OhioBakeries.com

There’s nothing like a taste of home for the holidays, whether you are physically there or miles away.

I’ve had people tell me that when their family members come home for the holidays they always go to Roots Poultry in Fremont for hot chicken sandwiches. Others say that a trip to Tony Packo’s is a taste of Toledo. A Betty Salad, Middle Eastern food at the Beirut restaurant, and confections from one of the hometown bakeries are musts for other hometown visitors.

When I go “home” to the Detroit area, I always want to stop for pizza at one special pizzeria in my Macomb County hometown. I love to get Sanders chocolates, drink Vernor’s ginger ale, and buy French pastries from an East Side bakery.

Those Michigan memories can come into play while watching the Rose Bowl, when Michigan plays Southern California on Jan. 1. My husband would tell you that football always makes me think about food.

As fans gather around the television, I would serve a Michigan vs. California menu. The Michigan side would include the foods from that state I can buy here — Vernor’s pop and Zingerman’s bread (sold at a number of stores locally) sliced for brushetta or sandwiches. The green salad would have Michigan dried cherries. For dessert, apple pie must be made with Michigan apples garnished with a slice of Michigan’s Pinconning cheese.

The California side might include a salad laced with artichokes, tomatoes, black olives, and a California cheese. For dessert, offer anything made with pistachios or macadamia nuts and Ghiradelli chocolate. A purist would only serve Michigan wines and California wines.

Likewise, when viewing the BCS National Championship, with Ohio State playing Florida on Jan. 8, the all-Ohio menu would have to include Ohio Buckeye candy (these are allowed as an appetizer only on this occasion), grilled brats with onions and peppers, Ballreich’s potato chips, a salad with Marzetti’s salad dressings, and an Ohio ice cream (like Velvet, Smith Dairy, or Graeter’s when in Columbus).

When it comes to Florida foods, I would include fresh seafood like shrimp cocktail, shrimp burgers, or shrimp scampi over rice, a green salad laced with pecans and citrus fruit, and for dessert, Key lime pie. Beverages have to include Ohio wines and sweetened iced tea with a sprig of fresh mint.

This only proves that there’s food and a regional menu for just about any Bowl game held around the country.

If the Fighting Irish is your team, watching the Sugar Bowl Jan. 3, when Louisiana State University plays Notre Dame at New Orleans, could be a culinary feast. Imagine Midwest college food versus Cajun cooking. With South Bend, Ind., so close to Chicago, that Chicago Deep Dish Pizza would fit on the table. Indiana’s bratwurst and German potato salad and Irish Apple Cake could compete with andouille sausage and jambalaya, red beans and rice, and bread pudding for dessert, with bananas Foster on the side. Serve Cafe du Monde, the signature coffee of New Orleans.

If I were watching Penn State play Jan. 1 at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, I would track down Philadelphia Tastycakes, whip up Philadelphia Cheese Steak using thinly sliced prime rib from a local butcher, and a bag of pretzels.

When Texas A&M plays California at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 28, King Ranch Casserole made with chicken, tortillas, and a creamy Ro-Tel sauce, a grapefruit salad, and pecan pie could be paired with California-style guacamole with tortilla chips, gourmet pizza, and an almond or walnut cake.

No matter where you hail from, or which team you cheer for, there’s a food fest to be had.

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