Can I freshen up that beer for you? (photo by Kath Usitalo)

Seaway Painting pro touches up a mug high above a Detroit street at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers

 

Great Lakes Gazette blog is on hiatus while I work on an exciting project. Please stay tuned!

Kath

 

Water Lily, Somewhere in Texas (photo by Kath Usitalo)

Pinata-prepped at Detroit’s Honey Bee Market, Mexicantown

Almost time to fill those planter boxes, Corunna

Lake Michigan beach, Upper Peninsula (photo copyright TJ Kozak)

Happy Earth Day, April 22

The Detroit Grand Prix is run on the city’s Belle Isle park just east of downtown in the Detroit River

Double your IndyCar pleasure, and double your fun at the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Friday, May 31 to Monday, June 3 by entering to win Autoweek’s VIP Race Weekend Experience.

There will be two, 70-lap IndyCar races plus GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Pirelli World Challenge Championship Series races.

The Autoweek prize package includes two tickets to the Indy Car races on Saturday and Sunday, three nights at the MotorCity Casino Hotel, dinners, airfare PLUS a $1,000 gift card for other meals and incidentals.

Oh, and the use of a FIAT 500 Abarth for getting around town.

All you have to do is enter once between now and May 1. Click HERE for details and contest rules.

For more info on the race click: Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

You can’t win if you don’t enter!

Community of Christ Church, Gulliver, Michigan

Applesauce Sour Cream Bread

Look at the luscious slices of this quick and delish bread

I was in the mood to bake. I had sour cream and cinnamon applesauce. Mr. Google pointed me to a couple of recipes that I adapted into a really tasty quick bread that is moist and slices very nicely.

Bonus: This recipe makes two good-sized loaves. As long as I’m going through the effort to make bread it’s nice to have one to consume now and one to stash in the freezer. Next time I’ll add chopped nuts to this recipe. A delish start to the day with coffee, or with afternoon tea.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups cinnamon applesauce
1 cup sour cream
3-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Lightly spray (or butter) two 9″x5″ loaf pans

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and allspice.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time.
With the beaters running (I used a stand mixer) incorporate the applesauce and sour cream. Then add the dry mix, in three or four batches.

Divide between the two loaf pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes; test for doneness with a toothpick. When tester comes out clean, remove breads from oven and let them cool about 15 minutes before removing loaves from pans.

Cow mural in beautiful downtown Elsie–Michigan’s Dairy Capital

I very much appreciate the wizards at Google who’ve facilitated the connection between Great Lakes Gazette and folks from Guyana, India, Macao, Kazakhstan and other points around the globe who have searched for “cows” and ended up at GreatLakesGazette.com….

Here’s a sampling of what they have found:

Dairy Barn at the late, great, Michigan State Fair

Upper Peninsula roadside folk art

Calder Dairy, Lincoln Park

U.P. Rodeo cowboys

Country Dairy farm tour, New Era

At the late, great, Michigan State Fair

Indiana Amish cow

Paige chills with the Butter Cow and Calf, Michigan State Fair

Holy, Cow—Paige with a parade cow

Welcome to Country Dairy, New Era

Engadine, Upper Peninsula

Lunchtime at the farm, Elsie

 

Cowabunga!

Another mural for the annual Dairy Festival in Elsie, held in early July

 

 

 

Building facade, Detroit