Michigan Maize 'n' Blue 3-Pointer Pound Cake

I am admittedly not a basketball fan. However, even I can manage to care about basketball when Michigan makes it to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, and - especially - when they make it to the Championship Game. Yes, indeed - the Wolverines, who haven't earned a place in the final round since 1993 (and haven't won it all since 1989), are playing for some mighty big stakes tonight against Louisville!

And so, of course, we've got celebratory food to offer!

Baseball, as we all know, is famous for hot dogs, and also for the "peanuts and Cracker Jack" of song. Everyone anticipates subs, nachos, chili, and other hearty foods for football games.

Basketball, however, doesn't seem to have any iconic food. And so, I had some choices to sort through and some decisions to make ... not my strong suit!

But Michigan has been wearing "Rise to the Occasion" shirts, which inspired me. Souffles rise, but they're too prissy for a sporting event. Bread rises, and I do love to bake it; but it's also a bit time-consuming.

But you know what else rises? Cakes. Cakes rise beautifully, and are especially tall when you serve one with three layers in honor of the 3-pointer that Michigan point guard Trey Burke shot last week to tie the game with Kansas, leading to a win in overtime. The rest, as they say, is history: Elite Eight, Final Four, the last two standing.

Here's hoping Michigan makes history tonight, too, and claims that championship. Hey, even Hugh Jackman has been rooting for the Wolverines on Twitter:

This is Wolverine saying “c’mon univ. of mich wolverines!!! This is your year. Trey…crush it BUB!

Hail to the Victors!





Michigan Maize 'n' Blue 3-Pointer Pound Cake

1 small pound cake
softened butter
3/4 cup blueberry spreadable fruit
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon half-and-half
colored sprinkles

Carefully slice the pound cake lengthwise, cutting off a 1/2" layer; place the bottom layer onto a serving tray and schmear with a very thin layer of butter to keep the jam from seeping in. Spread half the jam over the butter.

Slice another 1/2" layer lengthwise from the cake; lightly schmear both sides, then place it on top of the bottom layer. Spread the remaining jam over the butter.

Lightly schmear some butter onto the cut side of the remaining layer of cake, then place it on top of the rest of the cake.

Whisk together the confectioners' sugar and the half-and-half; drizzle over the top of the cake. Top with sprinkles and let glaze set.

Serves 6-8.

"Twitterature"

I found an entertaining? amusing? appalling??? book called Twitterature, by Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin, at the library the other day. Its claim to fame is that it offers "humorous reworkings of literary classics for the twenty-first century intellect, in digestible portions of 20 tweets or fewer."

Now, I happen to be in possession of a Bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan, and one of my instructors had encouraged me to pursue graduate studies in semantics and rhetoric. I am quite the fan of books -- the real kind with the scent of ink and paper, with weight, with substance both physical and intellectual. And you can imagine that someone as verbose as I am has some issues with Twitter!

And yet, how could I resist seeing how the greatest works of literature had been deconstructed and decimated into tweets???

Well, it's not quite as erudite as Cliff's Notes. And yet, it does sum up the storylines for those who have the attention span of gnats. I guess with all the time people spend facing some sort of screen -- movies from Netflix, playing games on Wii instead of going out into the sunshine, posting their every move on Facebook, and (guilty as charged!) posting every little thought and whim and batch of cookies on personal blogs -- "... who has time to read those big, long books anymore?" (from the back cover of the book)

And so, I will share with you the twit's version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, one of the ultimate food books with all that eating and drinking and drinking and eating; and who could forget the Mad Tea Party???

@AliceInTheSkyWithDiamonds

Like many book characters, I'm pretty bored. Oh! A white rabbit! Just like in The Matrix. That movie was pretty dope, if you're on drugs.

Down into the rabbit hole I go! Ohh, that's rich. I feel like Neo.

Is it OK to drink from a mysterious bottle that's been opened? What if there are Ruffies in it?

I don't know what's going on, but in a typically feminine manner I'll allow confusion and being flustered to make me cry up a storm.

Am I still the same little girl that I was before? I feel like my 'self' is being deconstructed. And in HD, to boot.

I asked a mouse how to get dry from all my tears. He gave me a dry history lesson. People are purposefully confusing my words.

I'm in the rabbit's house. Here's more mysterious juice. Should I drink it again? Oh what the hell. Hope I won't be sore afterward.

Why are people throwing rocks at me like I'm Mary Magdalene? I'm a little girl, not a biblical prostitute ... er, Christ's wife.

I found a stoner Arab caterpillar. He made fun of me. Oh yeah? At least I'm not three inches tall with a case of the munchies.

At a tea party with a crackhead hat man. He's a schizoid. Insanity is part of his public image. After all, he put 'mad' in his name.

Sound has become distorted.

