My Ultimate Picnic Sign Up Sheet

It is August and I live in Florida, so that means just walking to the car is an opportunity to sweat off a few pounds.  However, August does mean that the “dog days of Summer” are soon coming to an end and always gets me thinking about those cooler days and picnics at the park.  Yeah, I am so obsessed with the thought of cooler days ahead that I am already making my sign up sheet for the first picnic of Fall.  It is never too early to start, right?  I won’t send it out to my friends and family just yet, but I can certainly start planning my ultimate picnic menu.

So now I give you my ultimate picnic sign up sheet.  This isn’t final yet, but it is a good start.  I still have a few weeks before anyone will feel like spending an afternoon in the park, so this will probably change.  I’m sticking to traditions for this first one because nothing kicks off a good picnic like the smell of charcoal burning and some burgers and hotdogs waiting to hit the grill.  If I can plan far enough ahead of time, I might add some BBQ ribs to the menu.

What would be on your ultimate picnic sign up sheet?

Quesadilla Bar Tailgating Sign Up Sheet

I am pumped for football season and equally as important, tailgating season! You see, I have an unhealthy obsession with tailgating. We have a group of 32 seats with friends for all USF Bulls home games. That means we get to attend games at one of the nicest NFL stadiums in the country, Raymond James Stadium. Ray Jay also is a great place for tailgating, with lots of grass, trees for shades and the most important element of all….plenty of port-a-potties!

This is the time of the year when I start planning my tailgating menu for each of the 6 home games. I know, a little obsessive, but I can’t help it. Now that I finally got ThingToBring launched, I have a way to create an online sign up sheet containing all of my menu components that I can share with the tailgating crew. They can check their email, click through to the sign up sheet and sign up to bring a thing to the party.

I have been looking over some of my old recipes on GrillingCompanion.com for some menu ideas. One simple tailgating menu I am definitely planning using ThingToBring for is a DIY quesadilla bar. Flank steak is my favorite steak and my favorite way to prepare it is by marinating it in some citrus and cilantro (here’s a great recipe for it). So I’m thinking I will supply the steak (and of course, the grill) and then my online sign up sheet on ThingToBring will contain the other items we need to make this a kick-arse quesadilla jam:

– flour tortillas
– shredded cheese
– sour cream
– shredded lettuce
– peppers (poblano, jalapeño)
– onion
– chips
– salsa
– guacamole (http://www.grillingcompanion.com/guacamole-recipe/)
– beer
– plates
– cups
– napkins

My plan is to supply the steak and man the grill. People can put together their quesadilla and I’ll stick it on the grill to melt the cheese and toast the tortilla. Easy tailgating recipe that allows everyone to eat, even if they show up late (I’ll just keep the grill warm). Best part is I can tell everyone what to bring in one place and then use Thing2Bring for iPhone all week to monitor who is signing up for what on my sign up sheet! Go Bulls! Eat quesadillas!