Perfectly manicured grass, hot dogs, flat beer, a credit card with no limit to afford the hot dog and beer – it’s fall baseball, people!

The leaves are turning colors, the rain is falling, and the nation is abuzz with election giddiness. It must be October in America! The biggest America’s Pastime event starts today and it is always a fun trip down memory lane combined with anticipation of close games marked by clutch plays. Bring on the Fall Classic!

Like hundreds of thousands of kids I played baseball growing up and dreamed of one day playing in ‘The Show.’ I would stand in front of my parent’s 19” Zenith TV with my plastic whiffle ball bat timing pitches. It became clear to me early on that, given the opportunity, I would be the next Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Rogers Hornsby, or Lou Gehrig. The pitchers I was timing would fear me as I went on to bat .800 with at least 80 homers. In my head, I never missed! However, about that same time in life, I began playing baseball with real pitchers and realized that it is actually far more difficult than it seemed standing in front of our grainy television with my feather weight plastic bat. The pitches dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge away from the bat – or they come straight ahead. There was no way to tell! The experiences I had standing there in the batter’s box give me a great deal of respect for successful major league hitters – especially when the pressures of October are upon them.

Since I have retired from all things sports related – after a valiant attempt at a high school career – I have taken up eating as the activity of choice. If a person isn’t going to PLAY the sport, the next best thing is to scrutinize it from the couch eating nachos, a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, or mac n’ cheese – all made with Tillamook Cheese of course (I figure when the best is on your TV, it may as well be on your plate too, right?!).

Here are some tasty game day treats for inspiration.

Who do you root for – October or otherwise – and what is the food you eat when watching them play?

By Matt

I will start by letting you know I am an avid college football fan. Not plan my life around Saturday’s, miss my kid’s 1st birthday, read all the team news until 4am avid – but avid enough to know that Thursday night is the start of the best time of year – football season is here!!

In honor of this momentous occasion, let’s talk about food necessary for a good football viewing! Typical menus often consist of crackers, nachos, hot dogs, chili and burgers. Guess what ingredient makes all of these dishes better?! Tillamook!!! Here’s a few suggestions of how to spruce up game day menus with some Tillamook products certain to impress (arranged chronologically for optimal eating throughout the game):

Crackers: It’s right before the first quarter. Everyone’s a little on edge and guts are rumbling with anticipation for kickoff. A plain cracker, a thick slice of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar, Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar, Colby Jack or the ol’ faithful Medium Cheddar is a failsafe way to get through this most difficult time. Like training for a marathon, start slow and pick up the pace…get your nacho on next!

Nachos: Ok. You, and your team, made it through the first quarter unscathed. Now it’s time to beef it up a bit…but not too much, there’s still another 45 minutes to go! It’s time for nachos! What’s the worst part about nachos – the chips without Tillamook Cheese. So, that makes the multi-decker, standing room only nacho the best thing in the history of nachos (which dates back to 1943 – a rather interesting story is available on Wikipedia should you care to look).

Field Level (Layer 1) – Chips, shredded Tillamook Medium Cheddar, Tillamook Monterey Jack, Tillamook Pepper Jack, fresh sliced Jalepeños, onions and a few olives.

Luxury Suites (Layer 2) – Chips, shredded Tillamook Medium Cheddar, Tillamook Monterey Jack, Tillamook Pepper Jack, fresh sliced jalepeños, onions and a few olives.
Broil until melted and slightly bubbly (~8 minutes)
Remove from oven

Standing Room Only (Layer 3) – Fresh guacamole, fresh tomatoes, Tillamook Premium Sour Cream.

Hot Dogs: Ok…half-time. You’re ahead and ready to do a mini-celebration, but save the big hooray for after the game…a lot can happen in 30 minutes! Hot dogs are the perfect halftime meal. If you’re looking to impress your guests by taking it up a notch, here is a simple suggestion — just spread some Tillamook Salted Butter on the bun and blast it in the broiler for about 5 minutes (just enough time to melt the butter and start to lightly brown the buns), put the BBQ’d hot dog in the bun, sprinkle a little Shredded Tillamook Sharp Cheddar and Tillamook Swiss on top and put it back in the oven on broil for 2 minutes…DONE! Best dog in town.

Chili: OMG. What a game. Taking a 7 point lead into the fourth quarter is good…but you need some fuel to get through it! If you are a chili-a-holic, you probably won’t be playing football professionally anytime soon. But take your chili and cheering to the professional level by adding Tillamooks Medium Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheese. The Monterey Jack will not affect the flavor, but will add the most amazing, creamy texture.

**For extra special guests, or fans of your team, toss a couple dollops of Tillamook Natural Sour Cream on top for an even more flavorful, full-textured bowl of chili! MMMM

Burger: Queen’s rock anthem, “We Are The Champions” is now running through everyone’s mind! You are victorious!! There’s only one thing left to do! Grill up some burgers!! Try adding some Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese, IN ADDITION to Tillamook’s award winning Medium Cheddar. You will love the little added bite of flavor and texture the Pepper Jack gives and the perfect, melty, combination of both cheeses working together!

Good luck this weekend. If you make any of the recipes, remember to post pictures to our Facebook Wall! We would love to see you cheering on your favorite team. For me, that means GO DUCKS!!

By Matt