America’s Favorite Pasttime

One of my favorite things about summer is baseball.  And with baseball comes superstition as baseball is reportedly the most superstitious sport.  Completely irrational, it makes logical people do odd things – eat a particular meal before a game, turn a hat inside out (a rally cap), approach the batter’s box in the same manner every time…

Or throw away a perfectly good t-shirt because the arch nemesis (Cubs) won three of four games against the Brewers and it was the first time you’d worn the shirt.

(Yes, this recently happened in the Cheesehead household.  While the shirt in question –

– is perfect for a Milwaukee Brewers fan, neither Mr. Cheesehead nor I felt comfortable keeping it after the series.  Just in case… ;-))

More recently, Mr. Cheesehead and I planned a trip to Boston to see the Brewers play at Fenway Park.

What a great experience to see our beloved team play in such a historical ballpark.

Unfortunately,… the Brewers didn’t exactly seem to “play” the evening Mr. Cheesehead and I paid a visit to Fenway Park.  After the 45-minute first inning, even the most die-hard fans were restless in their seats.  It’s one thing to lose – we’re used to that – but what a horrible game as a fan to sit through!  Sure, they say the Brewers starting pitcher left due to a hip flexor injury (at the time, they were saying he left due to a leg or groin injury.  “Groin injury”… injured male pride… call it what you like!  Sounds like a case of “tomato” “toMAto” to me! )

Superstitiously, this has caused Mr. Cheesehead & I to ponder if we should discontinue future travel plans to stadiums other than Miller Park.  The game in Boston leaves us with a personal record of 0-3 at away games!

Ix-nay on the Brewers’ away games?  Or “tempt fate” and follow ’em where travel plans may lead? 😉

On a better superstitious note, I recently made these cupcakes for a bachelor-bachelorette party we were lucky enough to attend at Miller Park.  What a great group of people to be able to hang out with!  (AND…the Brewers won the game we attended! Which means… let Brewers fans have their cake & eat it too!)

This was the first time I’d done anything with chocolate & molds.  I can’t say it’ll be my last time working with them, but it was definitely a trying of my patience with just one mold.  (In case you’re not making the connection, it meant I filled the three baseball cavities in the mold and then put the mold in the refrigerator until the chocolate had set so I could safely – and in one piece – pop out the molded chocolates.  Repeat. Repeat again. And again, etc.)

The end result was worth it and a lot of fun (even when the sun melted the chocolate candies on top!  The chocolate kind of oozed into the frosting and cake, making it all a warm, gooey, yummy mess!)

(The little baseball is leftover marshmallow fondant.  Vanilla bean and double chocolate cupcakes topped with standard buttercream using my new tip!)