Tailgating

So it's Thanksgiving Day, and if you are a football fanatic lucky enough to have a ticket to the Ravens game tonight, as well as a pass from Grandma, you may well be having your Thanksgiving feast in the parking lot at M&T Bank Stadium . Undoubtedly, there will be tailgaters out there cooking up traditional Thanksgiving fare like whole turkeys and ham, firing up their grills and deep fryers outside of the stadium. If, however, deep-frying or grilling a whole bird in the parking lot feels bit daunting, why not consider making a big pot of turkey chili or something as simple as turkey burger sliders?

Not everyone is thrilled with the Ravens' front-loaded 2012 schedule in which the first three home games will be played at night. That's a drag. The season opener is a Monday night game against the Bengals. Two weeks later, the Patriots come to town for a Sunday night game, and four days later, the Browns show up for a Thursday night game. Who schedules a Thursday game after a Sunday night game? If it sounds rough on a Raven, it's no picnic for the teams faithful tailgaters, who are lamenting a home season without a single golden September days for tailgating.

Jiffy Lube Live banned tailgating last spring over concern about endless tailgates and excessive drinking at its massive parking lot, Ambassadors. Fans were aghast, creating a handful of "Boycott Jiffy Lube" Facebook groups and online petitions. On Thursday, the venue, run by Live Nation, announced it would bring tailgating back starting with the new concert season under a new set of rules and increased supervision from police and staff. The Bristow, Va.-based venue describes the return of the tailgates not as a cave-in to fan demand, but a reconfiguration of a tradition the venue had been well known for. To keep the tailgating in check, the venue came up with a new set of guidelines in in cooperation with Prince William County Police; they are: -  "All parking is on a first come, first served basis and spaces cannot be reserved or held for other cars.  Each car must occupy only one space and all tailgating activities must occur directly in front, behind or inside the car.  Due to the space challenges and safety concerns, tents will not be allowed in order to keep all pedestrian and drive isles free from obstruction.

When it comes to tailgating, the policy at downtown stadiums is simple: Ravens fans can do it. Orioles fans can't. Now there's a Facebook campaign to try to change that. The drive was started by two lifelong Orioles fans: Austin Bogus, 26, of Fulton and Joe Norman, 28, of Laurel. Both are engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Bogus and Norman say they plan to attend the Orioles' Opening Day game April 6 with a group of 40 friends and are looking for an alternative to their pregame socializing in bars near Camden Yards, such as Pickles Pub and Sliders.

For at least four more Sunday mornings and one more Sunday evening this season, Ravens fans will gather hours before the game for a tailgating experience that in just a dozen years has risen to the top of the NFL ranks. For some tailgaters, it's about the food; for some, the friendship. In the necklace of parking lots that encircle M&T Bank Stadium , eastside lots G and H are considered prime tailgating turf. They are among the few specially designated "hot lots," which are designated for grilling.

Mark Miranda knows how to tailgate. As executive chef of the Rusty Scupper, Miranda regularly feeds hundreds of ravenous Ravens fans before each game. The restaurant's $19.95 buffet features all the staples — including a crowd-favorite crab dip — and all you can drink draft beer. "You want comfort foods — things that are native to yourself and Baltimore," said Miranda, 48, the executive chef for the popular Inner Harbor seafood restaurant. "Chicken wings with barbecue sauce or old bay, sausage, peppers and onions are huge.

While the en papillote ("in parchment") method of cooking might sound a little too fancy for tailgating, Mark Graham, in his Dinner Tonight column for the Chicago Tribune, has suggested that it's really nothing more than food wrapped in parchment paper and cooked. What may sound intimidating turns out to be a handy method for cooking at a tailgate or other outdoor party. The packets can be easily assembled at home and then grilled at the tailgate party. They travel well in a cooler of ice. Instead of parchment paper, which can be tricky for first-time users, his recipe uses foil for these salmon-and-veggie packets.

When it comes to tailgating, the policy at downtown stadiums is simple: Ravens fans can do it. Orioles fans can't. Now there's a Facebook campaign to try to change that. The drive was started by two lifelong Orioles fans: Austin Bogus, 26, of Fulton and Joe Norman, 28, of Laurel. Both are engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Bogus and Norman say they plan to attend the Orioles' Opening Day game April 6 with a group of 40 friends and are looking for an alternative to their pregame socializing in bars near Camden Yards, such as Pickles Pub and Sliders.

Before today, the only thing I knew about the McDaniel College football team was that they let the Ravens use their field for a few weeks every summer. But after receiving a pretty interesting press release from the college's public relations department, I hope the Ravens will adopt their tailgating policies at next summer's training camp. McDaniel College will be honored as one of the top seven tailgating schools in the country by The Weather Channel. It will appear in a special on Tuesday, October 18, at 9 p.m. Yes, I know, you usually flip over to The Weather Channel for coverage on Nor'easters, not college football.

