It's Almost April Fool's Day!

April Fool's Day is next Wednesday. Have you made dinner plans yet???
Every year for the past four or five years I have made the same thing for dinner on April 1. We have "cake" for dinner, and "salad" for dessert.

Really!

OK, not really. C'mon y'all, it's April Fool's Day!

It just looks like cake for dinner and salad for dessert. Really the cake is meat loaf, "frosted" with mashed potatoes. And the dessert is a dressed up ice cream sundae in a waffle bowl that looks like a taco salad.

Here's a picture of last year's cake:
My kids simply love this dinner, and are already asking if I'm going to make it again.

Here's the low-down, if you want to give it a try.
Use your favorite meatloaf recipe and make the loaves in two 8-inch round cake pans. Drain the fat and frost them with mashed potatoes like you would a two-layer cake. I also put mashed potatoes in a pastry bag to pipe on an edge and then add dots of mustard and ketchup to decorate the cake.

For the taco salad dessert, scoop ice cream into waffle bowls and top with shredded coconut which you have colored with green and yellow food coloring (to look like cheese and lettuce), maraschino cherries (cherry tomatoes), sliced licorice (black olives), and whipped topping (sour cream).

I also like to make a yummy looking drink for our April Fool's dinner. For these, prepare two 3-ounce packages of strawberry gelatin as directed and refrigerate until partially set - about 2 hours. Stir in 3/4 cup each fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, and pour into six tall drink or soda glasses. Insert a straw and refrigerate until set.
They look like delicious drinks, but when you pucker up on the straw you discover the trick.

That's the trick I'm playing next week. Let me know if you give it a try!