Unequaled, Ultimate, Tailgate Trailer

Unequaled, Ultimate, Tailgate Trailer

If you tailgate in Lot 3 (Littlejohn) for Clemson games, you might have noticed there’s a new trailer in town.  

 

Let’s start at the beginning.  Once upon a time, Sandi was looking at Facebook and a photograph caught her eye.  It was a cool, tailgate trailer that one of her Facebook friends had “liked”.   She showed it to her husband, Jeff, and he was hooked… of course.   Not one to be compulsive, he mulled it over for a month or two before biting the bullet.  The trailer, made by Towable Tailgates in Georgia, was delivered in time for the Virginia Tech game.

The satellite dish on top and three satellite receivers provide the signals for the THREE TV’s in the trailer.  On Saturdays, there is more than ONE football game on at a time… duhhh.   The Honda generator (fueled by normal gas) provides the electric juice.  You normally have to get an RV waiver to run 3 TV’s in a mobile unit.  Good to know.

 

3 TV's - I counted them for you

The surround sound system is normally hooked up to the biggest TV, but Jeff can plug his phone into it for Pandora, etc.  The trailer, which Jeff and Sandi customized, is also equipped with a DVD player and a Playstation 3.  They have four young children.  Enough said.

A Honda generator supplies the electricity

There is a small refrigerator and a microwave oven on the same side as the electronic equipment.  Inside the trailer there is a counter, there are cabinets, and there is room for chairs, the tent, very large coolers, food, folding tables, etc.

The inside of the trailer

What makes this trailer stand apart from the others is the color photography boldly displayed on every side.  It helps to have a buddy like Dr. Mark McInnis who is an AWESOME photographer.  (link at end)  He lives in Seneca and works in the Seneca/Clemson area.  Jeff and Sandi looked through hundreds and hundreds of Mark’s photographs to choose the ones that are on the trailer, which was wrapped by another Georgia company.  Stephen with SS Graphics (link at end) had to do some engineering and modification for this project.   The end result is fantastic; Jeff was very pleased.

The trailer is wrapped with photos by Dr. Mark McInnis

Side with 3 TV's with window shut

Jeff and Sandi have 2 tailgate spots side by side in Lot 3.  The car and trailer take up one space and the tent, tables, and chairs take up the other space.

What tailgate trailer would be complete without a personalized tap for your keg of beer?

The stainless steel grill, fueled by propane, is on a metal arm that swings close to the trailer to lock it in place for traveling down the road.  Sandi says a lot of people wave and honk at them as they drive down the road.   I bet it feels like you’re in a parade!

The grill is on a metal arm

When Sandi orders her Chick-Fil-A nuggets, she requests aluminum trays instead of plastic trays.  She picks up the nugget trays the day before a game and refrigerates them.  On game day, she covers the tray with foil and heats up the nuggets on the grill.

She also uses the grill to heat her crowd-pleasing Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches (link to recipe at end).  Made with Hawaiian sweet rolls, they are a variation of the ham and cheese poppy seed rolls.

Since it is football season, they currently park the trailer in their backyard.  On Thursday nights, Sundays, and away game Saturdays,  they have fired up the grill, cooked burgers and dogs, and watched football outside in their backyard.  Now there’s a way to justify buying one of these! 

Happy tailgating!

Jeff and Sandi

... and that's my 2 cents' worth, Cheryl

LINKS:

Towable Tailgates:  www.TowableTailgates.com 

SS Graphics:  http://www.ssgrafx.com/

Mark McInnis Photography:  markmcinnisphotography.com

Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches:  http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/sassy-tailgate-sandwiches-120156.aspx

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy "A Low-Country Boil for Tailgating": 

http://cheryls2centsworth.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-low-country-boil-for-tailgating.html

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Credit Monitoring Chart - Get Organized!

To print out blank chart, see below

If you don’t live and work in SC, you can just scroll down to my next blog posting.  Otherwise, I’m sure you’re moaning when you see this subject – a thorn in our sides.

I get it.  In fact, if I have talked to you for any reason in the last week, chances are you’ve had to hear me b*tch about how much time I have spent protecting my family’s credit from the notorious SC Cyber Attacker.  My main problem was that my son’s credit is in his college apartment address vs. our home address.

In case you’ve been out of the country for a couple of weeks, a hacker got the social security numbers of millions of South Carolinians. 

At a MINIMUM, you should sign up for the free credit monitoring:

Protect My ID; 1-866-578-5422;  www.protectmyid.com/scdor ; code is SCDOR123

A fraud alert typically lasts about 90 days.  The way I figure it, if a bad guy cyber attacker is smart enough to hack into a state’s department of revenue database and steal millions of social security numbers, he’s smart enough to sit on the info for over 90 days.  After 90 days, you can do another fraud alert.  How often do you change your air filters?  You’re supposed to do it every month.  (I’m just sayin’.)   Shoot, he’s probably even smart enough to have made a copy of it.  That way, after he gets caught and after he spends time in jail, he can then use the info or sell it to another bad guy.  I’m thinking that the safest thing to do is freeze my credit and then only unfreeze it when I know a company needs to check it.  A credit freeze is different than a fraud alert.  Your credit stays frozen until you unfreeze it either for a temporary period of time or for a certain company who needs to check your credit.

