It's football season, you have tickets to the big game and for once you'd like to throw a tailgate party that involves something more than beer, Doritos and a few hotdogs withering on the hibachi.
For tips on throwing a first-class tailgate party, we headed to the legendary bash hosted before every Ravens home game by the Poe Brothers, who are really affable brothers Marc and Gary Scher.
Held in parking lot G at M&T Bank Stadium, this is the Mount Everest of all tailgate parties, a lavish, but not pretentious, affair for some 50 guests highlighted by a Maryland crab soup so good you'd push your mother out of the way for the last bowlful, and a crab dip delicious enough to make grown men weep.
The Poe Brothers have been tailgating since the Ravens hit town in 1996, when they played at old Memorial Stadium and tailgaters were banished to the macadam Elba of a nearby school parking lot.
"We started with subs and a six-pack of beer," recalled Gary Scher, 45, a medical device sales manager who lives in Ellicott City with his wife, Barbara, and two kids. "The second year we got a Smokey Joe [grill]."
The gig has come a long way since then: It's been voted the top tailgate party by Ravens Radio, and the Weather Channel has used it as a backdrop for weather segments during football season.
These days, the Poe Brothers fire up a grill the size of a shuffleboard court - 600 square inches, eight burners, two propane tanks - and the menu includes all sorts of appetizers, ribs, Buffalo wings, spiral ham, meatballs, corned-beef brisket and lasagna.
"We're both chef wannabe's," said Gary Scher with a laugh. "We love this stuff."
Before last Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Marc Scher, who runs Scher's Bridal Shop in Pocomoke City and lives in that Eastern Shore town with his wife, Judy, and three daughters, was also grilling his Tailgate Tenderloin, which won first place in a recent tailgate-food contest.
So when these guys talk, would-be top-of-the-line tailgaters ought to pay attention. Whether you are heading to an NFL game, to your alma mater for homecoming, or to your kid's high school game, centscm+RDmgray:Anyway, what followshere are the five top tips from the Poe Brothers for making your tailgate party a memorable one:
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Don't get too fancy: In other words, be sure to serve tailgate-friendly food. Avoid anything that has to be cut with knife and fork, or foods that are a hassle to eat.
