Great food, family, friends and football...

That's the recipe for one great Thanksgiving Day!

After hearing rumors for months that Dallas doesn't have the greatest tailgating tradition, we were nervous about what we would find there on Thanksgiving Day.

And when we were banished to the remote RV and bus lot, our concerns continued to grow.

But when we pulled into the lot we saw smokers at work, and were greeted by friendly parking attendants eager to help accomodate our need for an early exit (we wanted to take-off at gametime to start driving back to Tampa!)

And when the Broncos fans from Denver pulled in they brought with them an energy that spread throughout the lot.

In a killer converted bus called Orange Force One and super pimp limo sporting Bronco orange and Blue, these people traveled drove down from Denver in style!

Fans of both teams mingled together and shared their holiday meals.

For many, it was a family occasion, and young fans got into the spirit, too!

One group of Dallas fans brought along DJ Geno, and his eclectic mix of crowd pleasing tunes really added to the festivity.

Employees of the railroad, they were cooking up their Thanksgiving feast on a custom built smoker-cooker that looked like a train engine.

And to go with all that great food, people were pouring some great drinks, too. Like the tasty mimosas from this awesome Mimosa Machine!

Of course, most people were cooking traditional Thanksgiving fare, like turkey and ham, but instead of roasting them in the oven at grandma's house they were smoking, grilling, and frying them right out there on the Blacktop!

But it wouldn't be a tailgate without burgers and brats, and we saw plenty of those, too!

Even with all that cooking and eating and drinking, tailgaters still found time to make their way over to the Tailgating Tour Coach to sign up for our Pep Squad and get free stuff!

When it was time for the Taste-off, we recruited three guys from Denver and one girl from Dallas to act as our impartial panel of judges. (Yeah, right!)

They had a great time smack-talking and debating with each other, and the whole crowd joined together to sing "Happy (21st!) Birthday" to Judge Justin.

They sampled a surprising variety of dishes (for Thanksgiving Day!) which included Steven Chisholm's Smoked Apple Pork Butt, Omar Cantu's Fried-Smoked Turkey, and Michael Alianell's BBQ Chicken.

But when they finally came to an agreement the dish that took first place was Bart Beaudry's Cevape with Ajvar Sauce.

The finalists all took home great prizes, including a Rome Pie Iron!