Believe it or not, this has already happened to me.  I froze my credit last week with all three credit bureaus.   (It is free in many states including SC.)  This week a utility company (SCE&G) needed to check my credit.   I found out they use Equifax, so I went on the Equifax website and unfroze my credit just for SCE&G.  It took about 5 minutes.  Now here’s the important part:  YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR CREDIT FREEZE PIN IS!!!!  This is scary for a lot of people who can’t keep up with that kind of stuff.  That is why I am sharing my Credit Monitoring Chart.  I hope I don’t have to tell you to print it out and HANDWRITE the info; do NOT type in it and do NOT keep it on your hard drive.  I hope none of you are that stupid. (BTW for you grammar freaks – “none” can take a plural verb).  I hope none of you is that stupid just sounded stupid – so I checked so I wouldn’t sound stupid.  Who’s on first?!

Anyway, after you have filled out the form (at LEAST the ProtectMyID part please), put it in a file folder called Credit Monitoring or something like that.  Include the credit freeze letters that you printed out if you did that part.  Keep the file in a safe place, preferably a locked filing cabinet.

	Husband	Wife	Child #1	Child # 2
ProtectMyID userid
ProtectMyID password
E-mail address given to ProtectMyID
ProtectMyID cust. #
Experian Credit Freeze PIN
Date Experian credit freeze done
TransUnion username
TransUnion password
TransUnion Credit Freeze PIN
Date TransUnion credit freeze done
Equifax security freeze PIN
Date Equifax security freeze done

 

Here’s the link to print out the blank chart:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7BIf1kqh0WkTUZoMTY3TFZULUU

If you want to go the extra mile and freeze your credit, these are the freeze links for the three credit reporting agencies:

Experian   https://www.experian.com/freeze

TransUnion 

http://www.transunion.com/personal-credit/credit-disputes/credit-freezes.page

Equifax   https://www.freeze.equifax.com 

The hacker also got info of over ½ million SC businesses.  I had an LLC that hasn’t done business in over a year, so I got the form to legally terminate the LLC.  If you’re in the same boat, here’s the link to the form:

http://www.scsos.com/forms/LLC/Domestic/ArticlesofTermination.pdf

Trust me, I know that doing this stuff is not how you want to spend your time, but it may prevent an identity theft nightmare.

If you have questions or comments, please e-mail me at Cheryls2CentsWorth@gmail.com

… and that’s my 2 cents’ worth, Cheryl

To subscribe to this blog (receive e-mail notification when there is a new post), e-mail Cheryls2CentsWorth@gmail.com and write “Subscribe” in the Subject line. Thanks! To stop receiving e-mail notifications, write “Unsubscribe” in the Subject line.

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Christmas Gift Chart – Get Organized!

I am organized and my siblings are organized.  It’s in our DNA. Our mother used to set her dining room table a week early for a dinner party and then cover it with a lightweight sheet to keep the dust off.  Then she would check it off her list.  She makes lists for EVERYTHING.  She would start writing a menu/grocery list for a lake weekend on a Monday and start asking us who would be there for lunch and dinner.  I had teenagers...  like I had any clue on MONDAY who would be eating lunch on Saturday at the lake. Ha!

  

When I was growing up, every fall, my mom would tape together two sheets of paper (long-ways) and make a giant Christmas gift chart.  We four children were the rows.  The columns were Nannie, Mimi, Auntie Margaret, Aunt Catherine, Auntie Rita, Auntie Geraldine, etc.  Yes… Geraldine… and that’s what she was called.  Anyway, since they lived far away, they gave my mom money to buy gifts for the four of us from them.   The giant chart kept her very organized and also served to make sure we all wrote the proper thank you notes… not e-mails… this was 1975… real notes on paper that were written with a pen and mailed with a stamp.  Torture!

I have a chart, but it is different.  The rows are all of the people for whom I buy a gift.   The columns are the Gift, whether it’s been Purchased, whether it’s been Wrapped, whether it’s been Delivered, and what Gift they gave to us.  I honestly thought every person in America had a Christmas gift chart.  Years ago, my friend Samantha saw my gift chart.  She was amazed; she didn’t have a chart like this.  (I bet her mother probably didn’t start packing for a trip about a month in advance either.)  I was shocked that she thought this chart was so clever; I can’t imagine going Christmas shopping without a Gift Chart.   The 20-year-olds who are reading this need to just start out doing their chart/list on their smart phones.   I have been using my trusty printed chart for so many years, I’ll stick with it BUT it would be REALLY bad if I lost it.  Of course, you can lose a smart phone too BUT if you have backed it up to iCloud then you’re in good shape!

Headings of gift chart

Where was I?  Oh, yeh.  I encourage you to start out with a chart/list like this and then tweak it each year to fit your needs. 

