My Favorite Tailgating Recipes…

This post has been a work in progress for a few days.  Things have been pretty busy and I haven’t had time to share it with you.  I have been cooking up a storm tonight in preparation for our Annual Shony Christmas Party that Tony and I are hosting for our friends tomorrow night.  I have so many recipes to share.  They will be posted throughout the next few days, but first I need to give you a recap of last Saturday and two of my favorite tailgating recipes.

Tony & I spent last Saturday with our friends Kirsten and Eric at the ACC Championship in Charlotte.  Kirsten and I met our junior year in college and have been great friends since.  We left Greenville around lunch.  It was chilly out but the weather was good.  By the time we got to Charlotte it was 37 degrees out and raining, not your ideal tailgating weather.  We set up our tent and tried our best to stay dry!

Thanks to Kirsten we had a fantastic set up!  Her tent was the perfect size for the 4 of us, especially when it was raining, sleeting or hailing out!  

There definitely wasn’t a shortage of food.  From snacks to dinner to beer there was plenty for all!  Along with Eric’s delicious brats that he grilled, I made pasta salad, pepperoni rolls and a VT cookie cake!

After eating way too much and freezing all day, we headed to the game.  It rained for the first quarter but thankfully it stopped and we were able to enjoy the game while staying dry.  We took 9 different coats for the two of us and wore all of them at some point during the day.

The game ended with a Hokie victory and 4 frozen friends.

Back to the food, pepperoni rolls were something that my mom always made growing up. Most people have never had them.  I grew up in Southwest Pennsylvania and they are local to that area.  They are a simple snack to make and are perfect to take to a tailgate.

Mom’s Pepperoni Rolls

Gather your ingredients:

Stretch the dough out.

Roll up the pepperoni and cheese.

Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese roll and pinch to seal the edges.

Repeat 24 times and then let rise.

Bake and then cool on a paper towel.

Enjoy!

Mom’s Pepperoni Rolls

• 1 lb. Sandwich Pepperoni Sliced Thin
• 16 slices PepperJack Cheese
• 1 bag (25 rolls) Frozen Rolls

I had a hard time finding the frozen rolls in South Carolina.  I eventually found a red bag of Parkerhouse Frozen Rolls and they work perfect!

1. Thaw out the dough by placing the rolls on a greased plate and defrost in microwave until soft.
2. Take 1 roll and stretch out in your hand.
3. Take 2 slices of pepperoni and half of a slice of cheese and roll up.
4. Wrap dough around pepperoni and cheese roll and seal.
5. Place seam side down on cookie sheet.
6. Let rise for an hour or 2.
7. Bake at 350F for 8-12 minutes or until just barely brown.
8. Cool on a paper towel lined counter.
9. Store in ziploc bags or plastic containers.
10. Enjoy!

I got my cookie cake recipe from a friend in college.  It has never failed me.  I have made it many times and always turns out perfect.

Colossal Cookie Cake

• 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Butter or Margarine, Softened
• 3/4 Cup Packed Light or Dark Brown Sugar
• 3 Tbs. Granulated Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Mini Milk Chocolate Chips
• 1 Container Cream Cheese Icing

1. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In a large mixer bowl at medium speed, beat butter or margarine, brown sugar and sugar until creamy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  At low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended.  Stir in Chocolate Chips.  Place dough in refrigerator for 1 1/2 hours or in freezer for 45 minutes until well chilled but not hard (chilling makes the dough less sticky and helps prevent excessive spreading during baking).
3. Grease a 12-inch round foil baking pan.  Place dough in center of pan.  Press evenly to within 1 1/2 inches of edge of pan.  For easier handling, place foil pan on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in center of a preheated 325 degF over for 25-30 minutes or until edges are firm and no indentation remains in center of cookie when lightly touched.  For a softer cookie, bake the minimum time.  Place foil baking pan on a wire rack and cool cookie completely.
5. When cool, you can ice the cookie with the frosting of your choice.

Because we were traveling with the cake, I made mine in a 9×13 metal pan and it worked perfect.  Don’t forget to decorate your cake with your team colors.

Here are a few snapshots of the preparation of the cake.

I hope you get the chance to make these perfect tailgating recipes.  I will be posting on Friday or Saturday the recipe for my Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods that I donated for Tina’s Bake Sale.

Time to get to bed.  Good Night!