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By JODI NODING; Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Tuesday, September 06, 1994 Page: C3
Robin and Alton Day can’t always count on the Miami Dolphins to win the
game, but they can always count on this: having a great time at Joe Robbie
Stadium.
What’s their secret? On any given game day, the Hollywood, Fla., couple
loads up an RV with fellow Dolfans — and tons of food — and heads to the
stadium a couple of hours before game time.
Once there, everyone quickly gets to work: Chairs are grouped around
folding tables and topped with tablecloths in team colors, the coolers
unpacked, team banners unfurled. Then the drinks and appetizers come out and
the real fun begins.
This is tailgating, so named because the food often is served on the
tailgate of a station wagon. No matter whether you go to pro or college games,
tailgating gives the day a different flavor. And with the football season
about to kick off on Labor Day weekend, tailgaters will be out in earnest now
through December — and maybe January, for those teams that make it into bowl
games or the playoffs.
These are the folks who head to the game hours before it starts for an
early lunch or dinner, and often have dessert or snacks after the game as they
wait for the traffic to clear.
And this happens regardless of the weather. At the Dolphins’ rainy
preseason home opener on Aug. 6, people huddled under tarps and camper awnings
or sat bundled in raincoats as they grilled burgers, set out food and argued
over whether an injured Dan Marino should play.
Carlos Boothby, director of parking operations for Joe Robbie Stadium,
estimates that about 40 percent of the parkers tailgate at any given game. The
stadium has about 20,000 parking spots. The only rule, Bothby says, is “that
you take the term literally and tailgate at the end of your car. You can’t
take up extra spots.”
The Days have been tailgating for about a decade, bringing along more than
a dozen of their closest buddies for hours of food and revelry, not to mention
football.
“It’s a terrific way to go,” says Barbara Erzinger, a tailgater from
Hollywood who joins them. She and her husband met the Days through church and
started tailgating with them about four years ago.
Skip and Diane Day, the Days’ son and daughter-in-law, also go along for
the ride. “I don’t know any other way,” Diane says. “Without all that — and
it is a whole day’s endeavor by the time you cook the food and watch the game
— it’s not quite the same.”
Edith Hartley also sees it as part of the whole game experience.
“It is so different than going by yourself, it’s unbelievable,” she says.
She used to go to Dolphin games just with her husband Jim. Then, about five
years ago, the couple started going with their neighbors, the Days.
“This way you get to drag it out. We analyze. There’s great camaraderie.
It’s a whole different world,” Edith Hartley says.
And a wide world, too. The Days don’t just do Dolphin tailgating; they take
a smaller group of compatriots to Miami Hurricane games at the Orange Bowl,
too. They’re already on their third RV (the Days do a lot of traveling, and
besides, the other vehicles got too small for the increasing number of their
merry band).
“We have one heck of a good time,” Robin Day says. “There’s always someone
with a good story. When we talk current events, though, it can get pretty
heated.”
Fellow tailgater Lois Nipe concurs. “Before the game, we talk about
everything under the sun. After the game, we all talk football,” she says. She
and her husband, John, are “dyed-in-wool football fans,” she says.
Of course there’s more than just lively football talk at these tailgating
parties. There’s food — in some cases, a feast.
The Day gang skips the pretentions when it comes to food. “We don’t try to
be fancy,” says Mabel McMillan, another member of the Day party. “We try to
make dishes everyone likes. We get together and decide who’s going to bring
what. It depends on what time the game starts.”
For early afternoon games, they’ll often have just drinks and appetizers,
then head to a sports restaurant for dinner after the game. But for the later
games, they’ll stop to pick up chicken or subs for a main dish, then build
around it with hors d’oeuvres, salads and desserts. Or couples bring a main
course for themselves and appetizers, casseroles and desserts to share.
Other tailgaters get more elaborate. They set up the gas grill and put out
a huge buffet with pasta dishes and other foods. Then they grill steaks. Other
groups go in for themes — one game they’ll have Mexican food, the next,
Italian.
A Dolphin season ticket holder since 1974, Patti Carr, says, “We’ve gotten
less organized as we’ve gotten older.” One strategy her group uses to inject
energy — and new dishes — into their tailgating parties is to bring people
who like to cook into the fold. “You get the rookies who are new — they do a
really good job with the food,” she says.
