April Fools!

I’m not a huge fan of the jokes on April Fool’s Day. But many many years ago I started a new tradition for our family: making food imposters.

I would make meatloaf in a cake pan, and then “frost” the cake with mashed potatoes. We would then have something like cauliflower on the side, that I would say was ice cream.

Dessert would be a “taco” made from a waffle (taco shell), hamburger meat would be chocolate ice cream, tomatoes would be maraschino cherries, and green coconut would be the lettuce.

It didn’t always look completely authentic, but I tried. One year, I used ketchup to write, “April Fool’s” on the “cake.”

It’s been a fun way for our family to enjoy the fun without the craziness of mean jokes. It worked!

But I haven’t done it the last few years. 2019 we were in the middle of updating our house. 2020 I was in pain from my back. And last year I was recovering from surgery. This year, I thought we needed to bring back the joy!

Joey and I planned a few days in advance, so we had all of the supplies. I made stuffing for the cupcake, cauliflower for the “compote” between cake layers, and mashed sweet potatoes for the “icing.” The turkey meatballs were scooped to look like ice cream. Once done cooking, I put in a pretty spring cupcake liner.

It looked pretty good!

But the best was “dinner.” We made my breaded chicken. Except it wasn’t chicken. It was ice cream rolled in a mixture of rice chex, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and dye-free sprinkles. It was glorious!

The family expects the cupcakes or a cake. They didn’t expect the fried chicken. That looked like fried chicken. Except it wasn’t. But it looked like it! They were freaked out and loved it!!

Fake chicken

Regular chicken

And thanks to my partner in crime, it was a successful day!

My personal opinion: holidays aren’t about spending a ton of money or being mean. They are meant to bring us together. They are meant to create and share joy.