The Perfect Food - Bruschetta

For the Tomato/Basil Mixture:

3-4 small crisp tomatoes, small dice
1 clove garlic, minced
15-20 basil leaves, chopped or snipped into small pieces
1 - 2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbsp good olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the Garlic Toasts:

1/3 French baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
1 clove garlic

Set your oven to 350.  Place your baguette slices on a cookie sheet and rub the garlic on each slice.  I like to toast that garlic with the baguette slices and eat it with the bruschetta.  It's like a little bonus.  Toast the slices in the oven for 15 minutes or so until you can smell the garlic.

Meanwhile, combine the top  six ingredients and stir.  I like to let the tomato mixture mesh for at least 15 minutes before serving on top of the baguette slices.  Each bite is a little taste of summer.  Enjoy!

Fandom - What does it mean? The Let's Go Tigers Edition.

I am a fan. A believer.  A homer. Where I come from, my team can always win.  Michigan Hockey and Football.  The Detroit  Tigers. The Detroit Red Wings.  The US Women's National Soccer Team.  The players on my team are "the good guys" or "the good girls".  And in most cases, they can do no wrong.  And if you aren't on the same page, you are not a fan.  You are a tag along. A Johnny-come-lately.  A fair weather friend.

As the Detroit Tigers enter the post-season, all you Doubting Thomas-types, keep it to yourselves.

Let's go Tigers!  Let's rock October. And if you don't believe we can do it, stay home. And keep quiet. The rest of us will be cheering our hearts out.

Michigan - Notre Dame. Football. Under the Lights. The Go Blue Edition.

Some things are priceless.  Thanks to the generous gift of tickets from my parents, we were at the game last night.   I am still bouncing.  I want to hug the stadium. I want to dance in the streets.  I have never before experienced the collective force of will of over 114,000 fans cheering their team on to victory.  Even when Michigan was down, and some would presume out, the fans hung in there.  From when Michigan couldn't seem to get a first down in the first quarter,  to when they let Notre Dame take the lead with a score late in the 4th quarter, the fans didn't give up.   And they didn't leave.  There was no filing out when, with 30 seconds left in the game, the Wolverines regrouped for one last possession.  And for their faith, the fans were rewarded with a win.  A victory for the story books.  A legendary win.

The closest I can come with my experience last night, as far as the level of fan euphoria goes, was at Yost Ice Arena.   Carl Hagelin, one of the most amazing players the Michigan Ice Hockey team has ever seen,  scored on Senior Night with seconds to go in the third period last spring to tie a game and send it to overtime, only to score the game winner in overtime.   I feared for the bleachers at Yost that night as we jumped up and down.  But that said,  I have never experienced this.   The crowd of about 6,500 went nuts that night at Yost.  But 114,000 fans willing a team on to victory at the Big House?  Seriously, folks.  Texas A&M has nothing on the 12th man at the Big House. Give us the title.  A Seven Nation Army couldn't hold us back.

Nor, for that matter,  could Notre Dame.  A combination of sheer force of will of the crowd that was  under the lights for the first time at Michigan Stadium, Jordan Kovacs on defense, Denard Robinson at QB, and Notre Dame shooting themselves in the foot one time after another led to an amazing comeback victory.

Even after the victory, the crowd didn't leave.   We would have danced all night.  What a great game, boys.  And way to Go Blue, fans.  I wouldn't have been any place else last night.  And neither would you.