Friday, April 1, 2022

Gotcha Never Gets Old

 

Roasted Orange Maple Root Vegetables, healthy oven roasted root vegetables are drizzled with a maple orange sauce and topped with crunchy walnuts. | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #vegetables

 

 What do Halloween and April Fool's Day have in common? That's easy. They're so much fun when you have little kids around. You can still participate, on one level or another, but both holidays fall a little flat without the joy on those kids' faces. It warms the hearts of their parents.
 
When it comes to Halloween, there's so much involved. It's the fun (Mocha Mummy Cookies), scary (Billy the Puppet Cake), even gross (Bloody Fingers) (in a decidedly delicious way) foods. It's carving pumpkins and school parties and costumes and scary movies and haunted houses and hay rides, all culminating in a night of collecting a bag full of free candy. For a kid, that's hard to beat.

April Fool's Day is a day to unleash a bit of the devil we all carry inside. It's jokes and pranks, getting one over on your parents, your teachers, your friends. Whoopie cushions and fake notes from the teacher and "Mom, come quick, I'm bleeding," while unable to suppress the giggles. Letting them think they got you, or not having to fake it when they do, all lots of fun.

But wait, you get to punk them too! I'd wake them up to tell them it's a snow day, school is canceled. Yes, it's cruel, setting them up for the let down, but I am unashamed, a mom's gotta get her kicks and giggles where she can. As they got older, they were on to me (damn), so I'd just have to work harder. Like having a friend call me, answer the phone, hang up and tell them the principal called and I had to meet them in his office, they'd better tell me what this is about, then watching them squirm.
 
I even once baked them a toilet. When they stopped wincing, they actually had to admit it was delicious, best toilet they'd ever had, as a matter of fact.

Now, with grown kids, Halloween just isn't what it was. But April Fool's Day? I'm still trying.
 
 
Gotccha Never Gets Old | graphic designed by, featured on, and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #humor #MyGraphics

 
College Boy texted the other day and I told him that I couldn't talk, I was right in the middle of working out an idea for a new recipe. "Hey," I mentioned, "you know I've been on a Cookie Butter kick, right"? Having had my Cookie Butter Loaf and my Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, he was well aware. "That half empty cookie butter jar has been calling out to me," I told him. He said he'd let me get back to it and text me later.
 
And he did, later asking if I'd tried out my recipe, and what it was. I told him that I'd worked it out but wouldn't be making it until the next day. I challenged him to guess what I had in mind. For the entire rest of the day I got texted guesses, cookie butter this and cookie butter that (and some pretty good ideas I hadn't thought of myself, but let's keep that between you and I, OK?). 
 
The day ended with me inviting him to dinner the next day (tonight), an invitation he accepted almost before I sent it. 

Tonight he's coming to dinner. I know he's expecting cookie butter something. But just because I said that jar was calling to me, doesn't mean I've used it yet. No, it's still calling to me.
 
I didn't lie though, I did make a new recipe. Not the dessert he'd been anticipating, but actually a little sweet and quite delicious.
 
 
Roasted Orange Maple Root Vegetables, healthy oven roasted root vegetables are drizzled with a maple orange sauce and topped with crunchy walnuts. | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #vegetables
 Roasted Orange Maple Root Vegetables
 
 
April Fools, son. Gotcha!!
 
And you can't be too mad, no cookie butter dessert, but I'm feeding you a damn good meal!
 
PS: What's coming up on this blog next week? A cookie butter recipe. Maybe I'll even invite College Boy over. We'll see . . .

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Roasted Orange Maple Root Vegetables        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

NOTE: This recipe calls for about 2 1/2 cups root vegetables, you can use whichever ones you choose. You can also use a 20 oz bag of frozen mixed root vegetables. Your cooking time will depend on the vegetables you use and the size of the pieces.
 
Ingredients:
2 large carrots
1 small parsnip
2 beets
1 sweet potato
 
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
 
3 TBSP maple syrup
1 TBSP orange juice
2 TBSP orange marmalade
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
 
Directions:
*Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
*Clean the vegetables. Peel the sweet potato, you can peel the others if you choose. Slice the carrots and parsnip in about 1/2 inch slices. Cut the beets into very small cubes. Cut the sweet potato into medium sized cubes.
*Whisk together the maple syrup, orange juice, and orange marmalade. Set aside.
*Toss the vegetables with the olive oil. Spread out onto the baking sheet, then sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of the salt, pepper, and cumin.
*Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, but leave the oven on. Mix the vegetables, drizzle with the maple orange mixture, and mix again to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle with the remaining salt, then finally the chopped walnuts.
*Return to the oven and bake for another 10 - 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender.


15 comments:

  1. I've been so focused on the end of March activities that I haven't been able to think about a good April Fool's Day prank.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You'd think with the father I had April Fools Day would be a given. Sadly, it's not. He did all the pranking and, I never got into the habit.
    It's not too late, is it?
    Have fun tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like so many things, April Fools isn't the same any more. Although, the Hellman's Butterfingers mayonnaise announced today might be good for cake baking. Both my husband and I agree that nothing beats the BBC spaghetti tree hoax of 1957, which I shared today on Facebook. I just don't have the type of mind to make these pranks up, to the relief of my son. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to admit I spent much more time thinking up new ones when the boys were little. It was wickedly fun.

      Delete
  4. Heeheehee! Good one, especially since he gets a good meal in the bargain.

    My mother, Grandma on my blog because that's what my children call her, did fall, and i'm here helping care for her instead of at rEcess. It's okay, i am glad to be of help to her, but since i'm in charge of rEcess supper i had planned an April Fool joke, i was going to hide the food and set out bread and water and tell them that's what we're having. Maybe someday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you're in NOLA taking care of your mom. That April Fools joke will keep 'til next year.

      Delete
  5. This sounds good. I'm baking a roast and some vegetables tonight.
    I love cookie butter. I have half a jar of it left right now. Looking forward to your recipe now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. April fools day isn't somehing I am into but like a g;

    ReplyDelete
  7. You know I had to take a bite of food as soon as I opened your post and saw the pic for roast and the mention of cheesecake. I love that you sit down to plan new recipes. I tried to compare it to me sitting and writing a funny story.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We play pranks on the kids all of the time. Sometimes they outsmart us! I love root veggies!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually kind of like it when the kids can outsmart us, keeps us on our toes.

      Delete

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