Blue White 2005

Blue White 2005 - Diesel Tailgate

Well - Blue White 2005 was one for the ages. We joined tailgating forces with the "dual diesel tailgate 4" (DDT4), a group of young engineers we met last season and have been corresponding/planning with all winter.

Suzanne and I traveled to the State College Area the Sunday before and spent the week with Mom. During the week we planned, shopped and prepared a variety of goodies for the tailgate. Our assignments were: dips/snacks, desserts and a specialty beverage. For the beverage we made 5 gallons of Lynchburg Lemonade; suzanne made the sours mix from scratch and they were outstanding! For dips/snacks we made: Mini strombolis (ham/cheese, pepperoni, buffalo chicken); mini quiches (ham/cheese, vegetable); smokies in a blanket; ante-pasta plate; mini muffins (blueberry, cinnamon, corn, chocolate chip); mini biscuits (cheese, herb); onion/blue cheese dip; creamy salsa dip; buffalo chicken dip; uncle al's burnt keilbasa, roasted red pepper dip; spinach dip; tomato puree; pasta salad, homemade bagel chips; homemade crostini; party pumpernickel; chicken/red pepper spread made in a football shaped mould; stuffed mushrooms; homemade chex mix; cream puffs with herbed cream cheese filling; cherry tomatoes wrapped in salami & herbed cream cheese; tortilla chips; and, potato chips. For desserts we made: lemon tarts; coconut tarts; cheesecake bites; marbled cheesecake brownies; cream filled cream puffs; chunky chocolate brownies; turtle brownies; pineapple coconut brownies; mini chocolate cupcakes (which we frosted green and sprinkled green colored coconut on top of, arranged side by side on a tray and decorated with blue and white football player figurines, goal posts and knocked over red and yellow figurines which we called Florida State); almond butter cookies (shaped like footballs); shortcake footballs (dipped in chocolate); and, the lion cake (blue cake inside)!

The rest of the crew served breakfast (bacon, eggs, pancakes); hot sausage sandwiches; bratwursts; beercan chickens; brisket sandwiches; baked potato chili; bacon cheeseburgers; deep fried peirogies, cheese sticks, poppers, etc. Bloody Marys, Sangrita and beer as far as the eye could see, until you couldn't see anymore. There were little to no leftovers except for some dip and a few desserts - it was a return of the locust! (we hadn't seen devastation like that since Minnesota 2003).

There were a ton of people (est. 90!) - and it was a blast. The tailgate "area" was huge - 12 parking spaces, 3 canopies, tables and chairs everywhere. I did make it into the game for the 2nd quarter and halftime (saw the '94 team). The game was called in the 3rd quarter due to rain. The weather in general was icky - but we made the most of it!

The tailgate itself made it into the York Dispatch newspaper and Fox Sports' recap of the game!

It was a great success and everyone had a fun time.