Gramma's Southern Warm Banana Pudding

(This is my best interpretation of a recipe made without exact measurements)

1 cup sugar
3 T all-purpose flour
4 eggs separated
2 cups milk
1 stick butter
 3 overly ripe bananas (sprinkle with lemon juice if you don't want them to brown)
Vanilla wafers
*cornstarch

Mix flour, sugar, and milk in medium-sized pot over med-high heat,

Stir constantly for 7-8 min or until mixture thickens and begins to bubble (if you are having trouble getting it to thicken, add a tablespoon of cornstarch)

Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl

Add a small amount of the hot pudding to that small bowl with the egg yolks and stir, then add that mixture back into the pot over the stove

Add the butter and mix together slowly over medium heat for another 2 min

Remove from stove and let cool

In 9x9 dish place sliced bananas and top with layer of wafers

Pour 1/2 of pudding over the wafers, then repeat another layer, ending with wafers on top

Serve while still warm
(I made pudding earlier in day for dinner, so I placed dish in oven on warm for about 10-15 minutes before I served)

If you want to make the meringue topping (which I failed at) you will need the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tarter. Beat until you create a foam with stiff peaks. Place on pudding and place in oven at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until browned.

ART

Those of you who know me well, know I have an affinity for art. Most definitely not creating it (that would be scary), but of desiring to appreciate it. MI has allowed me many opportunities to indulge this love.

1) Royal Oak Art Fair: It was a small event with about 100 contributors at one of Royal Oak's many parks. Aaron and I enjoyed walking around to see pottery, paintings, photographs, and iron work. Michigan seems to have much more iron, steel, and metal than Arkansas, which I assume is due to MI's iron-rich resources.

2) Detroit Institute of Arts: AMAZING. I cannot brag on it enough. I am definitely not done exploring it. As an Oakland County resident, I was allowed free admission and was able to attend a free guided tour. I saw three Van Gough's, a Monet, Medici family heirlooms, and the famous (and controversial) Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" fresco mural.

The museum contains three floors of artwork, objects, and pottery dating from B.C. to modern-day. It possesses 60,000 pieces, with only 6,000 on display (rotated regularly). Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpz_IyNUJg4 to see more on how they manage the collection.

You probably have heard about the proposed selling of this collection to help with Detroit's bankruptcy. Let's hope that does NOT happen! It would be a real loss.

3) Ann Arbor Art Street Fair: Over 200 artists with mediums including blacksmith, glass, wood-work, metal-work, jewelry, clothes, etc. (I'll be honest-I was feeling a little bit sensory overloaded after two hours walking through a sea of booths with no end in sight).
We attended with one of Aaron's old medical school friends who stayed with us this weekend, Mark Miedema, and met up with our MI family (Meredith and Dave). (Mark's cousins run Green Things Farm, and his sister is a personal chef in MI who occasionally helps with Farm to Table dinners-which we hope to attend at some point).

Mark and I at A2 Art Street Fair

Part of the fair winded through the University of Michigan's campus (which is beautiful). Here is the Law School library/Hogwarts look-alike.

Food & Beverage

Nothing I love more than food. If Europe taught me anything-it was to judge a place on its drinks and dining (hence, I was 20lbs heavier when I came home)...

Aaron and I have discovered a few favorites here in MI:

Drinks: Oberon, Atwater Brewery, Motor City Brewery, Jolly Pumpkin Brewery, Bastone Brewery, Royal Oak Brewery, Motor City Brewery, Dominicks' (Ann Arbor) sangria

That's right-I'm drinking beer on tap, at the movie theater, in a leather recliner (jealousy understood)

MI tex-mex

Dominicks' homemade Sangria!!

Even beer selection at the Meijer (MI's Wal-Mart) is amazing

Food: Bastone (has become our Go-To), Tom's Oysters, Diablos (to watch sports), Royal Oak Brewery (comfort food), Rock on Third (Aaron's 'Town Pump' comparable), Town Tavern (great steak and seafood), and Monterray's (tex-mex)

Motor City Brewery (Detroit) pizza

Tom's Oysters (Royal Oak)

Gyro tent at Ann Arbor Art Fair

Bastone Brewery (Royal Oak)- Pork and pear pizza

Farmers Markets: Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Royal Oak Farmers Market, (we are still looking forward to seeing Detroit's Eastern Market)

Ann Arbor 

Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor. Flowers are from Green Things Farm (check out their blog at greenthingsfarm.blogspot.com or on Facebook)

Grocery Stores (odd category, but there are some really cool options for produce, wine & beer, etc): Hollywood Market (small but we can walk to and from), Trader Joe's (CHEAP and good quality brand of groceries, wine, flowers), and Westborn Market (it is BEAUTIFUL-great fruits and veggies, Michigan products, full-service florist, great meat market)

Westborn Market (already almost sold out of the famous Michigan-grown cherries)

Our Michigan Guides/Temporary Family Stand-Ins:

Meet Meredith and Dave!

