As everyone on the plains of Auburn is aware, the opening game vs Arkansas State was afoot but there was something much more pressing on my mind... tailgate food. I am sure that I will receive death threats from the millions of readers of this blog as they attempt to stamp out my blasphemy but the message of this weekend's food must be spread.
First off, I must give credit to the wives of Tommy Webb and David Elmer. Hannah and Laura brought a woman's touch that made passerby's crane their necks to look back at what our tailgate was cooking up. The men of the group didn't think passed meat, bread, and beer. And before this weekend I would ask "what else is there for a tailgate?" Well Hannah and Laura educated this group of young men on the art of dip. There was artichoke dip, seven layer dip, and Younker Jam. Now I am sure you masses of readers are thinking "What is Younker Jam?". Well, I fear my words won't do it justice but I will do my best since not every reader was able to taste it. There was a top layer of jam, a creamy layer of some kind of cheese, and in the mix of the entire dish was Cheyenne pepper. If you are like me, this mix of taste and texture was intimidating but too intriguing to not try. My curiosity was rewarded in Hannah Webb's magnificent dip. It first hit your palate as a sweet dish then became more savory with the cheese and right when you thought the flavor was done, the Cheyenne pepper kicked in to give your taste buds some heat. I loved it! And I wasn't the only one. ConeZone (Matt Barberio) and Will "T-Bone" Hart agree that this was the dark horse victor of our tailgate. While everything was quite delicious, this stood out as the most memorable dish. So thank you Hannah Webb for the newly named Younker Jam '08. And I am sorry that once you have read this (and I am sure that you will because of how popular this blog is) that you will feel obligated to bring Younker Jam to every tailgate.
Special thanks to David Elmer for PBR, Ryan Tufts for stories, and Tommy Webb for the Jameson
Now that I am done sucking up to Hannah to score more Jam, I have to pay respects to the queen of tailgating, Mrs. Karen Parker. For those who have had the pleasure of a Karen Parker tailgate, you will know exactly what I am talking about. I have been going to the Parker's tailgate for the past 5 years of college. Ever since I was welcomed with a "Come on in, brother" by the incomparable Rusty Parker I haven't thought about another tailgate. Even as their biological son, Jeff Paker is on the other side of the globe, the Parkers still welcome me and the hungry masses that are my friends to come devour food way too quickly to be polite. The fellowship with the Parkers and the other elite alumni of Auburn would be enough to return but the food cannot be ignored. There has not been one tailgate that I have attended that couldn't also double as a Thanksgiving dinner. There is usually a spread that is so extensive that one bite of everything available will push your stomach to the limit. Sadly on this weekend, we were running late because of our aforementioned tailgate and all the responsibilities that come along with growing up. This is shameful to me since I and my life eating partner, Clay Collie have usually shown up early to scope out how we were going to clog our arteries that week. Even though we were too late and too full from our tailgate to "locust" all the Parker's food, we were still willing to push ourselves to the limit to truly enjoy our comfort food and the Auburn family. I took great joy in seeing Matt Barberio lick the apple crisp dish so clean as David Elmer did 5 years ago. I loved seeing Grace Henderson and Sara Beth Terry throw caution to the wind and dig into the peerless Parker food.
So even though Jeff Parker, Clay Collie, Matt Tufts, Tim Tidwell, and Walter Kearns have been lost to the world that exists outside the Auburn bubble, we have a new generation of tailgaters willing to enjoy the Parker's food with me. Thank you Rusty and Karen Parker for feeding me for so many years!
Oh and on a side note unrelated to tailgate food, Little Italy now has Killians on draft which means it is $5 dollars for a pitcher! This is where the true super fans spent our game time.
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