feel free to respond to my bold choice....Charcoal is by far superior.

Who will win the battle?

Next Week's Content: Stay Tuned

The upcoming schedule shows a tour of different regions located across the United States. National Football Teams and their cities will be chosen at random to take a deeper look at some tailgating traditions. The main theme will be on what is that regions speciality item for tailgating food because every region, team, and man has one. We all should know there is usually only one "right" way to prepare it too, but we are going to let you know some of the hardest kept secrets in grilling. Maybe your team will be on the list.

Bears Football!

One of my own tailgating experiences was during the 2006 NFL season. I went to the two Chicago Bears playoff games that were played at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL prior to them losing in the Super Bowl. In the first game, they played the Seahawks defeating them 27-24 which I thought was the best experience. Then the following game was by far a lot more exciting because they were playing the Saints for the NFC Championship. They obviously won that (they lost in the Super Bowl). Not only were the games amazing, but the tailgating (basically my first two times ever) was just as much fun. We cooked up these delicious rib-eye steak sandwiches with hearty deli-buns, and had some drinks before we went into the stadium. The neighbors were always generous offering up a taste of their morsels. Everybody wants people to try their food, so they can hear someone else tell them how good it is. I don't mind for the simple fact I get to eat it! Overall it was an awesome time. I recommend anyone to stop in Chicago for a Bears game, and definitely make sure to get there early for some tailgating.

Tailgating: The Ultimate Experience!

Almost everyone is familiar with what tailgating is, but for those of you who are not here is a brief description explaining what I feel it encompasses. Tailgating allows the typical businessman, serious brain surgeon, and even your professor to escape the pressures and stress of the real world to an oasis of food, friends, and booze not necessarily in that order. Patrons show up to the parking lots hours prior to an event (football, basketball, or baseball games, music concerts, and so forth) in order to kick off the enjoyment of the weather and the miraculous smells of others barbecuing. It is basically a gathering of fellow fans pregaming to get ready for the main show, but even though they congregate for the same event every fan celebrates in their own unique way. That is what makes tailgating great! This blog is created for the die hard fan who loves to tailgate every weekend, but also for those less experienced in order to share the great secrets and tips of having the best tailgating experience one can have.