"tailgate" news and stories

Grilled lamb chops with olive tapenade. Photo: Erica George Dines Photography

It is hard to believe that summer is officially coming to an end and football season is here. We always enjoy grilling in the fall -- cooler temperatures set in and you can bring the party outside once again.

Fall temperatures generally mean heartier meals, but that is all the more reason to keep your grill out until winter sets. Take advantage of fall's ingredients and keep the grill going.

Richer meats like lamb chops become some of our favorite weekend meals and are surprisingly easy to grill.

We're being a little lazy this Sunday afternoon because we're anxiously watching the two conference championship games on TV, but that hasn't stopped us from doing the research we need to do to get ready for THE Sunday afternoon of pro football, the Super Bowl.

Yes, the Super Bowl is two weeks away, and we're trying to put together our menu. We came across Alabama Pulled Pork Sandwiches, as made by Recipe Girl from an original recipe in Cooking Light magazine. The recipe is slightly different from a traditional pulled pork because it uses pork tenderloin. Additionally, the sandwiches are made with sweet potato biscuits rather than rolls or buns, but perhaps the most surprising thing is that the barbecue sauce is white.

Heinz has a very unusual new marketing idea, offering customized labels for bottles of their products. They are not the only company to offer custom imprinting, but surely they are the only condiment company. And who would have thought that custom ketchup would be a draw in the first place?

At MyHeinz.com you can select one of five different products and add either an "everyday message" or a "custom message" to it. The everyday messages include: Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary (would only recommend this in conjunction with another anniversary gift - like a barbecue) and Get Well Soon. The custom message can be almost anything, so get creative.

Heinz suggests that the bottles are appropriate for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, family reunions and tailgating. We're still not sold on the anniversary idea, but those last two occasions actually seem like ketchup would be a perfect topper for them, not to mention the fact that a kid would be thrilled to see his or her name on ketchup put out at their birthday party.

Source

Folks, all I can say is start getting ready for next year. What you see here is the Cook's BBQ Kitchen from Cook Industries. Basically an entire kitchen that fits in a galvanized locker that can be 'docked' on your tailgate. It has three 30,000 BTU burners, a griddle, a microwave, a refrigerator, lighting and sinks. It even comes with a circuit breaker so you can run it at home or off a generator or voltage inverter. The site also has accessories like batteries and hot water taps. The main unit can be yours for roughly $4K. Like I said, start getting ready now.

[Via Boing Boing]