Perfect Asparagus Salad

Feeds 2:

Red Leaf Lettuce
10 spears asparagus
1 large green onion, sliced thin


Rinse and spin dry the lettuce leaves and divide lettuce between two bowls
Boil the asparagus until it is firm but tender and divide between the two bowls, placing on top of lettuce and then garnish each bowl with 1/2 the onion
Dressing to taste

Dressing
1 part good tasting extra virgin olive oil
1 part honey
2-3 parts dijon mustard

Shake well.

First Asparagus

A farmer at the Canton Farmers Market had asparagus today. We will evaluate tomorrow at dinner, but how exciting! First asparagus of the year!

Easter Weekend

Having a long weekend is always nice, but was especially so as we started Friday night having beers at The Old Town Tavern in Ann Arbor (Two Hearted Ale on tap - nice!) before the Ryan Montbleau concert at the Ark. I was intrigued by the food passing me by - next time we will eat as well as drink. Visit Old Town:

http://www.oldtownaa.com/

Then on to The Ark to see The Ryan Montbleau Band - they were tremendous! Great show. The warm up act was Zach Deputy and all I can say is WOW! Great stuff! We bought his cd and two from Ryan Montbleau. The Ryan Montbleau Band is tight and their songs are funky and folky all at the same time. Zach Deputy is more reggae but oh so good! Check both acts out:

http://www.ryanmontbleauband.com/

http://www.zachdeputy.com/

On another positive note, the coney dog heaven of Bill's on Michigan Avenue in Ypsi has opened for the season. YUM YUM YUM! Don't forget the root beer!

We took advantage of the long weekend to have breakfast at Angelo's in A2. As always, the raisin bread french toast is amazing, the bacon perfect and my perennial dining companion's lox eggs benedict exceptional (the hollandaise is very good). Visit Angelo's:

http://www.angelosa2.com/home.htm

The other highlight of the weekend (besides seeing the family at our house for Easter dinner) was Drop In hockey Saturday night at Suburban Ice. Awesome workout and great hockey fun!

First Weekend in April

What a great weekend! It really started on Thursday, because we bought tickets a little bit last minute to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra playing at Hill in A2. It was a great show and the conductor, David Robertson, connected well with the audience and was highly energized. I had never heard anything by the composer John Adams performed live before and the orchestra executed it tremendously.

http://www.ums.org/S_current_season/artist.asp?pageid=499

But the best part about seeing a show in Ann Arbor might be eating out before hand. At least in part to simplify parking, we visited Ashley's on campus for the first time. A plus, Bell's Two Hearted Ale on tap! My perennial dining companion had a sampler (of which I really liked the Old Speckled Hen). I ordered the Thai Chicken Quesadilla (yum, peanut sauce) which was really good and and my PDC had an excellent burger and we split some Stilton-enhanced fries. Wow. Way too much food but it was all so good! Next time we just split the fries. Ironically, we were some of the oldest folks in the establishment, but the tunes were all our high school years - Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis and the News, etc. We will be back:

http://www.ashleys.com/index.html

Friday night was my 41st birthday and we celebrated by playing racquetball at Lifetime and then grilling out bleu cheese burgers at home (topped with sauted onions and mushrooms). Good stuff! Who says you can't grill out in Michigan in early April!

Saturday we were back in Ann Arbor twice. First, to visit the Farmer's Market (greens, radishes, eggs, Empire Apples and some beets). Then, later, back to Hill Auditorium to listen to the amazing Chick Corea and John McLaughlin and crew (the awesome in their own right Christian McBride on bass, Brian Blades on drums, and Kenny Garret on saxophone) rocked the house. We didn't eat out though. I made chickpea cauliflower curry over jasmine rice (the recipe suggested basmati but I like jasmine better for something like this)....

http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/fasteasyfresh/2009/05/curried_cauliflower_and_chickpea_stew

Best to Last - Music - Joe Pug

WOW! What a concert. After dinner at The Fly Trap (see the previous post) we ventured into Ann Arbor to see Joe Pug at The Ark. After seeing Joe Pug perform one song at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival this winter, we bought tickets to see him at The Ark. He brought a band with him, but still performed many songs solo with a guitar or guitar and harmonica. Amazing concert. Joe Pug is a tremendous singer songwriter (he draws comparisons to Bob Dylan). But his warm and amazingly strong voice, lyrical style, engaging smile and songwriting ability will set him apart. He performed his own songs in addition to three covers - one a standard gospel song, one by Warren Zevon, and another by Graham Parsons. I have never seen The Ark sold out before, but it was tonight and rightly so. I could listen to Hymn 101 and Speak Plainly Diana for days. The cover of Warren Zevon's Johnny Strike Up the Band had me dancing in my chair. See Joe Pug whenever you can:

http://www.joepugmusic.com/

Then Snacks

Yum! Dinner at The Fly Trap, a Finer Diner in Ferndale. Outstanding! I had something called Fire-Breathing Dragon which is grilled chicken with a chilled Lo Mein Noodle sort of a salad with basil and peanut sauce. Very tasty and a perfect kick on the heat level. My perennial dining companion had the Pho Bowl (I stole lots of vegetables). The most exciting part may have been that I was able to eat at least half my chicken with chop sticks!

Visit The Fly Trap:

http://www.theflytrapferndale.com/

First Sports

First, a sad farewell to the 2008-2009 Michigan Hockey Wolverines as they play their last game - a loss in game one of the NCAA tournament to the Air Force Falcons. Despite outshooting their opponent, the Wolverines couldn't catch a break and lost 2-0. This team was tremendous fun to watch this season and we will miss the seniors. Best of Luck to Miller, Turnbull, Sauer and the rest of the graduating class of 2009.

Great Stuff, however, by the Michigan State Spartans in their victory over Kansas to advance to the Elite 8 in the NCAA basketball tournament.