It’s Tailgating Thursday!  Many games are coming up this weekend…but the one that will really make a splash is the annual Florida Georgia game played each year in Jacksonville, Fl.

This game is unique in that an equal number of tickets are allotted to each school.  The stadium is evenly divided; half Florida fans, half Georgia fans, making for one of the most exciting game day atmospheres in the country. And with Florida ranked #6 and Georgia ranked #8 it should be the game of the day!

The tailgating surrounding this game is billed as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party and takes tailgating to a different level.

This year I had goat cheese on my mind.  While recently on our October mountain trip, Blair Sheffield, Carrie Freeman and I  came up with a few goat cheese spreads to share…one for Florida (orange)  using oranges or apricots  and one for Georgia (red) using cranberries and raspberry preserves!

Blair found this APRICOT AND ALMOND GOAT CHEESE SPREAD on pinterest from Jenn@Peas and Crayons.

Behind the scenes styling…love the fall leaves!

APRICOT, ALMOND GOAT CHEESE SPREAD

Serving Size: 8

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 oz goat cheese or cream cheese
• 1/3 cup lightly salted almonds
• 4-5 dried apricots (chopped)
• 2-3 tsp fresh chopped parsley or basil
• 1/4-1/2 cup apricot preserves
• honey for drizzling
• an assortment of crackers
• fresh sliced granny smith apple

Instructions

1. Take goat cheese out of package and soften to room temperature.
2. Spread preserves on a serving dish.
3. Place almonds in a plastic baggie and crush with a rolling pin.
4. Chop dried apricots and mix with almonds and chopped parsley.
5. Roll the goat cheese in mixture, pressing gently to coat.
6. Set the goat cheese roll on top of the preserves.
7. Sprinkle extra almonds, apricots and parsley over roll and preserves.
8. Drizzle with honey if desired.
9. Surround with crackers and apples.

Notes

You could substitute orange marmalade and dried oranges for another "orange" color idea especially for a Florida or Tennessee tailgate. Also with the preserves being sweet, you don't necessarily have to drizzle with honey. We actually forgot the honey and thought it was fine without!  

Blair Sheffield via KathyMillerTime
Recipe Adapted From Peas and Crayons

Recipe Printed from www.kathymillertime.com

Now for Georgia…

CRANBERRY AND PECAN GOAT CHEESE SPREAD

After discussing how good raspberry is with jalapeño we decided to add jalapenos to this cranberry and pecan goat cheese spread and serve it on a bed of raspberry preserves…sweet and spicy!  The colors look great for a Georgia tailgate, but think about Christmas time with the red and green!

CRANBERRY AND PECAN GOAT CHEESE SPREAD

Serving Size: 8

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 oz log of your favorite goat cheese.  I used honey goat cheese.
• 1/4-1/2 cup cranberry sauce or raspberry preserves
• 1/4-1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 1/2  cup pecans chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 TBSP dried or fresh parsley plus extra to taste

Instructions

1. Remove goat cheese from wrapper and allow to soften to room temperature.
2. Spread raspberry preserves on serving platter.
3. Chop the nuts and cranberries and mix together along with parsley and jalapeno.
4. Roll  goat cheese in the mixture, pressing gently to coat.
5. Set the goat cheese log atop the cranberry sauce or raspberry preserves and sprinkle with a little extra pecan mixture.
6. Surround with all your favorite crackers, crostini, and veggies.

Notes

I like using the raspberry preserves as I love the combination of raspberry with jalapeno peppers.  This would make a beautiful Christmas spread with the red and green colors.

By KathyMillerTime

Recipe Printed from www.kathymillertime.com

Football and pumpkins….must be the season!

Thank you Blair, Carrie and James for the recipe ideas!

AND….THE WINNER FOR THE GOAT CHEESE SPREAD IS…THE GEORGIA CRANBERRY, PECAN, JALAPENO…AND IT WILL BE GREAT AT CHRISTMAS TIME.

(Dave was my recipe tester and he loved it.)

Watch for upcoming stories with fun tailgating recipes.  I welcome your comments, recipes and any inside information on your favorite tailgating spots.

Come celebrate with me.  I’ll save you a seat at the tailgate.