April Fool's

"Your sock is untied!" Apparently, my daughter spent most of April Fool's Day harassing her classmates with that little gem. She loves this day.

In honor of this , I made an April Fool's supper. I know, I had to skip Tuesday this week because of scheduling conflicts and just overall feeling glum. I really need spring to get here.

Any hoo, I started out with April Fool's Berry Soda from Taste of Home. My kids don't generally care for jello, but I made it with 1 1/2 cups of 7Up in place of some of the water and it went over well. Prepare jello as directed and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours so it just begins to set up.
Stir in your fruit. I used blueberries and pineapple. I was going to add in some mandarin oranges, but my son ate the entire can before I could. Use what you like.Pour into clear cups. Add in straws. Put in the fridge and wait for it to set up. I actually made this the night before so it would for sure be ready to go.


I'm not sure the boy really appreciated it.
For the actual dinner, I made the Meatloaf Cake. I think this idea came from Taste of Home as well.

Mix up your favorite meatloaf recipe. Bake in a round pan. I only used half a recipe, but could have easily gotten away with the full since everyone loved this so much.

Cool the meatloaf and drain off the grease. Invert onto a plate. Spread smooth mashed potatoes just like you would frosting on a cake.
Add in decorations with mustard and ketchup. I was going to make shapes out of pickles, but ran out of energy at this point. I am not good at decorating things. It really bothers me that I didn't get my circle design centered. The kids loved it anyway.
For 'dessert', we had Pizza Cake, again inspired by Taste of Home.

Mix up a cake mix (or from scratch, that just doesn't happen during the school year for me).
Pour into two 9 inch round pans.
Bake at in a 350 degree oven until golden brown. I only used one of the cakes for supper tonight. DD is having a friend over this weekend and we are going to try Cake Pops when they get cranky.
While it is baking, measure out 1 cup of white frosting (again, not from scratch in my house). Add red food coloring. I used an entire tube of Betty Crocker Gel Food Colors and it still didn't come out as red as I would have liked. Oh well.
I put it on the cake anyway.
And then covered it with 1 square of grated white chocolate.
I didn't have Fruit Rollups. I had Fruit by the Foot, which is much thinner. So I made little tiny 'pepperoni' by using my daughters mood ring. Turned out cute, didn't it :) DD is standing right here watching me type...apparently it wasn't HER mood ring, but one of her friends from school. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

This supper was an overwhelming success. DD inhaled the meatloaf even though it was covered in mashed potatoes, which she claims to hate. This will definitely become a tradition in our home and I am already starting to think about what to do next year.

The Meatloaf Cake
What you'll need:

• Two round cake pans
• Your favorite meatloaf recipe
• Mashed potatoes
• Ketchup
• Cherry tomatoes

Prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe as you normally would, but, before baking, divide the mixture into the two round cake pans and pat it flat. Bake as usual, but shorten the cooking time (these thinner meatloaves won't take nearly as long to cook). While the meatloaf is in the oven, make a batch of mashed potatoes, adding a little extra milk to them and whipping them with an electric beater until they are fluffy and spreadable. When the meatloaves are done, invert one of them onto a round plate. Cover the meat with a thick, even layer of mashed potatoes. Place the other meatloaf on top of the potato layer, and finish frosting the "cake" with the remaining potatoes. Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes to look like cherries. Just before serving, decorate the top of your cake with ketchup. Write a personalized message, or just a simple "Happy April Fools' Day!"

April Fool's Berry Sodas
2 packages (3 ounces each) strawberry gelatin
3/4 cup sliced fresh strawberries
3/4 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
Prepare gelatin according to package directions. Refrigerate until partially set, about 2 hours. Stir in berries. Pour into six tall drink or soda glasses. Insert a straw into each glass. Refrigerate until set. Yield: 6 servings

Pizza Cake
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 cup vanilla frosting
Red liquid or paste food coloring
3 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, grated
2 strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups
Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour the batter into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pan.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Place each cake on a 10-in. serving platter. Combine the frosting and food coloring; spread over the top of each cake to within 1/2 in. of edges. Sprinkle with grated chocolate for cheese. Unroll Fruit Roll-Ups; use a 1-1/2 in. round cutter to cut into circles for pepperoni. Arrange on cakes. Yield: 2 cakes (6-8 servings each).