Old College Field

12 04 2009
  • 248 Jenison Field House
  • East Lansing, MI 48824
  • (517) 353-0816
  • Website
Old College Field on the campus of Michigan State University

Old College Field on the campus of Michigan State University

My long stretch of baseball/softball continued at Michigan State University’s Old College Field.  This was a new facility for me.  I’ve been to soccer at DeMartin Field next door and I’m really looking forward to taking in a game at the newly remodeled McLane Baseball Stadium, but I’ve never seen a softball game at MSU.

The day started bright and early Saturday morning at the softball diamond which is between  behind Jenison Field House and the Red Cedar River.  Parking is located at Jenison and you have quite a hike to get back to the softball diamond.  The field is situated between the soccer field and baseball diamond.

Old College Field gets it’s name from the days when MSU football actually played on the area.  It retained the name Old College Field even though most of the football stadium was actually where the baseball diamond is now.  In 2008, the whole area underwent a face lift and the field was moved and home plate now faces the Red Cedar River. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : East Lansing, Entertainment Venues, Michigan, Reviews

Cottage Inn Pizza – Holt – Revisited

11 04 2009
Cottage Inn Pizza on Cedar Street in Holt.

Cottage Inn Pizza on Cedar Street in Holt.

J converted me.  I used to be a deep dish pizza guy, but where she grew up on the South Side of Chicago, thin crust rules.  Over time, she broke me down and now all I want is a thin and crispy pie.  We haven’t had a whole lot of luck finding those in Mid-Michigan.  It’s not because no one does it.  It’s because we never looked.  When you call and just order a large pizza, most places give you the same crappy not quite thin, not quite thick crust.  If you ask, you just might get a good pizza.

That’s the case with Cottage Inn.  We went almost a year without realizing they do a thin crust.  When we first started checking out the local and regional pizza places, Cottage Inn was up first.  The pizza was good, but I said it was ” still too much like the other chains.” 

I don’t know why, but for some reason, J actually decided to look at the menu one weekend when I was working.  She saw an option for thin crust, so that’s what she ordered.  She took one bite and fell in love.  It reminded her of home.  In Chicago, if you order a thin crust pizza, the pizza is cut into squares, not triangle and that’s how Cottage Inn cuts their thin crust.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Holt, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Quickie Burger & Dogs

11 04 2009
  • 800 S. State Street
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 222-4555
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

I’m going to be honest.  I had absolutely no intention of having a burger for lunch.  Hell, I was on my way to get “organic pizza,” but I got sidetracked by a sign in the window.  A sign that read “Voted Best Burger in AA 2009.”  They might as well have a 13 year old kid on the corner daring me to stop.  How could I pass up a chance to have Ann Arbor’s best burger.

Quickie Burger & Dogs is a really small corner shop on State and Hill near the University of Michigan campus.  I had passed the store a few times in the past, but I never gave it a second look until I saw the sign. 

The intersection at State and Hill is really busy on a Friday afternoon.  There is on street parking all around the area and I ended up going around the block to find a meter.  After popping in a few quarters, I walked back to my destination. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Burgers, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Ray Fisher Stadium

11 04 2009
  • 1114 S. State Street
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 647-2583
  • Website
The entrance to Ray Fisher Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan

The entrance to Ray Fisher Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan

Being a former college baseball player, I’ve always been jealous of the guys who get to play in the Big Ten.  When I was a Senior in high school, I went down to Champaign to pitch my case to “Itch” Jones.  I wanted to play Big Ten baseball.  Coach Jones told me in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t good enough to play in the Big Ten.  He suggested junior college and see if I got better. 

I didn’t take his advice.  I went to a NAIA Division I school, played a year and a half and got cut halfway through my sophomore season.  I could have went back to juco, but I gave up on a baseball and focused on my education and getting out of college as fast as possible. 

Even though we were one of the top NAIA teams in the country, we shared our field with one of the local high schools.  It was our field, but it was on their property.  The field was ok, but it doesn’t compare to the minor league ballpark the team plays in now. 

I tell you all this because I get chills every time I walk on the grass at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor.  The field is part of the Wilpon Baseball/Softball complex.  It sits in the middle of the athletic complex on State Street.  The field is surrounded by Yost, Schembechler Hall, the track and field complex and Alumni Field.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Big Ten Tour, Entertainment Venues, Live Entertainment, Michigan, Reviews

Lansing Taco Bell to Donate to Boys & Grils Club

9 04 2009

Who would have thought Twitter was a good place to find stories.  This was posted quite a while ago on the Lansing Taco Bell Twitter page.

On April 23rd, ALL Lansing, Michigan Taco Bell will be giving 15% of their sales to Boys and Girls Club. Give for Graduation!


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Categories : Food News, Lansing, Michigan

Wake Up To Jazz

8 04 2009

From www.eljazzfest.com/…

Wake Up to Jazz and Support the 2009 SSJF

Join us for a Louisiana-style brunch fundraiser catered by East Lansing’s Gumbo & Jazz Restaurant on Sunday, April 19 from 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at MSU Federal Credit Union New Headquarters. A musical performance by MSU Jazz Orchestra I with Rodney Whitaker will be part of the fundraiser celebration. Tickets are $50 for individual, $90 a couple, $325 for a table of eight or $40 for Friends of East Lansing Jazz. Download a reservation form.


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Categories : East Lansing, Food News, Michigan

Lugnuts Opener and a Coffee Coupon

8 04 2009

I saw the following on Paramount Coffee’s Twitter Page.

Lansing Lugnuts season opener tomorrow! Come park at Paramount (right across the street!) and get an online coupon ^_^

If you’re going anyway, why not get something out of the deal?


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Categories : Food News, Lansing, Michigan

A Change At Pizza Hut..

8 04 2009

..at the south Lansing location anyway.  I was driving by yesterday and saw a crane taking signs down.  I thought the worst and figured they were going out of business.  When I drove by tonight, I found out that I was wrong.  They didn’t close.  They just changed the branding.

They’ve dropped the “Italian Bistro” concept and turned it into a WingStreet. 

J’s been saying for a while we needed to stop in one day.  Growing up, I was the only one in my family that preferred Pizza Hut.  Really, I just loved the breadsticks.  It’s been so long since I’ve actually had a pizza from there that I don’t really remember if I liked it or not. 

The Italian Bistro concept was a little more upscale than a typical Pizza Hut.  They had more of a “bistro” menu and offered a lot of dishes that are now common due to the “Pasta Hut” campaign.

WingStret is the Yum! Brand’s wing store.  Pairing Pizza Hut and WingStreet is pretty common, but not in a location like the south Lansing spot.  Usually, they’re paired together in take out restaurants.

I’ve never had WingStreet wings, so maybe we’ll give them a shot one night.  We’re running out of new places to eat on the southside anyway.


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Categories : Chains, Food News, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

Hooters of Lansing

8 04 2009
  • 172 E. Edgewood Blvd.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-7997
  • Website
  • Menu
Hooters of Lansing on E. Edgewood Blvd.

Hooters of Lansing on E. Edgewood Blvd.

I’m going to be honest.  I’ve never been a fan of Hooters.  Even as a horny teenager, I thought their gimmick was ridiculous.  The only Hooters close to where I grew was over an hour away and every time my friends and I were close to it, we’d have to stop.  They would all cover by saying, “but the food is so good.”  I disagreed.  I always thought it was overpriced for what it was.  It was fine, but it seemed like you were paying for something other than the food.  The only redeeming quality to Hooters for me was the hot wings.  At the time, Hooters was about the only place serving up chicken like that.  This was long before Buffalo Wild Wings and long before chicken wings became staples on sports bar menus. 

So, even though there’s a Hooters just around the corner from where we live now, it’s one place we haven’t really been itching to get to.  That is, until I saw a commercial for 10 boneless wings and fries for $5.99 on Wednesday’s.  I figured if nothing else, it was a cheap meal and it would give us an excuse to check out the Lansing store.

Hooters of Lansing is on Edgewood Boulevard in South Lansing.  It’s got the same design as every other store and the same decor and layout as every other Hooters.  They use wood paneling and bright orange colors to accent their waitress uniforms.  J called it an outdoorsy field.  It is a very vibrant atmosphere and one of the original sports bars.  The unique thing that I’ve always liked about Hooters is how they send orders to the kitchen.  Sure, they may use POS systems now, but they still put a piece of paper on a clip and send it along a zip wire to the kitchen.  When something is ready, the kitchen sends it back. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Wings

The Elusive Horseshoe

7 04 2009

When it comes to regional food, there are very few thing more regional than the horseshoe.  I grew up in Eastern Illinois and had never heard of the culinary creation until I moved to Peoria.  It’s a dish you can’t get outside of a 100 mile radius of Springfield, IL where the “sandwich” was created. 

Like most dishes, there is some conflicting reports on who actually invented it.  The most common and generally accepted story is that the sandwich was invited by two guys working at the Leland Hotel in Springfield in 1928.  That recipe lives on at Godfather’s Pizza.

It’s not very often I blog about my adventures in the kitchen, but I thought this one might be interesting to people who have never heard of this artery clogging disaster of a meal.  It’s not something I would want every night, but it’s a good “sometimes food”

The sandwich starts with two slices of toasted bread.  On top of that, just a regular hamburger.  I used some angus 80/20 I picked up at Kroger.  The next layer is a handful of fries.  I like to bake my fries in a 500 degree oven for 25 minutes….and yes, I cut my fries fresh. 

The final layer is what makes a horseshoe a horseshoe is the cheese sauce.  The recipe I’m using is supposed to be close to the original recipe.  It’s called a Welsh Rarebit sauce and uses white cheddar.  I don’t have white cheddar, so I’m just going to substitute regular Cheddar.  I also halved the recipe since I’m just cooking for myself.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Illinois

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