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| Google Images |
It’s true – our first college football game in 2014 is in AUGUST. In the deep South. During the heat of the day. But, you won’t hear ME complaining – the looooong wait for football will finally be over!
We are attending Georgia Tech’s Home Opener —- we’ll be watching them face the Fighting Terriers of Wofford University. While it’s perhaps not the biggest rivalry game of the season, it’ll be great fun tailgating, reconnecting with friends and family and watching college football!
So, not only will we be wearing the lightest clothing we can possibly find (as it’s all but guaranteed to be scorchingly hot weather), we’ll be tailgating and will want food (and a drink of course) that’s cool and refreshing and delicious. The weather forecast a week out was predicting low 90 degree temps.
Kickoff is at 12:30PM, so this tailgate will be a brunch menu. But since it’s so early, we’ll probably have a post-game nosh as well!
PRE GAME MENU:
BACON on the grill
POST GAME SNACK:
GAMEDAY TACO DIP
PORK TENDERLOIN SLIDERS
BROCCOLI SALAD
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| Photo Credit: Momontimeout |
8 cups fresh fruit, chopped (peaches, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, grapes, melon etc.)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (or less, depending on how sweet you want it)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup lime juice
OR 1/4 cup lime juice and 1/4 cup rum
2 TBSP fresh mint, chopped
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Let cool. Stir in lime juice and/or rum.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Drizzle about half of the lime mixture over chopped fruit and stir until combined. Continue adding lime mixture just until fruit is lightly coated. You don’t want soup at the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle with fresh mint and stir gently just prior to serving. ***Note: you can make the lime mixture in advance and chill. Then bring to your tailgate and pour over the fruit immediately before serving.
STRAWBERRY BREAD (WITH STRAWBERRY BUTTER)
(Adapted from Recipe.com)
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| Photo Credit: recipe.com |
2 cups chopped strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (yes, ONE CUP – but this recipe is for TWO loaves)
1 cup chopped pecans
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.
In a small bowl, toss strawberries with sugar; set aside.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together eggs and oil.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Add pecans and strawberries.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Add strawberry mixture to dry ingredients.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Pour into prepared loaf pans.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Bake for 1 hour, or until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Serve with strawberry butter.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Strawberry Butter
2 TBSP powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 strawberries, hulled and finely chopped
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Mix the powdered sugar and butter together until smooth.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Fold in the strawberries.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
(Adapted from Jennifercooks)
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| Photo Credit: Jennifercooks |
It gets no easier than this recipe for delicious cinnamon rolls! It’s basically old-fashioned cinnamon toast that you can make in advance and transport to your tailgate. Genius! I’m doubling the recipe because something tells me that people won’t stop at just one!
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1 stick butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 TBSP cinnamon
OPTIONAL – Glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP milk
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In small bowl, combine butter, sugar and cinnamon; beat until smooth.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Separate dough into triangles. Spread each triangle with around 1 TBSP cinnamon
butter mixture. Too much and it’ll all goop out (like my first batch did).
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Roll up each, starting at the widest side, as you would normally do for crescent rolls.
Firmly press ends and seams to seal. Roll back and forth lightly on counter top to further seal.
Place each cinnamon filled crescent roll onto an ungreased baking sheet. You need to space them 2″ apart – my first batch didn’t turn out that well because I had them too close together. They will expand.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Not sure I’m using the glaze as the rolls are plenty sweet without it – you decide. If desired, top with the glaze: In small bowl, blend all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm rolls. Yields: 16 rolls
TEX-MEX BREAKFAST TACOS
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| Photo Credit: MyRecipes |
This recipe makes 6 breakfast tacos – add more to suit your party.
2 large eggs
6 large egg whites
1 (4-oz.) can mild chopped green chiles, drained
1/2 (8-oz.) package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp table salt
1 TBSP olive oil
6 (6-inch) slightly charred corn tortillas
6 TBSP chopped green onions
Hot sauce
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Whisk together eggs, egg whites, green chiles, cream cheese, pepper, and salt. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet; add egg mixture, and scramble.
Divide egg mixture among tortillas. Top each with 1 Tbsp. chopped green onions and hot sauce to taste. Roll up each tortilla, and serve immediately.
