Feb. 1, 2007

By Jim Croghan

What makes a tailgate a super tailgate? What makes a regular old tailgate a larger than life tailgate? Could it be a high flying football game? Or could it be a gridlocked gridiron struggle?

Nope. The thing that makes a tailgate great is the food of course and it all starts with the grill.

If you are planning to attend a Super Bowl party this weekend and you want to have the best tailgate in the world, you better start looking for the perfect grill. I would recommend the biggest one you can find. You are going to need a lot of cooking surface to feed a Super Bowl hunger. So, find a big truck and find a bigger grill and tow it straight to the parking lot. To cook all this great food, you will need to fire up the grill early. How early you say? Well, I would recommend getting there the night before.

To start off pile plenty of charcoal in that huge tow behind grill. The cooking begins with a huge pork roast. Not just any pork roast, a 20 pound pork shoulder. This baby will take about 18 or so hours to cook. So if you want it ready for kickoff you better start the night before.

Then come all the sides, also prepared the night before. First is the coleslaw, don't forget to use plenty of mayonnaise and vinegar. Then the chips by slicing up a bunch of potatoes and make them yourself. If you don't, buy plenty from the store because they will go fast. Check the coals throughout the night and when the day breaks, select a beverage of your choice and get back to work.

Check the pork and make sure you keep the fire at a perfect 375 degrees. Put the beans on with some nice thick bacon and sweet Vidalia onions. Then grab all those beverages that you bought yesterday (and there better be a lot) and make sure to pile on the ice. They need to be nice and cold for the big game.

On top of the food and drink, you will need some other super amenities. A big screen plasma television never hurts to watch all of the action. Pull up a few lazy boy chairs and kick back and relax while your friends show up and the food finishes.

Just before your all your buddies get to the party, pull apart the pork, crank up the beans, and toss the coleslaw one more time. Grill up a few burgers and lather everything with your favorite barbeque sauce.

Now, everything is under control. I guarantee that every one of your friends will love every minute of this Super Bowl worthy tailgate. If your team, whoever it is, doesn't manage to pull it off, at least you'll have a lot of leftovers.