Methodist University’s Homecoming Weekend (Oct. 27-29) is almost here, and you can almost smell the smoky flavors of hamburgers, hot dogs, and barbecue heating up on the grill.
Methodist University’s Homecoming Weekend (Oct. 27-29) is almost here, and you can almost smell the smoky flavors of hamburgers, hot dogs, and barbecue heating up on the grill.
As you get ready to tailgate before Methodist University’s women’s soccer (1 p.m. at Duggins Stadium), men’s soccer (3 p.m. at Duggins Stadium), and football (6 p.m. at Monarch Stadium) games this Saturday, it may be a good time to try something new. Thankfully, MU has gathered some special tailgating recipes from the MU community that includes students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.
As you tailgate this weekend, be sure to take a picture and tag Methodist University on social media.
Pimiento Cheese
By Apryl Rosser (Digital Collections Librarian; Instructor of Information Science)
“I like that this can be made a day or two before the big game. As a Wisconsin girl who calls North Carolina her forever home, I’ll take any way to work cheddar cheese into a menu.”
Ingredients:
- 1 stick cream cheese, softened
- 2-3 cups freshly grated medium and/or sharp cheddar cheese (start with 2 and add more if you prefer it; do not use pre-shredded)
- 1/2 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
- 4 ounces jar pimientos, drained, dried with paper towel, and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- Generous pinches of salt and pepper
- Texas Pete® or sriracha – to taste (I like about a teaspoon, but you could do a tablespoon or more)
Directions:
- Whip the cream cheese until it’s fluffy.
- Add everything except the pimientos and mix thoroughly. Add more shredded cheese if you prefer yours to be thicker.
- Fold in the pimientos.
- Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving with crackers, celery, bread etc. It’s also great on burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Honey BBQ Crockpot Meatballs
By Daija McKenzie ’24 (Physician Assistant Studies)
“Best meatballs you can find! Easy and you can make as many as you want at one time.”
Produce
- 1 Parsley
Condiments
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/3 cup grape jelly
- 1/3 cup honey
Frozen
- 2 lbs. meatballs, frozen
Directions
- In bowl whisk together your jelly, BBQ sauce and honey until combined.
- Add your meatballs to a crockpot and pour mixture over the top of meatballs and stir to coat.
- Heat on high for 1 hour or low for 2-3 hours, stirring every so often to re-coat the meatballs.
- Sprinkle with parsley before serving if desired.
Deviled Eggs
By Michael Molter ’94 (Webmaster & Canvas Administrator)
Ingredients (makes 24 deviled egg halves):
- 12 eggs
- 3/4 tsp. DRY mustard
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 3/8 tsp. pepper
- 3 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 3+ tbsp. Miracle Whip
- Paprika (scant)
Directions
- Boil eggs for 20 minutes. Run under cold water to skin eggs. Cool. After cooled, cut in half lengthwise and dump yolks into a large enough bowl to mix with ingredients. Place egg white halves nearby for when yolk mixture is ready.
- In the bowl, mash yolks with a fork until as fine as possible.
- Scatter dry mustard, salt, and pepper over yolk and mix.
- Add apple cider vinegar to the yolk mixture and mix again.
- Add Miracle Whip to the yolk mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Load yolk mixture into the egg white halves with the mixing fork.
- Gently tap paprika onto the top of each deviled egg to lightly dust the yolk mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. For best taste and texture, chill for at least 20 minutes.
For those with dietary restrictions: Lite Miracle Whip may be substituted without affecting the recipe’s taste. Salt may also be reduced, but some salt is necessary for taste.
Walking Tacos
By Macey Miers ’22 (Educational Studies with a focus in Elementary Education)
“Easy and super yummy. It’s perfect for tailgates and it can all be premade tans assembled on site.”
Ingredients
- Snack size Doritos bags
- Browned ground beef with taco seasoning
- Shredded cheese
- Shredded lettuce
- Onions optional
- Sour cream optional
- Taco sauce or salsa optional
- Guacamole optional
Directions
Add all ingredients to the bag of Doritos, grab a fork or spoon, and enjoy!