(Adapted from The Atlanta Journal)
These are absolutely the best! The secret is the chicken broth…
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| Photo Credit: Google Images |
6 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 cups regular grits
16 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter
8 oz. grated white cheddar cheese
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Bring broth, S & P and garlic powder to a boil. Stir in grits and whisk. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thick (8-10 minutes). Add shredded cheddar and milk and stir. Slowly stir in eggs and butter. Pour into casserole dish, and sprinkle with white cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes until set.
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| Photo Credit: Smitten Kitchen |
This recipe comes from one of my favorite bloggers. And the fact that it has OJ in it makes it an acceptable beverage for drinking in the morning – right? 😉 I’ll probably double or triple the recipe for my crowd at this week’s tailgate…
1 cup water
2 tea bags
1 cup bourbon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups orange juice
6 TBSP lemon juice
16 to 17 oz. (about 5 cups of small pieces of ice) ice cubes
Mint sprigs or lemon slices, for garnish, if desired
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Boil 1 cup water for tea. Add the tea bags and let steep until cool.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Discard the tea bags and set aside. Pour tea into a pitcher. Add bourbon, sugar, orange juice and lemon juice and refrigerate until needed.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
To serve: Stir punch base. To make two liters of punch, add base and full amount of ice cubes to your blender, blending until the ice is crushed and slushy. For each individual glass of punch, place 1/2 cup punch base and slightly heaped 1/2 cup small pieces of ice and blend until slushy. Add an extra whole ice cube or two to glasses if desired. Garnish glass with a sprig of mint and/or slice of lemon.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| polyvore by cate-mcclane-bogue |
I love all things personalized and/or monogrammed, so I am so excited to use some monogrammed tailgating cups I ordered for this upcoming season! They can be personalized any way you want! The ones I ordered are navy and gold, naturally and are set to arrive by game day. I’ll post pics once I have them! They can be ordered from Monogram Lane.
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| Photo Credit: monogram lane |
While the pictures aren’t the best, here are our 2014 tailgating cups:
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
POST GAME NOSHES:
(Adapted from Food.com)
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| Photo Credit: Slickchick |
I’ll make this dish the day before and just heat quickly before serving. Can easily be microwaved until warm and bubbly.
1 (16 oz) can refried black beans
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 TBSP packaged taco seasoning mix (or make your own – see below***)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
2 green onions, chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped
tortilla chips
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Spread the refried beans in a stone baker (or any 9-inch baking dish).
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning, and garlic. Mix well with electric mixer.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Spread cream cheese mixture on top of refried beans.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle olives, tomatoes, onions and cilantro on top.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips.
***My taco seasoning mix
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper (or more if you like it hotter)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Mix chili powder, paprika, sea salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Makes the equivalent of one packet of store bought taco seasoning mix.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
PORK TENDERLOIN SLIDERS
(Adapted from Southern Living)
Sauce
2 cups mayo
2 TBSP minced fresh chives
1 1/2 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
Combine all ingredients; cover and chill at least 8 hours.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Tenderloins
3-4 (3/4 lb) pork tenderloins
1/2 cup olive oil
3 TBSP grated onion
3 TBSP white wine vinegar
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Small rolls (such as Hawaiian)
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Trim fat off tenderloins. Place in large baggie or container. Combine oil and remaining ingredients and pour over tenderloins. Seal bag or cover container and marinate in refridgerator at least 8 hours (up to 1 day).Remove from marinade, reserving marinade. Place on rack in the oven and roast at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 30-40 minutes (or until meat thermometer is at 160 degees), basting occasionally with marinade. Let stand 10 minutes. Slice and serve with rolls and sauce. Can be refrigerated at this point and are delish cold.
2 large heads broccoli, chop into florets and slice stalks
Blanch the broccoli florets and sliced stalks quickly in boiling salted
Spread it around a clean tea towel to steam dry.
Once dry, transfer to a serving dish.
Add the tomatoes and chives to the broccoli and bacon. Pour dressing over and Post game notes: It was a great tailgate! Ended up having around 20 people there – not bad for Labor Day weekend in 90+ degree weather! AND – The Weather Channel
Maggie – our Boston Terrier, who’s also a Georgia Tech fan:
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Can't believe football season is almost here. Love the recipes and can't wait to try them at our tailgates.
gameday dresses
Thank you! I'm going to add your great website to my blog – too fun!!!
Great post! I'm so pumped for this football season, and the endless snacks that come with it.
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Thank you! I'll check out your site for sure!
Thanks for your kind words! I cannot wait for the season to begin!!!! No tailgating, but at least there's a game tonight!