Teaching My Son a Bad Word

I have mentioned, numerous times, that I am not only a graduate of The Ohio State University, but also a huge fan. I come by it honestly as I come from an Ohio State family.

Having gone to high school in southern California, the most common question I received at Ohio State was “why are you here?”. Very few people from Ohio could fathom why someone from southern California would come to central Ohio. My reply was often “I was brainwashed as a kid”. This was not too far from the truth. (disclaimer: I never felt any pressure from family to apply to or attend The OSU. That was all me.)

Growing up during college football Saturdays, we would have our shrine to Ohio State Football. My parents (both went there) put a little OSU rug in front of the TV and on top they placed a decorative plate that featured the face of Woody Hayes (a famous Ohio State football coach). When I would visit my grandparents every year in Ohio, my grandfather (attended OSU) would wake my brother and I to the OSU fight song. When Ohio State would play their hated rival in football (the University of Michigan), our family would host a watch party, no matter what state we lived in.

When I was very young, I learned three songs. The first was Happy Birthday. The second was the alphabet song (A, B, C, D…). The third….. I don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan. Sung to the tune of The Old Grey Mare, the lyrics are:

O, we don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan
The whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan
We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, we’re from Ohio
We’re from Ohio…O-H
We’re from Ohio…I-O
O, we don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan
The whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan
We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, we’re from Ohio

When my eldest son was two or three I taught him the song. At one point during the teaching I was talking to my father and let him know that I was carrying on the proud tradition. He told me that he was concerned that I was teaching such a young child a bad word. I assured him that I had been replacing “damn” with “darn” so we should be fine. He replied, “Not that one. I was talking about the other bad word.” He meant “Michigan“.

As today is this year’s Ohio State/Michigan game, I expect we’ll pulverize them like this cube steak was.

I rarely buy cube steaks. The texture is half way between a steak and hamburger. It is a good way to take a tougher piece of meat and make it edible without long roasting.

Broil the steaks.

And top with the wonderful combination of blue cheese and red onion.

Cube Steaks with Blue Cheese

Makes: 3 (Scaled)

Ingredients:

• 3 cube steaks
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese (you can buy it crumbled)
• 1/8 cup red onion, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat broiler. Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown cube steaks to your liking, salt and pepper to taste.

Place beef on a broiler pan and top each steak with blue cheese and red onion. Stick under the broiler to melt, then serve.

Source: http://myownjulieandjulia.blogspot.com/2011/03/must-try-cube-steaks-with-blue-cheese.html