Buffalo Chicken Dip
By Hannah Malcolm ’24 (Physician Assistant Studies)
“Great if you enjoy spicy and cheesy foods!”
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup Frank’s RedHot® Original Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Spoon into shallow 1-quart baking dish.
- Bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through; stir.
- Sprinkle with green onions, if desired, and serve with chips, crackers and/or cut up veggies.
Candy Apples
By Karalee Scouten (Digital Media Coordinator)
“Always adds a little childhood-excitement to any gathering.”
Ingredients
- 6 medium apples (or variation of choice, washed, dried and stems removed)
- 3 cups 600 g (1 pound and 5 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (237 mL) water
- 1/2 cup (118 mL) light corn syrup
- Popsicle sticks, dowels, or other handles
- Flavoring and food color, if desired
Directions
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a baking sheet greased with shortening.
- Insert your sticks about 3/4 of the way into each apple (but be sure the stick doesn’t come out the bottom).
- In a medium saucepan combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup. Turn the heat to medium-high and clip on a candy thermometer (do not stir).
- Let the mixture bubble and cook undisturbed until the thermometer reaches the hard crack stage (302°F).
- Once it reaches the hard crack stage, quickly remove from heat and stir in any desired flavor or coloring.
- Tilting the saucepan to one side, dip/swirl each apple until thoroughly coated. Let the excess coating drip back into the saucepan and set aside on prepared baking sheet (sometimes they coat better if you let the candy cool just a little before you start coating).
- Let cool/harden and serve.
Meatballs from the Kickback
By Jamaal Doran ’14 (Development Representative)
“I enjoy this recipe because it was a quick and inexpensive combination I put together in college. It became a signature dish at my social events during and after college.”
Ingredients & Directions
You will need a crock pot, meatballs (turkey/beef), and Sweet Baby Ray’s Golden Barbeque Sauce (three 18 oz. containers). Turn the crockpot on to a high setting and let it warm for a few minutes. Open your bag of meatballs while you wait. The amount you cook depends on the number of people you are serving. Once the crock pot is a bit warm, add meatballs, pour some of your sauce over the meat and repeat process until pot is full or you reach desire number of meatballs. Cover with a lid and let it cook. Be sure to stir a few times to make sure meatballs are cooking evenly. Cook time: 30-45 minutes or 1-1.5 hours if frozen.
Pretzel Bites
By Germaine Bowles (Director, OTD Admissions and Alumni Relations)
“Sweet and savory, easy, festive, and doesn’t require refrigeration.”
Ingredients
- Small twisted pretzels
- Sweet Tooth Fairy Meltables melting candy disks (school colors, white or milk chocolate)
- M&M’s (school colors)
Directions
- Place candy disk on top of each pretzel, place an M&M on top of disk.
- Place on a baking sheet in a 325°F oven until disk starts to melt slightly so M&M is held securely.
- Remove from oven, cool and store in container.
- Sweet and savory at its best, lots of combinations with colors, white, milk, or dark chocolate and chocolate flavors and does not require refrigeration. Enjoy!
Green Chile Mac and Cheese
By Tessa Naranjo ’24 (Physician Assistant Studies)
“As a native New Mexican, we place green chile on everything (burgers, pizza, eggs, etc.). This is my way of sharing a piece of my hometown with the MU community.”
Ingredients & Directions (for 10 servings):
- Preheat oven to 375°F, lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, and set aside.
- In a large skillet, whisk 6 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of flour together until the mixture is melted.
- Whisk in 2.5 cups of whole milk, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 8 ounces of pepper jack cheese, and 8 ounces of mild cheddar cheese. Stir continuously until the cheese is completely melted.
- Fold 16 ounces of cooked macaroni into the cheese sauce.
- Add 1/2 cup of diced green chile (preferably Hatch green chile)
- Stir and add to the prepared baking dish.
- In a separate dish, combine 3 tablespoons of melted butter and 2/3 cup of Panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the mixture over the pasta.
- Bake the dish for 25 minutes.
- Enjoy!