The Ranch Kitchen: Tailgating Recipes from the Ranch on Sure Champs Blog today!

Our annual tailgating picture!

And a fun weekend was had by all! This past weekend we hosted our annual Nolan Family and Friends Tailgate in College Station, Texas at Texas A&M University! This annual tradition is now going on 8 years strong and it's a favorite thing for us to do each fall while watch some Fighting Texas Aggie Football!

For this month's Sure Champ Blog submission of Recipes from the Ranch, I decided to share our weekend and foods with our readers! Tailgating has become an institution in the south, be at a high school, college or even pro parking lot. It's a time to feed the masses before, during and in our case again after the game. More than anything for our family it's a way to connect with our daughters and their friends becoming a part of their college experience. Tailgating at Texas A&M has brought us closer to our daughters, their friends, our friends and given us memories we will never forget.

Our first experience was probably the funniest when we smoked out a neighbors RV from our smoker's smoke....he woke up in the middle of the night thinking his camper was on fire, until he smelled the BBQ smell! We made friends with him and his entire family by inviting them to tailgate with us and thankfully they forgave us!

One of our favorite memories was our every other year Texas A&M vs. Texas Thanksgiving Tailgate when Scott and the girls.....shh.....slid down a certain 'mountain' there on campus....we don't have much snow in southern Texas, but a plastic tub and a little ingenuity made for a fun night and some soaked kids!

This past weekends tailgate was another winner and the men decided to go with the 'surprise' factor or what they probably thought was the 'wow' factor and serve along side my husband's famous catfish, some fried froglegs. Not many of the women ate them, but the men tore them up!

For dessert we had fried apple, pecan and peach pies that will now become a tradition! Oh my...these were like the best thing ever and a great idea by our friend David. We couldn't have put this tailgate on without his help, his wife Kelly's (their remoulade sauce and fried pie idea), Tim and Erin Lockhart and their Cattle in Motion TV's & fajita lunch, and Ken and Felicia Marks (her wonderful dips and dessert) and all these sweet couples foods they brought! These men and their Cajun Cooker/fryer have definitely gotten their system down and fed over eighty hungry kids and parents with the ease of seasoned cooks!

The cooking crew! We couldn't have done it without David and Ken!

The night was a cold one for Texas and for those who stayed behind to watch the game outside our RV, we all covered up in the blankets I had luckily stashed a year before. A husband should never underestimate why a women packs as much as she does and always remember that her wisdom will eventually shine through!

Our girls and their friends!

My cousin Krissy and I!

I hope you'll stop by the Sure Champ's Tailgating Recipes from the Ranch Post today and check out some of the best foods we shared this weekend while there in Aggieland! These dishes aren't just for tailgating, but for anytime you feed a crowd or want something fun and different to serve at home!

Enjoy and have fantastic start to your fall!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen