Hokie Hokie Hokie Tailgate

Here are some great ways to turn your tailgate orange and maroon to root for the Hokies the right way! If you're unfortunate enough to not be a Hokie fan, you can still take these great tips and change the recipes to fit your favorite team and colors.

First off, I wanted to make some fun Hokie cupcakes. I figured the easiest way to do this was to make Red Velvet cupcakes with orange icing. Of course Red Velvet goes best with cream cheese icing so I got some Red Velvet cake mix, some cream cheese icing and then some orange decorative icing. I decided to make VT's on most of the cupcakes in orange icing. I spelled out Hokies on one of them and then made orange dots on a few for variety.

After I finished the cupcakes, I whipped up a batch of Ultimate Hokies Pasta Salad. The main thing that makes this Hokie themed is that the pasta is maroon and white VT shaped. It's made by The Pasta Shoppe which I'm sure has other team options as well. You can use this pasta salad recipe with any pasta for a tailgate but of course VT shapes makes it more fun!

Ingredients for Virginia Tech Pasta Salad:
1 cucumber
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper (I used green because the yellow one was bad in the pack I got)
1 red onion (I don't like raw onions so I substituted 1 can of black olives)
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
16 oz pasta
1 seasoning packet (this comes with the pasta, if you're making your own, come up with your own creative seasoning)

Step 1: Make a vinaigrette by combining the seasoning packet, red wine vinegar and olive oil in a bowl and heat in the microwave stirring occasionally for about a minute and a half. I did three 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals. Set aside to cool.

Step 2: Make the pasta by boiling water, add salt to taste. Once the water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes. Drain pasta and rise with cold water.

Step 3: Chop veggies.

Step 4: Gently toss pasta, vinaigrette and veggies. Refrigerate until  ready to serve. Toss again before serving.

Finally, it wouldn't be a proper Hokie tailgate without some famous jello shots. To achieve orange and maroon combo jello shots, I first made cherry jello with plain vodka. If you don't know how to make jello shots, just follow the recipe on the jello box but replace the cup of cold water with liquor of your choice. I filled jello cups half full with the cherry and put them in the freezer for about an hour. Then I made a batch of orange jello shots with wine flavored vodka. I spooned the orange over the slightly firm red to create a layered look. I think they turned out great, see below!