As we all know, many events around the world have been canceled or rescheduled due to COVID-19. That included the world-famous Indy 500 race which typically falls over Memorial Day Weekend. This year it was held on August 23rd.
I've never been a race fan but growing up with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway only 15-miles east of my home, it wouldn't be summer unless you heard the race cars. My dad would go every few years, especially when we were kids. He would camp out with his dad and brother. For the 100th running, my dad took my husband and brother-in-law. But I've never had any interest in going. Over the past month, my husband Daniel assisted in producing the Sam Schmitt's Virtual Gala. During his work on the project, he interviewed via Zoom many famous Indy Car personalities, including Mario Andretti, Simon Pagenaud, and Roger Penske! So watching the Indy 500 is a little more special this year!
I decided to invite my parents, sister, and her husband for a concession stand themed lunch before the race began!
Theme
Obviously it's the Indy 500! So I bought some checker flags, a welcome race fan banner, and I found some Indianapolis Motor Speedway napkins at Party City's online website! The important part of the day's event was the food!
Food
As many of us probably are, we are missing being live at a sporting event. So what comes to mind of concession food must-haves? The first thing that came to my mind was brats and nachos! We grilled the brats earlier in the day and kept them warm in a crockpot that was filled with sautéed onions in a buttered beer broth. Like the recipe from Taste of Home's Johnsville Brat Hot Tub. I kept the theme authentic by purchasing hot dog trays and plastic nacho trays!
For the nachos, I made Budget Byte$'s 5 Minute Nacho Cheese Sauce. If you want it a little more runny, only use 1.5 TBS of flour, a little more milk, and a a little more chili powder (to taste). Last minute, I decided to add ground beef to the menu for those who wanted to put it on their nachos. I typically don't do this, but I was trying to make the consistency to be like the beef at a sporting events. So I boiled the ground beef, drained it, then to get it extra fine put it in a food processor. Put the ground beef back in the pot you used to boil it, season it to your liking. This time I put in some pre-made nacho seasoning. Lastly I add some water, starting a tablespoon at a time, to get it to a consistency that's almost runny like sloppy joes (to your liking).
Then I had to add a few semi-healthy items to make the lunch a little more balanced. So I made Bread Booze and Bacon's Ranch Loaded Potato Salad. For my recipe, I put more sour cream and less mayo in. I also cheated and used prepackaged bacon bites. Then I went with the classic Bush's baked beans!
Music / Movie / TV Show
Since this event was centered around the Indy 500 watching, that was our activity. But for those of you who want a race day theme weekend some great movies suggestions are:
Turbo (family-friendly)
Ford vs Ferrari
Cars (family-friendly)
The Crowds Roars
Focus
It ended up be a delicious lunch and for the first time ever, I watched the entire Indy 500 Race!
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