Are you ready for some football? It’s that time of year again when the pigskins come out of hiding, the team flags are dusted off and placed in flagpoles and on garage doors and America is getting ready to start celebrating its favorite pastime…tailgating.
Step-by-Step Checklist on How to Throw the Ultimate Tailgating Party
Whether your favorite football team plays college ball or if you prefer the pros, after a couple of seasons, chances are you’re not going to remember any one particular game. However, a properly executed ultimate tailgating party will be talked about for years. To help you prepare for the tailgating party of the year, we’ve put together a list of the top must-have ultimate tailgating ideas.
Ultimate Tailgating Party Checklist
- Blankets
- Water
- Portable TV (For Pre-Game of Course)
- Horseshoes, Frisbee, Football (Any of your Favorite Tailgating Games)
- Fold-Out Chairs
- Towels (For when spills happen, and yes, they WILL happen)
- Large Trash Bags
- Trash Bag Ties
- Portable Grill
- Propane Canister
- Grilling Utensils
- Umbrellas
- Bottle Openers
- Napkins
- Paper Plates & Eating Utensils (No plastic drinking containers, if they need to use a glass, they should go to another party)
- Cooler and Ice (Lots & Lots of Ice)
- Canopy
- Fold-Out Table for Food
- Portable Seats
- Coffee Pot
- Portable Heater (or Fan if you live in Southern California)
Now that you have a basic tailgating party checklist down, it’s time to plan the menu. When it comes to tailgating recipes, you’ll want to stick to finger foods and foods that are easy to eat and share. Choose foods like chicken, sandwiches, sausages, hot dogs, burgers and side dishes like chips, corn-on-the-cob, and veggies (again for our Southern California fans). If you feel like your tailgaters can handle it, you can add some side dishes that require a fork and plate like baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, deviled eggs or even a hearty garden salad. Don’t forget the condiments and if you’re doing a sausage, you have to remember the peppers and onions. Pack up your big cooler and lay an instant ice pack on top. The instant ice pack is a perfect cooler accessory because it will keep your food cold without leaking and leaves more room in the cooler for the important stuff – like the food.
I don’t think we need to even cover the drinks in preparing for your ultimate tailgating party – everyone has a favorite and I trust you have this section already memorized. But, as a backup, you might want to pack some extra water, sports drinks and even some coffee.
Tailgating Ideas – Setting Up
After you’ve found your place to park, it’s time to set up your area for your tailgating party. Open up your table or your tailgate, whichever place you’re using to serve your fellow tailgaters, and inflate your inflatable serving bar. Once the inflatable serving bar is ready to go, just add some ice and fill it up with any food or drinks that need to stay chilled. After all, you’ll want to save the big coolers for the overstock of drinks that you have packed.
Tailgating Ideas – Warming Up
If your ultimate tailgating party has landed toward the end of the season, in the heart of winter, you might want to add some Heated Seat Cushions to your make your tailgating guests more comfortable. The rechargeable portable seat warmer quickly warms your seat up to a balmy 140-degrees, which will keep your fellow tailgater’s “seats” warm in even the coldest of weather. Now, if your guests are chilly because it’s close to the end of the season and their team is not going to the playoffs…yet again…the portable seat warmer may not help warm their spirit.
Tailgating Ideas – Grilling & Serving
It’s inevitable that your guests are going to want their steaks cooked at different temperatures and being the ideal host of the ultimate tailgating party, you’ll want to accommodate their requests as easily as possible. Just pop in a Meat Temperature Marker and you’ll know instantly the wellness of each steak – so everyone is happy and you can keep on cooking.
If you’ve found yourself in that all-too-familiar scenario where some food is already done and ready for consumption before your other tasty treats are ready to be served, no worries! You can cover your ultimate tailgating party food with a food tent so pests won’t treat themselves to your meals. The food tent is available in a couple of sizes and is big enough for multiple dishes.
Serve up your ultimate tailgating feast on a large Personalized BBQ Platter made from hearty glazed stoneware that’s hearty enough to hold a large amount of your gourmet meats. You can personalize this tailgating party food tray with whatever creative saying you want to present to your guests while they’re tasting your grilled masterpieces.
Tailgating Ideas – Cleaning Up
Usually when it’s time to throw out your trash, you have to either pack it up and put it in the back of truck to take home or you have to waste time walking to the other side of the parking lot to dispose of your garbage. But the long walk is now over – simply pop open a Bag Buddy® Bag Holder, fold the plastic garbage bag around the top frame and you have an instant and conveniently placed trash can right where you need it.
When you’ve finished grilling and your ultimate tailgating party is in full swing, it’s time to put the grill away and get ready to head off to the big game. Cover up your grill and support your favorite collegiate team by putting a College Grill Cover over it. Adapting to fit most large cart-style grills, the College Grill Cover is a real team player, helping to guard your grill from rain, snow, ice, and hot sun.
Now that your ultimate tailgating party has come to an end, it’s time to paint your face (if you’re so inclined), gather up your tickets and all other ancillary items that are necessary for you to show you’re the ultimate fan and go enjoy yourself at the game. You can be happy knowing that next week, you get to do it all over again.