As you can see from the following photo, I keep my charts.  Why?  1. I’m a little bit of a pack rat.  2.  I don’t like to have to remember stuff – it’s too much trouble.  3. I have a gift shelf.    One year I bought a bunch of really, really nice frames from Belk for a really, really good price.  I can easily check and see if I’ve already given one to the Thompsons.  You are smiling right now because you know what I’m talking about.  I’m not a big re-gifter.  I’m not saying I’ve never done it.  If you’re a big re-gifter, you definitely need to have a chart and keep all of your old charts.  How embarrassing would it be to give the same frame to the same person two years in a row? Very.

15 years of gift charts...

I have a completely separate list for my immediate family.  Since we have two children, it used to be VERY important to give each child the same number of gifts… no matter that one cost $5 and a video game cost $60 – it was very important to wrap the same number of packages!  One year, my younger son needed a punishment (let’s just say he made my older son’s face bleed one day before Nina’s Family Christmas Picture Appointment.)  As the punishment, I told him he would get one less Christmas present that year.  As all parents should know, you always have to do what you say you’re going to do.   Wow.  When my older son got to open that extra present, you would have thought we gave him a pony.  It had quite an effect and is now a favorite family story.  In truth, you must know that I actually wrapped up a pair of long johns that he would have gotten anyway, but since the presents were not opened in any order, the fact that he received an extra present is what stuck in their brains.

Note to self:  one less Christmas present is a really good punishment.

Start your Christmas Gift Chart today!

To print out a blank gift chart to get you started, click this link: 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7BIf1kqh0WkLXdBTW14TTNuSjA

… and that’s my 2 cents’ worth, Cheryl

PS Sorry to have made fun of my Auntie Geraldine’s name.  She was a smart, spunky ole spinster who lived until she was 102.  She had a total knee replacement when she was 97!  That’s not a typo – 97!

PSS I’ve heard rumors that my sister Layne knew where my mom hid The Chart and would take a peak at it every few days for weeks leading up to Christmas!!  Not fair!

To subscribe to this blog (receive e-mail notification when there is a new post), e-mail Cheryls2CentsWorth@gmail.com and write “Subscribe” in the Subject line. Thanks! To stop receiving e-mail notifications, write “Unsubscribe” in the Subject line.

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Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole

 

Doesn’t this look like comfort food?  It’s so delicious and yet it has 2 POUNDS of vegetables in the 9 x 13!  Yes, I said VEGETABLES.  I got the inspiration for this recipe after eating hash brown casserole leftovers for three days in a row… and I still wasn’t tired of it.  I’ve had the creamed cauliflower at Ruby Tuesday and it’s pretty good.  Last week I had cauliflower au gratin at a restaurant and it was to-die-for.  …and so this recipe was born.  Now I can eat it as often as I darn well please and not feel as guilty.  There are not any potatoes in it at all!

Ingredients:

1 lb. bag of frozen broccoli florets

1 lb. bag of frozen cauliflower

1 can cream of celery soup (98% Fat Free)

1 (8 oz.) container of light sour cream

2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1-2 TBS dehydrated “chopped onion” OR ½ cup fresh chopped onion

            I used 2 TBS dehydrated “chopped onion”

½ cup milk

1 ts salt

½ ts ground black pepper

Topping:

½ stack Ritz crackers, crushed up

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Be sure to buy broccoli florets instead of cut broccoli because the cut broccoli seems to have more stems.

Cook the broccoli and the cauliflower.  I cooked the broccoli in the microwave (COVERED) for 7 minutes. 

I also cooked the cauliflower in the microwave (covered) for 7 minutes.

 Chop up the cooked vegetables so they’re not so chunky.

Mix the next 7 ingredients (soup, sour cream, cheese, onion, milk, salt, and pepper) in a large bowl.

Add the broccoli and the cauliflower to the mixture.  Mix well.  Put in greased 9 x 13” casserole dish.

 Crush ½ stack of Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top.

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until heated through.  Enjoy!!

Notes: You can use fresh broccoli and cauliflower, BUT frozen vegetables have at least as many nutrients as fresh vegetables (Google it if you don’t believe me), so more work for you or less work - your choice.  I’m just sayin’.

You can use all broccoli or all cauliflower.  For example, if your family likes high carb comfort food, try using 2 lbs. of cauliflower and no broccoli the first time – that way it will look more appealing to them because it will look more like macaroni and cheese or hash brown casserole – but cauliflower is a VEGETABLE! Yeah!

To cut calories in this dish, I recommend:

Decrease cheese amount to 1 ½ cups

Skip Ritz topping or decrease to ¼ stack

Use fat free sour cream

Use skim milk

 Be sure to stick on label before freezing - of course!

Another great thing about this dish is that it FREEZES well!!  My son and his fiancé tried it after it had been cooked, frozen, thawed, and reheated in the microwave.  They gave it a big thumbs up.

To print out this recipe on one sheet with one photo, click this link:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7BIf1kqh0WkYlpwVDhvYXFOM2M

 

… and that’s my 2 cents’ worth, Cheryl

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