When the professional football season is upon us, tailgating menus become the subject of much discussion! At least, if your home is anything like mine.

More and more each year, tailgating (and making fabulous tailgating food!) has become a culture unto itself-- one that draws thousands of people into a parking lot, each of which bearing their "specialty" feasts. Some of the tools for tailgating have become as cherished as a secret family recipe. In fact, tailgating food has become a pretty profitable industry, with some items (like grills and supplies) costing thousands of dollars.

Now, that's serious business!

What Kind of Tailgating Party are You Planning?

The kind of tailgate menus you can pull off will probably be based on these three elements:

• 1. The equipment you have available
• 2. The space in your vehicle for equipment and food
• 3. The weather on gameday

Supplies for Making Tailgating Food

If you walk through a tailgate party site, you'll see everything from the tiniest hibachi to a full size smoker and satellite dishes.

Don't even have a portable grill? If you do some preparation at home, you don't need tons of equipment to have fun and great food. You don't even need anything to heat food up if you don't want to-- tailgating menus can be like a glorified picnic if that's what you want.

The main concern with tailgate menus --both hot and cold-- is, of course, food safety. Please be sure you have an adequate way of keeping food cold, and cooking it thoroughly if you plan on cooking out for a tailgate party.

Tailgating Food and Recipe Planning

Now that you've got an idea of the scope of your tailgate party, it's time to put together your tailgating recipes and menu. You can do one big meal, if you like, or you can spread the food out into courses. Have fun with it, and most of all... keep it casual.

There are people out there who do gourmet tailgating menus, and they're wonderful... but no matter how fancy your food might be, keep the service of it casual and fun.

Tailgating Recipes for Appetizers

Appetizers and finger foods are a nearly perfect tailgate food. Why? Because they're as portable as the party itself. You can grab an item and keep mingling, socializing and checking out everyone's layout. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Bacon wrapped dates or scallops
• Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Skewers
• Blue Cheese and Onion Dip
• Ham and pineapple kabobs
• Deviled eggs
• Stuffed cherry tomatoes and olives
• Bruschetta
• Meatballs
• Cold Crab Dip
• Tortilla spirals
• Grilled Marinated Mushrooms on Rosemary Skewers (recipe below)

Marinated Mushroom Appetizer for a Tailgating Menu

This is such a great tailgating snack recipe to have all ready and cook on the grill.

Ingredients:
1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C. red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions: 1. To make the marinade for the mushrooms, take extra virgin olive oil red wine vinegar. Add minced garlic, red pepper flakes, onion powder, and oregano.

2. Put this into a food storage bag.

3. Thread each mushroom onto a sprig of rosemary (spearing the mushroom first with a wooden skewer makes it easier).

4. Place mushrooms in a bag to marinate. Then you can just grab and go, grilling the mushrooms on site.

Main and Side Dish Ideas for Tailgating Menus

To make putting together your tailgating food as easy as possible, I suggest doing as much preparation on your main dish at home as possible. Coat your steaks, set up the surf and turf sticks, brine the chicken, form your burgers and so forth.

If you're only bringing a small grill, I'd also suggest that you offer a max of three grilled options, and a few cold options. This will make space on the grill while still giving hungry eaters plenty of variety.

You can find some great all-American tailgating recipe ideas at:

• Barbeque Recipes
• 4th of July Recipes
• Summer Recipes for the Grill
• Picnic Menus and Recipes
• BBQ Menu Ideas

Or think of adding some of the great foods below to your tailgating menu. Play around with different combinations of foods and ideas... have fun with it!

Tailgating Main Dishes

• Shrimp and steak kabobs (surf and turf!)
• Beer Can Chicken
• Peppercorn crusted steak
• Smoked Turkey Legs
• Deep fried turkey
• Chicken and Cheese Pastry Triangles
• BBQ Chicken
• Burgers or Sliders
• Veggie Burgers
• Build Your Own Sandwiches

Tailgating Side Dishes

Side dishes should be ones that you can easily fit on your grill or that you can serve cold right out of the cooler. If everything on your tailgating menu has to be cooked, you'll quickly be overwhelmed! Try out:

• Baby Grilled Potatoes with Herbs
• Roasted Tomato Salad
• French Green Bean and Potato Salad
• Garlic Potato Salad
• Grilled Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto
• Grilled Corn on the Cob
• 5-Bean Salad (recipe below)

Five Bean Salad Recipe for a Tailgate Party

Bean salad is a very durable, tasty, and easy addition to your tailgate menus.

Ingredients:
1 C. cooked white beans
1 C. cooked kidney beans
1 C. cooked yellow beans
1 C. cooked green beans
1 C. cooked garbanzo beans
1 C. frozen corn, thawed
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp. celery ceed
1 1/4 C. sugar
1 1/4 C. white vinegar

Instructions: 1.Take each white beans, red kidney beans, yellow beans, green beans, garbanzo beans and corn and place in a large, easy-to-transport salad bowl.

2. To this add red onion, mustard seed, celery seed, sugar, and white vinegar.

3. For the best flavor leave this in your refrigerator over night before the game.

Desserts for a Tailgating Menu

Choosing a dessert or five to finish up your tailgating menu is generally pretty easy-- there are lots of good options out there, and almost all of them can be made ahead. Some of my favorite tailgating desserts are:

• Dutch Apple Pie
• Coconut and Limoncello Truffles
• Pecan Pie
• Cookies
• Brownies
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Squares
• Caramel Turtle Cake Bars