TBDBITL and Goat Cheese Pumpkin Quesadillas

I got to go back to Ohio last weekend to visit family and go to a fantastic football game.  But while the football team was welcoming The Huskers to The Horseshoe with a 63-38 beat-down, The Best Damn Band in the Land (TBDBITL or Ohio State's marching band) also wanted to showoff for the visiting Nebraska Marching Band.

A sweet picture taken at the game by my brother, and photography mentor, Dave.

The show was incredible.  A YouTube video of the halftime show has already gone viral with over 3.7 million views as I'm writing this (check that, 5.2 million after editing).  The whole performance was an homage to some classic video games that we all know too well.

The music and formations start with Space Invaders and Pokemon.  At minute 1:15, the band transitions to TETRIS and Super Mario Bros. before spending a couple minutes playing music from Halo (you can skip the Halo part).  The most incredible part starts just before the 6:00 mark as they play some tunes from Zelda--don't miss this.  They finish things up with Mario and Luigi taking down the M*ch*gan flag at the castle and raising the the Block 'O' flag.  The encore features none-other than Pac-Man.  Follow along in the video below!

All I can say is that Ohio State's marching band really is the best.  If you want to see another highlight from this year, check out their Beach Boys show from Sept. 1st.  Go to minute 4:10 for the best part.

Alright, onto the food!  A few weeks ago, I made some chocolate chip pumpkin quesadillas that were a huge hit.  I hope you didn't mind me calling them quesadillas, despite lacking the central ingredient.  To make up for it, I decided to try a variation of the savory pumpkin recipe I saw in a magazine that includes cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 Cup Libby's canned pumpkin
• 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and Pepper
• Crumbled goat cheese
• Chopped pecans
• Fresh basil, chopped or chiffonade
• Vegetable oil and a pastry or BBQ brush

Preheat your grill to medium (7-8 mississippi).  Combine the pumpkin and cumin in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.  If you're not big into cumin, go with the 1/4 teaspoon, the 1/2 might be a little overpowering.  Spread the pumpkin mixture over half the tortilla and distribute the goat cheese and pecans over the pumpkin.  Fold over the tortilla and brush BOTH sides of the tortilla with vegetable oil.  Grill both sides until their nicely browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes per side.  Cut into wedges and dig in!  This should be enough to make about 6 quesadillas.

I forgot the basil...

Like I said last time, don't skip the vegetable oil.  It takes the texture to the next level.

There it is.

These quesadillas are really great, especially as an appetizer for a grown-up fall party.  The original recipe didn't call for basil, but Chelsi tried it and it turned out sending the whole recipe over the top.