The clerks at the Days Inn of Westminster know that every Friday night before a McDaniel College home football game, a bearish guy with a thick New York accent will appropriate their refrigerator and fill it with 150 cubes of yellow and green Jell-O — spiked with a little something extra. "Everyone knows that if you want a Jell-O shot, you come to the camouflage tent at the 50-yard line," says a beaming Joe Timpanaro, whose son plays wide receiver for the Green Terror (the team colors correspond with dad's Jell-O)

This Sunday, the Ravens will have to brave frigid Foxborough, Mass. to take on the New England Patriots. But you won't have to stand out in the cold to make these ribs. Instead of a grill, you can use your oven to roast this tender, savory game-time snack. No-grill BBQ ribs Makes 1 rack 1 full rack of ribs (country or baby back) 1/2 cup orange juice Juice of 2 limes 2 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon liquid smoke Extra-large aluminum foil 1 cup of your favorite bbq sauce Spice rub 5 tablespoons brown sugar 3 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon garlic powder 11/2 teaspoon ground cumin 11/2 teaspoon ground coriander 11/2 teaspoon onion powder 11/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dry sage 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder In a bowl, combine all of the dry rub ingredients.

Jiffy Lube Live banned tailgating last spring over concern about endless tailgates and excessive drinking at its massive parking lot, Ambassadors. Fans were aghast, creating a handful of "Boycott Jiffy Lube" Facebook groups and online petitions. On Thursday, the venue, run by Live Nation, announced it would bring tailgating back starting with the new concert season under a new set of rules and increased supervision from police and staff. The Bristow, Va.-based venue describes the return of the tailgates not as a cave-in to fan demand, but a reconfiguration of a tradition the venue had been well known for. To keep the tailgating in check, the venue came up with a new set of guidelines in in cooperation with Prince William County Police; they are: -  "All parking is on a first come, first served basis and spaces cannot be reserved or held for other cars.  Each car must occupy only one space and all tailgating activities must occur directly in front, behind or inside the car.  Due to the space challenges and safety concerns, tents will not be allowed in order to keep all pedestrian and drive isles free from obstruction.

While the weather forecast for Saturdays' Ravens game is in the high 40s — not exactly Green Bay territory — it can get chilly after being outside for a while. One of the best ways to keep the cold at bay is with a cup of spicy hot chocolate. Traditionally, hot chocolate is just a thicker version of chocolate milk. This version is rich and full of character, thanks to cinnamon, orange peel and chiles. Don't be afraid — it's not as spicy as you might think. There is a little bite at the end, but nothing that will make you breathe fire.

As "Barbecue Bible" author Steven Raichlen points out in "Raichlen's Tailgating! 31 Righteous Recipes for On-the-Go Grilling," his latest ebook, "Long before NASCAR and the Super Bowl, there was tailgating. This distinctly American institution dates back to 1869, and probably earlier, when Rutgers and Princeton played their first intercollegiate football game. Students gathered before the contest to drink and socialize, so legend goes, serving their picnics on the lowered tailgates of horse-drawn wagons.

Amid the tangle of slow-moving traffic, barbecue and purple jerseys that was Sunday's Baltimore Ravens tailgate party, Larry the Cable Guy, the working man's comedian, was talking food — and how to ease that ubiquitous heartburn pain. The funny-man and former radio host was in Baltimore to promote Prilosec OTC, an over-the-counter heartburn reliever. Clad in a Ravens jersey and his trademark camouflage trucker hat, Larry (real name: Daniel Lawrence Whitney) professed his love for all things greasy and saucy — and Baltimore.

Former Baltimorean Steve Raichlen — author of "The Barbecue Bible," "How To Grill" and "Planet Barbeque!" — recently added to his impressive cookbook collection with the release of an eBook titled "Raichlen's Tailgating: 31 Righteous Recipes for On-the-Go Grilling. " Raichlen, who has firmly established himself as master of all things barbecue, has now turned his attention to the distinctly American institution of tailgating. As Raichlen observes in his introduction, "Tailgating would appear to be little more than a big, rambunctious party in a parking lot. But scratch beneath the surface of the beer- and brat-fueled conviviality and you'll discover a raw desire to win. Yes, tailgating itself has become a competition sport.

TAILGATING IS subjective: What's too close for me may be within someone else's comfort zone. But there have been times when I couldn't see a car's headlights in my rearview mirror: Now that's tailgating. Barb Shepard believes that tailgating, as defined by James Tibbs in the April 13 column, is unrealistic on today's highways. Mr. Tibbs said in that column that there should be one car length for every 10 mph. Traveling 60 mph, there should be at least six car lengths of empty space between your front bumper and the rear end of the car in front of you. Anything closer is tailgating.