Faygo Cupcakes for Opening Day!

I love baseball!

I whine every single year that Opening Day should be a national holiday. I inevitably rush home after work and manage to catch the bottom of the 9th, rather than getting to enjoy the entire game. Sure, I could take the day off - but really, there's stuff to do at work and that just seems a bit frivolous. I know others do it, or they call in sick, or they just sit at their desks watching games on MLB.com rather than paying attention to what they should be. Thus, my annual proclamation that Opening Day should be a holiday!

But this year, I have the day off. One isn't permitted to work during the first two or the last two days of Passover; today is the 7th of Passover's 8 days, and thus a paid holiday for me since I work in the Jewish community ... yay!!! The Tigers take on the Twins in Minnesota this afternoon, and I get to watch the whole game ... whee!

So, in honor of this occasion, what festive food are we making? Baseball, hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jacks all go together. I'm certainly not going to make my own hot dogs - that's a chore even I'm not fool enough to bother with! I can't grow my own peanuts up in the cold of Michigan. I could make my own Cracker Jacks, but I'm not a huge fan of popcorn so I'm disinclined to bother; it's so much easier to buy a small box and have the actual product on hand to bestow good luck upon the season.

Then I thought about cupcakes because ... well ... cupcakes are a good thing to think about! They make everyone happy. And since I had made ginger ale-infused Vernors Cupcakes last fall in honor of the Tigers representing the American League in the World Series, I thought I'd riff on that a bit and use another Detroit soda for today's recipe: Faygo, which comes in many flavors and colors, and can thus be coordinated with any team. (Admittedly, my cupcakes came out to be more Mets-colored than Tigers! But it's the thought that counts. Jeremy said they're "(Friggin') fantastic" and that they taste like Creamsicles; that's really all that matters.)

These festive cupcakes would also be perfect to serve on Friday, for the Tigers' home opener against the Yankees - my two favorite teams, having grown up in New York but having lived in Michigan since I was 16.

Baseball's back! I'm a happy, happy girl ... :)

Opening Day 2011

Opening Day 2012

Faygo Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup orange Faygo soda
4 tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a measuring cup, combine the soda, oil, vanilla, and eggs; whisk together.

Pour liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Divide the batter among the lined cups, and bake for 18-20 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon blue food coloring
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the butter and food coloring. Slowly beat in 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, then add milk; beat in remaining confectioners' sugar. Continue beating 'til frosting is the desired consistency.

Spread frosting onto cupcakes, then serve.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Boston Baked Beans for Opening Day

Baseball comes back today!  The Detroit Tigers' home opener will be at 1:05 p.m. against the Boston Red Sox.  I'm so excited!  Of course, I have to be at work this afternoon ... sigh.  But it's the principle of the matter!

Opening Day, for me, is usually when the New York Yankees play their first game of the season; they're not playing the Tampa Bay Rays 'til tomorrow, though.  But I've lived in Michigan for more than 30 years now, after moving from New York ... there can be a bit of wiggle room.

It is simply required to eat a hot dog in honor of this occasion - what's a baseball game without a hot dog, after all?  And I'm offering the perfect accompaniment, since the Tigers are playing the Red Sox from Beantown: Boston-Style Baked Beans, featuring the rich sweetness of molasses.

Now, I know that there are folks who don't share my excitement today, who aren't serving ritual, traditional foods.  Many people think that baseball is boring, because they don't understand it.  I'll spare you my rants about other sports which I simply cannot endure or which I ridicule with great glee, and rather focus on what I consider to be the great joy of baseball.

Sure, I'll grant you that there are lots of foul balls, causing significant delays in the games.  Sure, there  are plenty of superstitious players going through repetitive rituals, making it tedious to watch sometimes.  Sure, baseball players are prisses who can't play in bad weather.  Sure, there are performance-enhancing drugs and other scandals.

But baseball can be watched intently, play by play, or it can be company in the background; it can be whatever you need it to be.  There are thrilling moments that people remember - and debate - for decades.  People have been so devoted to the sport that their hearts have been broken by teams that have abandoned cities and by players who have abandoned teams.

Most importantly, though, the true beauty of baseball is this: with every single pitch there is the potential for something magical.  It doesn't always happen.  But the chance is there, and the hope is there.  And every so often, you get to witness a spectacular moment.

Today, a Mom or Dad or maybe a Grandpa is taking a child to his or her first baseball game.  They're wandering through the stadium, buying peanuts and Cracker Jacks and a souvenir program.  They're looking for their section.  They're heading toward the usher.  They're about to climb to their seats.

And in an instant, they walk out from the dark corridor and into the blinding sunshine.  A field of the brightest, most vibrant green lies before them.  Players are casually tossing the ball around.  Vendors are calling out with offers of pretzels and ice cold beer.  The scoreboard is zeroed out, waiting for the first hit, the first ball, the first run.

There are so few moments as special as that one instant when you walk into the ball park and the excitement surrounds you and transports you!  It elicits a gasp, and brings both a smile and a tear.

Today is a day of celebration.  It's Opening Day!  And all things are possible ....


Quick 'n' Easy Boston-Style Baked Beans

1 28-ounce can vegetarian baked beans, drained
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons brown mustard
2 tablespoons honey barbecue sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Place all ingredients into a small saucepan; bring just to a boil, then lower heat to "low" and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 6-8.

Opening Day!!!

Today is Opening Day of baseball season -- Tigers at Yankees at 1:05 p.m. EDT on ESPN. For a girl who grew up in New York City and who's lived near Detroit for more than 30 years now, this is a primo way to start things off!

Although I'm loathe to admit it -- and I do my very best to keep my grey roots hidden so that folks can't tell my age by counting the silver, the way they count rings in a tree! -- I have to admit that I'm old enough to remember those mid-70s commercials touting All-American icons: baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.



And each year on Opening Day -- a day which, as far as I'm concerned, should be a national holiday 'cause folks are either playing hooky or watching games on MLB.tv, but they're sure not working! -- I can't help but think of the old ads.

Because I adore baseball -- I was raised on it, going to Mets games (one of my mother's best friends is married to one of their former coaches) ... Yankees games ... and actually being at Yankee Stadium on June 17, 1978 for the game in which Ron Guidry pitched 18 strikeouts to tie the American League record. I think the quadrennial (it should be annual!) World Baseball Classic is one of the greatest things in the entire universe, as I can wake up in the morning to watch a game pitting Japan against China, come home from work and watch Italy play the Netherlands, and then fall asleep watching Cuba play Canada. It just doesn't get much better in my world!

I raised Jeremy on it, too: minor league games, t-ball, Tigers games, even Alaska Baseball League games when we spent part of a summer in Anchorage while my ex-husband did a medical residency rotation at a Native Alaskan treatment center. (The Alaska Baseball League describes itself as "A Premier Summer Collegiate Baseball League Containing Players From Major Colleges Throughout The World".) And any time the University of Michigan's baseball team is playing on Mother's Day, that's where you'll find Jeremy and me -- 1 p.m. on May 8, this year!

I also love apple pie, and I just happen to drive a Chevrolet -- a Chevy Suburban. But my tradition is actually much simpler: hot dogs and Cracker Jacks, those consummate baseball foods. No beer necessary (don't like it at all) but maybe a soda, which I almost never drink, just 'cause it's a celebration!

So, what sorts of unofficial holidays do you celebrate? And how do you do so? Every family has its own traditions, after all, apart from those the rest of society acknowledges; and these are so important to pass along through generations, integral to forming a family identity.

Let me know ... and it's okay if you stop mid-typing to catch a great play or to take a bite of your hot dog while watching the game today. Have no fear -- I'll understand completely ... :)