The basics: Meredith did her ENT residency with Aaron at UAMS. Dave is her husband. They are both from Michigan. Meredith is a University of Michigan fan; Dave is a Michigan State fan. Do NOT get that part confused (no, seriously don't).

Here's what they have taught us so far on surviving day-to-day life in Michigan:

1) The liquor store is called a "party store"  The party store almost always includes the sale of alcohol, lottery tickets, and a deli. Yep-you can sit in the store eating your freshly made sandwich, wash it down with a shot of whiskey, while scratching off your losing/winning ticket. 

2) Correct terminology for carbonated beverages: Do you want a "pop" from the vending machine?  Not a soda, not a coke-a pop.

3) We will have to learn to use the snow blower. (No explanation needed).

4) The Michigan Left: U-turns everywhere, on all streets, to get to anything. These brilliant and constant u-turns are called Michigan Lefts.

Meredith&Dave adventures so far:

1) Driving tour of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus (beautiful) near their home with Mrs. Vickey. (Couldn't resist the student housing hipsters). 

2) Dinner with Dona at Ann Arbor BBQ joint.

3) Dinner in Ferndale at One-Eyed Bettie's (Best burger!)

4) Fireworks at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. Greenfield Village is Henry Ford's little hobby/world of houses he'd had moved from across the world to this one spot. In addition, it's full of actors from different time periods (like Colonial Williamsburg). It's really beautiful.

Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenfield_Village#Greenfield_Village

We walked through the Village to this large open field filled with families on picnic blankets and lawn chairs. The crowd listened to the Detroit Symphony while watching really great fireworks. (For you craft beer lovers, Michigan doesn't seem to sell much generic American beer. Our options at the fireworks were Raspberry Wheat or Amber Ale. At the baseball game it was Canadian Blue. At the breweries you better stick with their menu).

5) Detroit Tigers baseball game. Team colors are orange, navy, and white (home games) or gray (away). Comerica Park is beautiful! 

We ended the day with a drive through downtown Detroit (BTW-it's reallllly easy to accidently take a wrong turn towards Canada with no way to turn around), a walk through Greek Town, and dinner in Mexicantown (yes, it's really called that-it's even on the interstate exit sign).                                   

                               

Learning the Ropes in Royal Oak:

Our new suburb, Royal Oak, is in the 'Metro Detroit' area - which means that according to Michiganders (Michiganers? Michiganese?) Aaron and I are in fact 'Detroiters'.

Quick wikipedia reference for anyone interested in the specifics of the official city of Royal Oak, also known as the 'City of Trees': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Oak,_Michigan

As the Fellowship of the Penske Truck (Aaron, Dad, Seth, Mrs. Vickey, and I) drove past downtown Detroit on the way to our new neighborhood, the inner city was a little SCARY. The interstate was peppered with many abandoned buildings as we drove closer to our destination. We saw plywood windows, then missing bricks and roofs, then tons of graffiti, and then...8 Mile Road! (movie reference for those confused-look it up)

THANKFULLY, the trip ended with Royal Oak and its perfect (like really perfect) manicured lawns, paved sidewalks, lush parks, and 5 bajillionish restaurants and breweries. (Don't worry, this kind of perfection most definitely comes with about 5 bajillionish city ordinances as well).

The best part is we feel safe to walk downtown, to the grocery store, or with Capi to the park.

Speaking of Capi, she is settling in well. In fact, here are a few photos of her doing her favorite hobby:

P.S. Detroit is currently the filming location of the new Batman & Superman movie - a perfect Gotham City. As a result, Batman (Ben) is living about a mile from my house and Superman is living four miles away in Ferndale.  So security here really isn't an issue. 

Home Sweet Home:

Did I mention we LOVE our rent house here in MI? It's an older two-story home with 3 bedrooms (2 and an office) and 1.5 bathrooms. So family and friends-you will STILL have to share a bathroom with us!

And did I mention my new LOVE for basements?

Dark: check.
Scary: check.
Cold: check.
Weird washing-machine-hose-drains-into-a-big-metal-sink-before-really-draining: check.
Store all of your stuff that you never know where to put anyway: check!!

The key to the love is STORAGE. What used to fit under my kitchen sink now fits in to a whole floor of a home. Arkansas-you are really missing out on this one.

Another reason we LOVE this place is because our moms have helped make it home! With their organizing, decorating, cleaning, and city exploring we were able to get settled over a weekend! Here's to you two amazing women!

The Big Move:

Aaron and I were sad to leave our Little Rock house-it has and still does mean so much to us.

Thankfully, the move went smoother than I could have ever predicted. As Liz says, "many helping hands makes for fast work" (or something like that). Thank you to our parents and in-laws, Aaron's brothers and their wives, the Tingquists, and Mak! We could not have done it without you all.

Aaron and I were also extremely fortunate that our families pitched in to get us safely across the country. Thank you Mrs. Vickey for being our co-pilot. Thank you Dad and Seth for driving the Beast!

(I think I should also get credit for the handy-dandy color coded system that I created to get boxes to the right place! [We won't mention the few kinks in my system that Seth pointed out].)