April Fool's!

Today Mandy (my wonderful upstairs neighbor, and also the reason I am surviving through med school :) and I made dinner, er, dessert together for April Fool's Day. Boy, were our families fooled! The kids couldn't wait to have some Strawberry Pie! And Mandy and I laughed our heads off as we made it. It was a great way to add sunshine to our day despite the snow outside in April. Did I mention how fun this was?

Here are the masterpieces.

Look at these happy April Fooled boys :)

Here's the recipe I found from Family Fun website:
Fauxberry Pie

At first glance, a slice of this pie appears to offer something sweet: chocolate filling topped with strawberry whipped cream. But unsuspect­ing diners are in for a surprise.... It's really a shepherd's pie in disguise! Cocoa, molasses, and barbecue sauce give the meat its chocolaty color, while whipped potatoes infused with beet juice complete the deception. The best part of the prank is that you're also making dinner!

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:

"Chocolate" Meat Loaf Filling
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon dark, unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten

"Strawberry" Potato Topping

2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
Salt
1/2 cup canned sliced beets (not pickled)
1/4 cup (or more) warm milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Piecrust
Frozen pie shell (use your favorite brand)

1. Heat the oven to 350°. In a small saucepan, combine the barbecue sauce, milk, molasses, cocoa, and chili powder. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk the mixture until it is lukewarm and the cocoa is completely dissolved. Set it aside to cool.

2. Sauté the onions in the tablespoon of canola oil until they are transparent, about 7 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the salt, celery salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Then add the beef, egg, sauce mixture, and onion. Thoroughly mix the ingredients using your hands or a wooden spoon.

4. Remove the pie shell from the freezer. (We placed ours in a Pyrex dish to help ensure that the pie would bake evenly.) Transfer the meat to the shell, spreading it evenly with a spoon. Bake it until the meat is cooked through, about 60 minutes.

5. While the pie is baking, prepare the mashed potato topping. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to completely submerge them. Salt the water lightly, cover the pot, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cook the potatoes at a low boil until they are tender, about 12 minutes.

6. While the potatoes cook, puree the beets and 1/4 cup warm milk in a blender until only small bits of beet are left in the mixture. Set aside.

7. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and pureed beets and, using an electric mixer, whip the mixture until it's smooth and fluffy. Add more milk if needed and salt to taste.

8. Spread the whipped potatoes over the top of the cooked meat pie with a spatula, as you would whipped cream, mounding it slightly in the center. Slice and serve the pie while the potatoes are still hot. Makes 8 servings.

Definition of Insanity

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

(Here’s a quick history lesson from Wikipedia:
“Question: Who first said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results?
Answer: That is often incorrectly attributed to Benjamin Franklin or Albert Einstein. In fact, it is a quote from a 1980s mystery novel (called "Sudden Death") by Rita Mae Brown. Sorry, folks - there's no great genius behind this one.”
Did you know this? I didn’t know that!)

Every morning, Kyle brings his basket of trains into the living room and dumps them in exactly the same spot on the couch, where he hopes to sit and watch his favorite movie, “All Aboard!” (from the Fisher Price Geo Trax that Jace and Lance got for Christmas.) Lance made a good point. Kyle didn’t even ask Santa for a train. He wanted a big fire truck. And now he claims ALL the trains as well. He’s lucky he has nice brothers, most of the time.
But anyway, it has been getting too repetitive for me to ask Kyle to put them back in the basket, which after some persuasion, he does obediently, only for me to find that within minutes they are dumped out at exactly the same spot, where he hopes to watch his favorite movie. You should hear him say it enthusiastically, “I want to watch Aaaallll Aboooooaaard!” It is adorable while, at the same time, touching my insanity buttons. He only gets this movie once a day, if that, but he continues to hope for a different result.
This week in an effort to protect my sanity, I began a new rule of, “No toys in the living room unless you are playing with the one you have at the moment.” And I moved the trains out of the basket in the living room to a box in the boys’ bedroom. They are welcome to dump toys in their bedroom for all their enjoyment and pleasure.
This morning, I caught Kyle sliding a box of toys, including the trains, toward the living room. I told him I was sorry that he may not bring his toys into the living room except for 2 trains.
I was so proud of him for obeying and stopping in the hallway with his box of toys, and continued with my chores, when I heard Kyle dump the toys out right there into the hallway. I muttered, “Thank you for not dumping the toys in the living room, but I would really like to be able to walk in the hallway.” as I carried on my morning routine. I didn't think much more about it, but when I came out of the kitchen a few minutes later, there was Kyle, sitting in his, now empty, box with the toys obediently out of the hallway (and moved into the laundry room). How thoughtful and sweet!



After which he insisted on taking more pictures like this:

Kyle and Lance in Sunday best