Are you ready for some football?
Football brings together three of my favorite things – people, beer and food. Now, while there’s nothing quite like being at the game, sometimes the best seat in the house is, well, at home. Aside from catching every play (and replays) from multiple angles, throwing your own shindig means you surround yourself with people you like, you don’t have to pay $8 a beer, and you can eat ’til your pants are ready to pop.
Here I’m featuring a tailgate party I put together with Greenfeet Design Guru Tina Glover (we affectionately call her Martha MacGyver as she can take a whole lot of nothin’ and turn it into something fab). We set this up on my deck using items from both our homes as well as some ‘responsible disposables‘ available at Greenfeet.com. Keep in mind, you can do the same thing inside your home if the air outside is frightful.
Here are a few tips and ideas for throwing a successful tailgate party at home:
Tip #1
Get Organized
Decide your menu and theme at least 2 weeks in advance to give yourself time to shop, collect and delegate. Don’t forget the little things like bottle openers, ice and trash cans/recycle bins. Tina and I wanted to have a casual affair and focused our theme on the comfort of our guests which included comfortable surroundings and easy to eat food.
Tip #2
Decorate outside the box. Skip the cheesy sports decorations. Save yourself money and decrease your waste by first looking around your home for items you can pull together for a cohesive look. If you have a particular team color, look for pillows, lamps, rugs, blankets, serving pieces, accessories and other odds and ends to help create a color scheme. I recommend pulling them all into one area such as your tabletop so you can get a complete feel of what you have and what you need a few days before the big game. Ask your friends if they have anything you can borrow. If you MUST add in some team logos, keep it simple and reusable.
We settled on a simple fall color theme and brought together texture by using rugs as table runners, comfy pillows from the family room, throw blankets, stainless buckets, a bench from my front porch and our clay chiminea for warmth. We brought out my living room table as it’s big, square and sturdy. Plus the color and texture blended nicely. We even added in a few footballs to toss around at half-time.
Tip #3
Keep Things Simple
That goes for decorations, food and drinks. Don’t let any of it drive you crazy. I love the idea of hot dogs, nachos, pizza and snack foods like chips, pretzels and nuts. You can get creative with toppings and spice things up with presentation. We added in local Sierra Nevada brew and Santa Cruz organic spritzers since we like to keep the edibles as local as we can. We avoided hot wings and messy foods to keep things easy for our guests.
We utilized compostable kraft trays which can be used to hold individual servings, or you can use them scattered around the area filled with snacks and finger foods. We used pressed palm leaf plates to serve hot dogs (I LOVE these as they can be dressed up or down), compostable wood serving utensils displayed in glass canning jars and we grabbed a thrift store vintage candy dish from my kitchen to collect bottle caps to be used later for an outdoor art project.
Tina had the great idea of using a kraft tray as a candle holder. She placed the candles first then filled the tray halfway with popcorn. These worked great as centerpieces and the corn kernels caught any drips making for super easy clean up.
Our recycled paper lunch bags made simple containers for popcorn and we could recycle them in a snap. We chose recycled paper napkins, but if you have a small group, cloth napkins would be the greenest choice.
If you want to reduce the amount of recyclables you produce, consider getting a keg and sodas or juice in larger containers. Set up pitchers of ice water with slices of lemon for guests.
Tip #4
Delegate
By deciding on a menu before, you can have guests bring items you need. Since you’re organized, you’ll have serving pieces coordinated ahead of time so all that needs to be done is transferring from bag or box to serving piece and placed accordingly. It really does pay to take a few hours before to save you stress and time during your event.
Tip #5
Stage and Prep
If you are serving hot dogs, heat them just before guests arrive and keep warm. Have buns and condiments prepped and ready to plate. If you are grilling, utilize every inch of your grill. If your grill has the additional hot plate be sure to use it to keep hot dogs, beans, etc. warm instead of using the stove. Do what you can ahead of time so once guests arrive you can have fun and enjoy the game with minimal interruptions!
Tip #6
Plan ahead for clean up
Now that your team has hopefully won and guests are heading home, you don’t want to be faced with the monstrous task of clean up. This is where having trash and recycling bins clearly marked and strategically placed can help reduce your effort.
Clearly labeling trash cans, recycling bins and compost pails right at the party scene helps guests to help you with clean up. We recommend setting them next to each other for fast, proper disposal. If you are using reusables, have a big bin clearly labeled “dirty dishes” on it at the end of the line so all you have to do is pick up the bin and move it inside once the party’s over.
Too much food? Consider using our kraft trays or compostable bowls or plates covered with recycled aluminum foil to send guests home with leftovers.
Here’s to a successful tailgate at home. Got any ideas to add? Please add a comment to share.