This land is terrorized by the Queen of Hearts. She's a card. Wouldn't it be funny if I just destroyed her army by shuffling them?

I'm in trouble. I'm not sure what I did. This is the worst day ever. I need a drink. Not from an unmarked bottle, though, no more of that.

Now I'm on trial. Another worst day ever. The queen stole my integrity and made me a felon. If I knew magic, I'd make her disappear.

If only I could grow large and crush them beneath me. Wait. I feel so strangely powerful, I'm huge. This courthouse is going down.

Oh, my sister is here. She's waking me for tea-time. Good, I'm home again.

A grinning cat, a tweeked-out hatter? A sadistic queen and a terrifying baby? This is the kinda ("stuff"-- family-friendly-ish blog here!) that sends people to years of therapy.

God that was just insane. I need another adventure like that like I need a hole in the head.

Hmmmm .... Are you feeling more educated and learned now???

Please note: I do want to take issue with the insult to women that all we do is cry when we're stressed, with the designation of the caterpillar as being an Arab stoner, with the outdated view that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, and especially with the use of the word "schizoid" which is an insult to people with mental illness. A significant number of my loved ones suffer from bipolar disorder and/or anxiety issues, so I am personally offended by such flippant and insulting use of the term ....

A Magical Mystery Tour

Anyone who's been paying attention has likely noticed that my blog is still very pink -- 'cause that's just the way I am! -- but it's also been spiffied up and happified. Lots of cyber-tzotchkes (the kind ya don't have to dust, whew!) and other accoutrements have been added to make the place look a little more lived in. So let me give you a tour:

Look to your left and to your right; notice the beautiful pink flowers to either side of you. These were a gift from ShabbyBlogs.com, which offers free -- yes, free! -- backgrounds and buttons and other little decorative doo-dads. See the "Glad You're Here" welcome mat and those cute little pictures at the end of my most recent posts, the ones begging for comments? Yup -- ShabbyBlogs, again ....

A bit further down along the left-hand sidebar, you'll notice the "Real Women Eat Food" badge. I've told Jeremy for years never to bring home any girl who picks at her food and talks about needing to lose weight -- they just suck up attention and are never happy. Bring home a girl who asks for seconds!

I'm on Facebook and on Twitter, and offer a hearty "welcome!" to some fabulous cyber-friends who are following along as I meander down the food-strewn path.

Next comes an assortment of amusements pour moi: the Indian Cooking Challenge, which presents a different recipe each month and asks that participants all prepare the same dish and write about their experiences ... the Side Dish Showdown, which brings attention to the complementary dishes rather than letting only the entrees and desserts shine in the spotlight ... the Souper Sunday encouragement to prepare soups, sandwiches and salads (and even on non-Sundays, if that works best for you) ... and the 7th Mediterranean Cooking Event, which this month is asking participants to prepare Algerian dishes in hopes of winning a fabulous North African cookbook.

Below the amusements are some games that serve a greater good: feeding the hungry, whether human or animal. Test your vocabulary, answer some trivia, perform the mitzvah of providing food to those in need.

I've joined the Restaurant Reviewers BlogRoll -- "a great way for us to create a community of foodies who want to share their experiences, opinions and suggestions on restaurants where we dine." Considering that most of this blog seems to be devoted to eating out, despite my love of cooking, this seemed a perfect group to be welcomed into! I'm looking forward to contributing my own two-cents' worth on Ann Arbor/Ypsi/Washtenaw County restaurants (not to mention those Tom and I will encounter through Ohio and Pennsylvania during our trip to his daughter's grad school graduation).

The next 6 widgets publicize groups I belong to: fellow Mom and Lady Bloggers, Food Bloggers, and others who a) possess children, and/or b) possess two X-chromosomes, and/or c) possess an avid devotion to food.

There's a little badge promoting my support of local farms, farmers and food; as a devotee of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market -- which is open for its first Wednesday of the season tomorrow!!! -- how could I not display this proudly??? Then there is the amusing tidbit about my blog fighting climate change. It's a very serious subject, and I'm proud to say that joining the 350 Challenge has led to 350 pounds of carbon being off-set in my name. But it's ironic that I sport a badge so antithetical to my beloved Suburban ... :)

I've added a video of me -- yes, lil' ol' me! -- on CBS' "The Early Show." It's not so much because I'm the next Food Network star, but rather because I had a fabulous time and am mighty proud of those chocolate cupcakes that won me $500 as well as two trips to NYC!

And finally, I thought I'd show off some of my favorite cookbooks, thanks to Shelfari; there's an amusing tidbit that speaks volumes about my cyber-life and dusty shelves; and you can gawk at some of my pictures from Flickr (which can't compare to Tom's artwork, but which still serve my own purposes).

I do hope that you've enjoyed your tour! No gratuities or tips can be accepted; however, following this blog and/or friending me on Facebook would be nice perks ...:)