Football & Friends: A Saturday Recap

I realize I've been saying this a lot lately, but I love this time of year. There's no place I would rather spend a beautiful fall Saturday than in my college town of Clemson, cheering for my Tigers and seeing old and new friends. This Saturday, Clemson kicked off versus Florida State at 3:30, and we made the most of a full day of football and friends.

For the tailgate, I decided to go all out with a Bloody Mary bar. Typically, I just put out a bottle of Zing Zang (the best Bloody Mary mix there is, in my time and taste-tested opinion) along with a few fixings and let that be that, but this week I upped my offerings with pretty much any and everything I could imagine.

For me, this is basically a breakfast buffet. Most important meal of the day, after all!

Is there such thing as too much? Not in my opinion.

I even found this charming hot sauce to spice things up a bit.

The weather was gorgeous and the drinks were delicious. If you're looking for ideas on what to serve in a Bloody Mary bar setup, here's what I included:

Vodka (otherwise, you're just eating gazpacho)

Bloody Mary mixes (I chose Zing Zang, Charleston Mix, and Bruce Julian,

 a local brand from Charlotte)

Assorted hot sauces and Worcestershire sauce

Pickled okra, carrots, asparagus, and green tomato slices

Dill pickle and pearl onion skewers

Boiled shrimp with Old Bay seasoning

Candied bacon jerky

Beef jerky sticks

Celery

Colby Jack cheese cubes

Jalapeno stuffed olives (these were my favorite, hands down)

Lime and lemon wedges

A perfect start to the day.

Meet Rebecca, another satisfied Bloody Mary bar customer.

Our friend Tom brought back a rock from Death Valley, California, 
and now our tailgate has its very own version of Howard's rock!

One of our fellow tailgaters was nice enough to smoke two pork shoulders, and around noon we feasted on barbecue, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and homemade potato salad. For a little something seasonal and sweet, I made one of my favorite fall recipes for pumpkin dip. It's easy and oh-so-good, with all the flavors of fall. After all, I've got to get my pumpkin spice fix in any way I can.

I like to serve this with gingersnap cookies. Enjoy!

After lunch, we walked off some of our calories by heading over to our friends' spot at Tiger Park and also made a quick stop at the Esso Club--no game day is complete for me without a stop at the Esso, after all.

Enjoying catching up with Kristy and Holly; these girls are worth every laugh line they'll give you.

Cheers to game day!

I'm just going to admit it: my friend Will beats me for Best Game Day Outfit.

I have known these characters since 1998.
Time spent with old friends is time well spent.

We had a fantastic Saturday, full of football and fun. I laughed until my face hurt, walked my college campus until my feet hurt, and fell asleep with a full heart and a Tiger paw still on my face. You can't beat weekends filled with your favorite people in your favorite place. The best part? In two weeks, we'll be back for homecoming to do it all again. "CU" soon, Clemson!