The following recipes from local tailgaters are crowd-pleasers, sure to
tide over a group through four quarters of cheering for the home team.
Barbara Erzinger got this recipe from a friend in San Francisco. Serve with
crackers or crudites.
Mrs. Louis’ shrimp dip
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
8 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons grated onions
3 or 4 small tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 pounds fresh shrimp (medium or small), cooked, shelled, deveined and
diced
In a bowl, whip together cream cheese and mayonnaise with an electric mixer
on medium speed. Add onions, tomatoes, Worcestershsire, salt and lemon juice,
then whip with an electric mixer on medium for 1 minute. Fold in shrimp. Serve
cold. Makes 16 servings.
Per serving: 189 calories, 10 grams protein, 16 grams fat, 2 grams
carbohydrates, 102 milligrams cholesterol, 219 milligrams sodium, 75 percent
calories from fat.
To peel, dunk tomatoes in boiling water for several seconds. Remove from
water; skins will pull off easily.
Patti Carr’s guacamole is spiced with Creole seasonings and hot sauce —
the more you add, the spicier it will be. Serve with tortilla chips.
GUACAMOLE
2 to 3 avocadoes, peeled, pitted and mashed
Juice of fresh lime
1 teaspoon Tony Casheros Creole Spice medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Several dashes Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce cup chopped fresh cilantro
Mash avocadoes with a potato masher in a non-reactive bowl. Mix in
remaining ingredients. Makes about 3 cups.
Per ( -cup) serving: 63 calories, 1 gram protein, 5 grams fat, 6 grams
carbohydrates, no cholesterol, 4 milligrams sodium, 66 percent calories from
fat.
Tony Chacheres Creole Spice comes in a green bottle and is available in the
spice aisle of your supermarket. Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce is available in
the condiment aisle.
X X X
“I love tomatoes,” Robin Day says, so they find a place in this
easy-to-whip-up potato salad.
POTATO SALAD
5 pounds white boiling potatoes
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 cup Miracle Whip
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
Cut each potato in half and then quarter each half so you have eight
pieces. Place potato chunks in a pot of water. Bring to a boil over high heat,
reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes.
Drain and let cool.
Mix cooled potatoes, peppers, onions, tomatoes, celery and eggs in a large
bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together Miracle Whip, salt and pepper. Add
dressing to vegetable mixture and toss to combine. Top with bacon. Makes about
15 cups.
Per serving: 136 calories, 3 grams protein, 7 grams fat, 16 grams
carbohydrates, 34 milligrams cholesterol, 70 milligrams sodium, 47 percent
calories from fat.
X X X
Prepare this in a slow cooker before gametime — just throw in all the
ingredients and let it cook. You can serve the meat by itself or on rolls.
SLOW-COOKED BARBECUED BEEF
2 pounds beef top round steak cut into -inch-thick slices cup chopped
onions
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder teaspoon pepper teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil cup tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon of Worcestshire sauce
2 drops liquid smoke
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours
depending on how well-done you want the meat. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Per serving: 305 calories, 33 grams protein, 12 grams fat, 15 grams
carbohydrates, 93 milligrams cholesterol, 756 milligrams sodium, 35 percent
calories from fat.
To save time, you can use meat from your supermarket that has already been
cut up for stir-fry. If you’re cutting your own, it’s easier if the meat is
slightly frozen when you slice it.
X X X
Lois Nipe got this recipe from her sister-in-law. “It is the best recipe in
the whole world, and it’s so easy to make,” she says. But she warns, “You have
to use real butter in it. No substitutions like margarine.”
PECAN COOKIES
cup unsalted butter
1 cups brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt cup fine-chopped nuts cup pecan halves
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar together in
a large bowl. Then mix in the egg. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour,
baking soda and salt. With mixer on high speed, cream the mixture, then reduce
speed to medium and mix in the chopped nuts. Cover and refrigerate dough for 2
to 3 hours or overnight. Form into walnut-sized balls; press a pecan half into
the top of each. Space about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake
for 8 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cookies spread and flatten and
are light brown. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
