Categories: tailgatetailgate brunch

OPENING FOOTBALL GAME 2018!

Finally! Football started (August 9th), and in our household that’s cause for great celebration! Our first college tailgate party is Saturday, September 1st, and we CANNOT WAIT! It’ll be a 12:30pm kickoff so an early brunch tailgate for us.

GEORGIA TECH

ALCORN STATE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST

KICK OFF: 12:30PM

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Here’s the brunch menu:

MENU:

BACON-WRAPPED DATES STUFFED WITH BLUE CHEESE

CHEESY SAUSAGE AND CROISSANT CASSEROLE

BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

FRUIT KABOBS WITH PINA COLADA DIP

BRUNCH SCREWDRIVER BAR

BACON-WRAPPED DATES STUFFED WITH BLUE CHEESE

food network

Always nice to have things at your tailgate the people can easily walk by and pick up with their hands to eat and enjoy. This appetizer happens to be one of my favorites, and since it’s a brunch I decided it was appropriate to serve it since there IS after all BACON in the dish!

24 large pitted dates

1-2 TBSP heavy cream

1/2 cup blue cheese, at room temperature

1 lb thick cut bacon (room temp)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the dates lengthwise ~ 3/4 of the way down. In a small bowl, press the cream into the blue cheese with a fork.

Press a small scoop of the blue cheese into the center of the dates, and close them back up as best you can.

Cut each piece of bacon in half lengthwise. Wrap each halved bacon strip around a date. Secure with a toothpick. Place the bacon-wrapped dates on a baking sheet.

Bake until the bacon is crisp, ~ 17 to 25 minutes. (Mine took every bit of 25 minutes to get the bacon crisp.)

CHEESY SAUSAGE AND CROISSANT CASSEROLE

(Adapted from Southern Living)

southern living

The great thing about breakfast casseroles is the real “heavy lifting” is done the night before – I’ll throw everything together, then before the tailgate, pop the dish in the oven to cook. Easy peasy!

1 lb hot ground pork sausage (can also use pre-cooked sausage here)
1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tsp sea salt
6 green onions, sliced
1 (13.22-oz.) package mini croissants (about 24), torn
Vegetable cooking spray
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese NOTE: I used 7 ounces of Gruyere and it was fine. Gruyere cheese is pretty pricey.

Cook sausage about 8 minutes in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to crumble.

Toss together sausage, Parmesan cheese, salt, green onions and croissants.

Arrange mixture in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Whisk together milk, heavy cream and eggs; pour over the sausage mixture. Cover and chill dish for at least 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Uncover casserole, and sprinkle with Gruyère cheese.

Bake 45 minutes or until golden. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

(Adapted from Southern Living)

southern living

1 large egg
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
3 TBSP vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 TBSP all-purpose flour
2 TBSP turbinado sugar
2 TBSP sliced almonds 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

Sift together flour, sugar baking powder and salt in another bowl.

Stir flour mixture in egg mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Toss 1 1/4 cups blueberries in 1 TBSP flour; fold into batter.

Pour into a lightly greased 9-inch springform pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup blueberries.

Stir together 2 TBSP turbinado sugar, sliced almonds, and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove sides of pan*.

*For a tailgate, I’ll make this coffee cake in advance, wrap in foil THEN remove the sides of the pan once I’m ready to serve, to make it easier to transport.

FRUIT KABOBS WITH PINA COLADA DIP

(Adapted from cooks.com)

I just made this dip from my friend Wendy at a couples’ shower I hosted, and it was such a hit, I’ve decided to serve it again for this tailgate party. It’s a light, cold dip that’s the perfect accompaniment to fresh fruit.

8 oz. can crushed pineapple in its own juice, (undrained)
3 1/2 oz pkg instant coconut pudding mix
3/4 c milk 1/2 c sour cream

Fruit such as: grapes, pineapple, strawberries, watermelon Skewers (if making kabobs)

In a food processor or blender, combine pineapple, pudding mix, milk and sour cream.

Blend well. Place in a sealed container and chill at least 2 hours if not overnight.

Serve with whatever fresh fruit you like. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

BRUNCH SCREWDRIVER BAR

I thought it would be fun to have (instead of a Mimosa Bar) a Screwdriver Bar for our Brunch Tailgate party this game. It’ll be hot, so these refreshing juice drinks sound delicious to me, and people can serve themselves which takes the pressure off of me being a bartender.

Vodka

OJ, Pineapple juice, Grapefruit juice, Welch’s Grape Juice, Peach Nectar

AND

oranges, limes, lemons, cherries for garnishing

***AND…how cool are these??? Saw them on Food Network and had to have them. FN also had “team color drinks” that you can make in batches, throw into the pouches, then place the pouches in ice in a cooler and take them to your tailgate. TOO CUTE! I found these on Amazon here.

They featured this drink for yellow or gold teams like Georgia Tech (I’ll be serving this drink to my crowd at an upcoming game!):

Yellow Pineapple Breeze:

This recipe makes 6 pouches. You can easily substitute vodka for the rum. And you can make them up to 3 days in advance – just make sure they’re either refrigerated or frozen.

16 oz coconut or white rum

8 oz pineapple juice

8 oz orange juice

4 oz lime juice

FASHION

So this game was deemed a “gold out”, so naturally I had to come up with something cute to wear! I found this adorable dress ON SALE 40% off in multiple colors at Nordstrom here and it is just the bomb! It’s super comfortable and travels well. I love this dress! It was SO perfect for the hot and humid tailgate over Labor Day weekend!

I paired it with a pair of Tory Burch sandals. I know – it’s a splurge, BUT they will last forever AND they are super comfortable.

I got them here. They are so durable – can get wet with no problem. And I’ve had a lot of TB shoes over the years – there are many that are cute, but not recommended because they are not comfortable. THESE are!

Pair the dress and shoes with some navy earrings (like for instance, these, and lots of gold accessories and you’re all set!

GO JACKETS!!!

Post game pics: