Easter for Agnostics

Easter weekend is not usually one I consider to be all that exciting, as far as the holidays go. We don't go to church any more, haven't for years; I'm now realizing J.C. never even appeared in our conversations. Ah, the loss of faith. Alas, since there are also no presents to buy, it's really only about the food for us. I'm happy as long as I get at least one Cadbury egg. This year Easter weekend happened to be one full of nice surprises, however, including...

Free Tickets to Tigers Opening Day: E has never been one for surprises or having exceptional luck, but things are looking up for him in both categories. Not only did he score us Cubs tickets for Jessica's visit to Chicago (more on that at a later date!), but he also nabbed tickets to opening day at Comerica Park. Now, as you all now, we are not Tigers fans, but we never say no to a ball game. A ball game on Good Friday that marks the start of the season? Even better. We plunged headfirst into the dirty D with some friends after several mimosas and were met by riotous drunkenness and snaking lines. Sweet. We ended up at the Fillmore, if only because it had the shortest line. The placed was mobbed and the crowd control was so frightening that the security guards closed the restrooms. Apparently they thought forcing drunk people to hold their pee would make them go party elsewhere. It worked for us. Note to Self - next year, arrive before 9:00 AM if you wish to get into a decent bar without bribery, personal injury or criminal behavior. Overall, I figure being psyched for Opening Day in Detroit only really makes sense if you like Detroit.

Then there was WhirlyBall: Two of our friends had birthdays this past week, and they celebrated after the game with a party marked by sake bombs, confetti cupcakes, and yes, drunken WhirlyBall. Having never even heard of this before, E and I weren't quite sure what we were in for. It's basically like lacrosse and basketball blended and played in bumper cars in a venue that allows alcohol and smells like a bowling alley. Oh, how I love a bowling alley! If you're going to play here in Ann Arbor, get ready for awesome 80's era neon carpet, classic video game machines, a diesel jukebox and some painful hip bruising. It reminded me of our curling expedition, in that we were clueless and left with a mark. It certainly takes a little practice if you want to get good at it, but otherwise, twirling around in a bumper car after many beers is just as entertaining if you aren't all that competitive.

Last but not least comes food: My parents decided to make the drive out to A2 for Easter, so it was really nice that we didn't have to spend the holiday alone! It was our typical affair, which means the food was slammin', the guys fell asleep, and the dogs were under everyone's feet. Not all that exciting on the blog-front, but the new recipes are certainly worth sharing. Dessert was an experiment inspired by one from a Martha recipe. It turned out so well I may have to make it every year. The Ricotta Rice Pie is sort of a mix of rice pudding and Italian cheese pie and worth every fattening calorie. We also bought an eight pound leg of lamb since that was the smallest the butcher had, and most of it was marinated and grilled a la Tyler Florence. The enormous bone and the remaining meat became a lamb stock and stew, and we'll be eating it all for weeks. Check it out in the event that you happen to have some giant bones lying around and a few hours to kill. I'm off to spend my week of vacation with my Wii Fit and some Bravo marathons. Nice.