Tailgaiting season is right around the corner. What is your best tailgating recipe?

I don't believe an outdoor picnic or what is complete without Bacon and Egg Pies. They just seem to go together and can be eaten Hot, Warm or Cold.

This recipe is for individual pies, but you could use a larger pie dish. Tin foil pie dishes could be used also, round or square.

Bacon & Egg Pie

•4 organic, free-range eggs

•1 large potato, boiled and sliced

•Several rashers of smoked bacon, fried until crispy

•1/3 cup of grated cheddar cheese

•4 cherry tomatoes, halved

•1/2 white onion, sliced

•Store-bought Pie pastry, cut into 5 inch circles

•1 egg, beaten, for brushing or substitute with milk

•Tomato sauce for serving

•2-4 x 5 inch pie tins

•Sesame seeds

•1 tbs of olive oil

1.Pre-heat the oven to 350F.

2.Lightly grease the pie tins.

3.Boil the potato until it's soft and then drain and cut it into slices.

4.Fry the bacon rashers until slightly crispy and then drain on a paper towel. Using the same pan, fry the onions on a medium heat for 4 minutes. Drain and set side.

5.Beat one egg with a fork and set aside to use as egg wash. Alternatively, you can just use milk to brush the tops of the pastry.

6.Place a pie tin on the pastry dough and cut a slightly larger circle around it. This is the pie base. Cut another circle the same size of the tin. This is the pie top. Repeat the process until you have two bases and two pie tops.

7.Gently press 1 pastry circle into the bottom of the pie tin. Press the dough up the sides and around the rim.

8.Line the pie with a slice of potato, then a layer bacon and onion. Sprinkle on the cheese and add several tomato pieces. Crack 1 or 2 eggs into the pie.

9.Brush the rim with egg wash or milk. Cover the pie with the pastry top and push it down with your fingers.

10.Brush the top with more egg wash or milk. Press around the rim with the back of a fork to seal the pie.

11.Using a sharp knife, make a small incision in the top of the pie to allow for steam to escape.Sprinkle on some sesame seeds.

12.Repeat process with remaining pie pastry and then bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

13.Serve hot or cold with tomato sauce.(ketchup)

Start this night before in slow cooker, then finish on the grill while partying in the parking lot:

Honey Mustard Beer Brats

10 bratwurst sausages

1 green pepper , sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 sweet onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 bay leaf

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

2 cups honey mustard barbeque sauce

2 cans beer, (12 fluid ounce cans)

10 hoagie rolls or bomber buns, sliced lengthwise

Place 5 brats in bottom of 5 quart slow cooker. Arrange half of the peppers and onion on top. Repeat layers. Throw in the bay leaf and garlic.

In a medium bowl, mix together half of the honey mustard sauce, all the liquid smoke and 1 can of beer. Mix well and pour over brats. Add more beer if necessary to cover everything in the pot (may need more than just 2 cans of beer). Cover and cook on low for 4 - 5 hours.

Preheat outdoor grill and lightly oil the grate. Remove the brats from slow cooker, leaving the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Place brats on the grill and baste with some of the remaining honey mustard barbeque sauce. Turn occasionally until slightly charred.

Place brats on rolls and top with vegetables from slow cooker.

For quick and tasty party chicken wings, marinate and then bake in the oven. Marinate as little as 1 hour or as long as overnight. Recipe is easily doubled for larger crowds.

8 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp light soy sauce

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh-ground black pepper

20 chicken drumettes

Combine garlic, honey, mustard, soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a nonreactive bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat each piece well. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place chicken in a single layer on a wire rack set over an oven tray. Bake 45 minutes until well browned and cooked through.

Makes 20 chicken drumettes

I love to bring chili and some side dishes, dips to go with it. This site has some good recipes. I cook the chili a day or 2 before. Heat it up prior to tailgating. I put it into a crock pot and use adapter to plug into lighter to keep it hot. it is soooo good. if we are grilling out I just put in pot and leave on grill. We can then make chili dogs, nachos, etc.

http://www.chili-everyway.com/tailgate-recipes.htm...

Have fun tailgating! I can't wait

Gallon of nacho cheese sauce from local bulk-food store (Sam's Club, Costco, GFS), 4 cans of Hormel Chili with Beans, 2 packages Phili Cream Cheese. Heat up thoroughly, stick in a crock pot, serve with Tortilla chips.

Beer in the butt duck with orange apricot sauce

Ingredients

1 5 pound duck [thawed in the refrigerator if frozen]

coarse sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 strips orange zest [use a vegetable peeler to get strips about 1" x 4"]

1 orange, cut in half

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 can [16 ounces] of beer

1 can [12 ounces] orange soda

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, or to taste

Orange Sauce [see recipe below]

Method

Remove the packet of giblets from the body cavity of the duck and set aside for another use. Remove and discard the fat inside the body and neck cavities. Rinse the duck, inside and out, under cold running water and then drain and blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Prick the duck skin all over with a carving fork, taking care not to pierce the meat. Place the duck on a wire rack on a tray in the refrigerator and let dry out overnight.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in center.

Very generously season the front and main cavity of the duck with salt and pepper. Place a strip of orange zest in the front cavity and one in the main cavity. Rub the outside of the duck all over with cut orange. Drizzle 1 1/2 teaspoons oil over the duck and rub it all over the skin. Very generously season the outside of the duck with salt and pepper.

Open the beer. Drink 3/4 the beer or save it for another recipe. Using a church key style can opener, make 2 additional holes in the top of the beer can. Using a funnel, add 1/2 cup orange soda and the Grand Marnier. [Save the remainder for the sauce].

Holding the duck upright, with the opening of the body cavity at the bottom, lower it onto the beer can so the can fits into the cavity. If using a chicken roasting device, fill it with beer and orange soda and position the duck on top.

Pull the legs forward to form a sort of tripod, so the duck stands upright. [The rear leg of the tripod is the beer can. You don't need to do this if using a roasting device]. Tuck the wing tips behind the duck's back.

When ready to cook, carefully stand the duck up in the center of the hot grate, over the drip pan, away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook the duck until the skin is a dark golden brown and very crisp and the meat is cooked through [about 180° on an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the thigh], 1 1/2 to 2 hours. After 1 hour, prick the duck skin with a sharp fork again [take care not to pierce the meat]. This helps release the fat. Baste the duck with the remaining oil, taking care not to knock the bird over. If using a charcoal grill, you'll need to add 12 fresh coals per side after 1 hour. If the duck skin starts to brown too much, loosely tent the bird with foil.

Use tongs to carefully transfer the duck in its upright position on the beer can to a platter and present it to your guests. [Grab the bird by the beer can just under the butt]. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Carefully lift the duck off the beer can. Take care not to spill the hot beer or otherwise burn yourself. Carve the duck or cut it in halves or quarters and serve with apricot orange sauce.

Apricot Orange Sauce

Try to use a homemade chicken broth or at the very least a low sodium canned or boxed broth.

Ingredients

6 ounces [3/4 cup] orange soda

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 strips orange zest

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup dried pitted apricots

3 tablespoons orange marmalade

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

1 tablespoon butter

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Place the orange soda, chicken stock, orange zest and juice, and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan and boil for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the apricots. Let soak for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick.

Transfer the apricots and soaking liquid to a blender. Add the marmalade, sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Pour the mixture through a strainer into a saucepan, forcing the fruit pulp through the strainer with a spatula, scraping the strained pulp off the bottom of the spatula.

Simmer the sauce for 3 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the orange liqueur and stir it into the sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes: the sauce will thicken slightly. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper – or additional sugar or vinegar if needed.