The Joke's on You: April Poetry

Time for our Monthly
Poetry Group.
When friends all write poems,
And I write . . . well, poop.

Ha! The Joke's on You,
is April's fitting theme.
A time for funny tricks,
and one not so nice scheme.

Read on for the story,
poetry again did I slaughter?
Or perhaps achieved more,
than mere litter box fodder?

The Joke's on You

There was a young man,
we'll just call him Jay.
Always joking around, 
nothing got in his way.

A favorite of his targets,
younger brother Drew,
the butt of funny jokes,
but sometimes mean too. 

April Fools Day was
Jay's time to shine,
fake barf, whoopie cushions, 
This day's just sublime.

On and on this went,
all through their young life.
Wasn't till college
removed Drew from Jay's strife.

Maturity brought friendship,
between the two boys.
Regular dinners together, 
with wives, kids and toys.

First of the month
every month without fail.
They all got together
compared their lives' tales.

First in March Jay hosted,
next time Ann and Drew,
It was the first of April,
Drew had . . . something to do.

Ann cooked a lovely dinner
using fresh chicken legs.
With horror saw Drew
mirroring hers but with dregs. 

Orange Maple Chicken Legs

The ingredients, it was clear
were different as could be,
Drew's had eye of newt,
and was that bark from a tree?

Meal time came and 
it sure was a winner.
Except Jay who got a
different plate of that dinner.

"Delicious" all complimented
Jay grimaced with a gag,
"Eat up" Drew to brother,
Of Ann's cooking, please brag.

A few more bites 
and Drew took pity
replaced Jay's meal,
with one less . . . gritty.

"Owed you one" said young brother,
"truth be told, quite a few.
April Fools, older brother,
Ha! The joke is on you!"

Before you go, click on these links to more poetry from some of my friends: 
Dawn of Cognitive Script shares Jokers Wild. 
Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Stuck on You. 
Diane of On the Border shares Brother of a Joke.

Orange Maple Chicken Legs

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

5 - 6 chicken legs
salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika
1 TBSP corn starch
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with tin foil. 
*Sprinkle the chicken legs with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Bake for 30 minutes.
*While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Mix the cornstarch with 1 TBSP cold water and set aside. Whisk together the orange juice, red wine vinegar and maple syrup in a small pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then whisk in the cornstarch and water mixture. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.
*After 30 minutes, turn the chicken legs over and pour about 3/4 of the sauce over the chicken. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure the chicken is fully cooked and the juices run clear.
*Drizzle some of the remaining sauce over the chicken and serve with the rest on the side. 

Pina Colada Cake: Spring Cleaning Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Spring Cleaning.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

I made a Pina Colada Cake.

Pina Colada Cake 

I do not like spring cleaning. There, I said it. In fact, I don't like cleaning at all. Yeah, it gets done (although not necessarily by me) so don't be afraid to ring my doorbell. But once a year there's some cleaning that only I can do. Each spring, like it or not, Passover arrives. I cannot tell you how much I suffer through this holiday. Among the other dietary laws, no foods with leavening can be eaten. No breads, rolls, cakes, cookies . . . no cereal, rice, pasta, nothing fun. For eight days. Everything has to be made from scratch with alternate ingredients. It is the biggest pain in the butt, especially when the boys were young and I needed to make not just meals but snacks for after school as well. 

The spring cleaning comes in preparation for the holiday. You are supposed to clean out your fridge and your pantry and throw away or donate any foods not allowed for the holiday. Let me just say right now that I'm not a good rule follower. Especially this one. I do the clean out part but I don't throw away or donate any forbidden foods that will keep, I just store them in the very back of the pantry. What I do is take the opportunity to discard or use anything that shouldn't sit around any longer, and I always make something I can't have over the holiday.

It's actually a fun challenge, placing the items I want to use or throw away on the counter and see what I can make with them. This year? Well, this year was easy. The ingredients just spoke to me. I had a box of yellow cake mix, a half empty jar of maraschino cherries, a can of crushed pineapple (must have missed this one last year because I think it's been in the pantry quite a while) and some leftover toasted coconut that, again, I'm not sure when I'd made in the first place. These particular ingredients screamed (well, not literally), Pina Colada Cake. Just add rum, which I don't drink on Passover either {{sob}}.

Using a mix, the cake comes together pretty quickly and easily. Gather the ingredients:

Beat the batter, then mix in the cherries.

Spread into the prepared bundt pan and it's ready for the oven.

Allow to set for 10 minutes in the pan.

Remove and cool completely.

 
Last step, whisk the topping and drizzle over the cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve!

Spring cleaning may not be fun. And Passover is definitely not fun. But Pina Colada Cake? Now that's a party!

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Spring Clean Up Eating, changing favorite recipes into healthier versions.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Spring Fun, a spring card made from scraps. 

Stacy of Stacy Sews and Schools shares The Unpaper Towel, reusable kitchen towels. 

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Kids' Easter Cross Painting, simple and easy for little kids.

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Cleaning Out My Closet.

Pina Colada Cake

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup coconut rum
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple
15 maraschino cherries

1 cup powdered sugar
3 TBSP maraschino cherry juice (from the jar)
2 - 3 TBSP coconut rum (can substitute grenadine for less alcohol flavor)
1/4 cup toasted coconut

Directions:
*Grease and flour a bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Remove the cherries from the jar to a paper towel to drain. Reserve the juice in the jar for use in the topping. Discard the stems from the cherries and cut the cherries into quarters.
*Beat cake mix, eggs, oil. water, rum and crushed pineapples (with juice) for 2 minutes. Mix in the quartered cherries.
*Pour evenly into bundt pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the center of the top springs back to the touch.
*Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool completely.
*Mix together the powdered sugar and 3 TBSP juice from the cherry jar. One TBSP at a time, add your choice of coconut rum or grenadine until the mixture reaches thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Water On, Ringer Off: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 10 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: You are in the shower and hear the phone ring, jumping out to answer . . . what happens next?
It was submitted by: Dawn of Cognitive Script.

What happens next? Well, that depends on a lot of things. Unless it's my younger son's name that's showing up on the caller ID, then I'll start to shake. He never calls for no reason or even just to check in. If it's just to inform me of something, or even if it's good news he'll text. But if he calls . . . the only good thing you know for sure is that he's both alive and conscious.

Here are a few scenarios. All some of them may have happened, but I will not confirm or deny at this time (although if you're a friend you may recognize a few of them). Not that I can't confirm or deny, just that it happens I do have some shame dignity after all.

1a) PurDude has called to tell me he's broken his leg. Wait, that can't possibly happen twice, can it?

OR

1b) PurDude has called to tell me he has not broken his leg. Would he do this? No, but a mama can hope for such a call. Daily (the hope, and the call).

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2a) PurDude has a flat tire (and probably a bent rim too). This can and has happened at least twice . . . every year.

OR 

2b) PurDude just wanted me to know that he's successfully maneuvered the pothole minefields disguised as streets for a change, and made it home without a flat tire. Oh, but that pebble kicked up by another car did crack his windshield.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3a) I slip on the soapy water dripping off of my own body, fall and break my own leg trying to answer that telemarketer.

OR

3b) I don't fall and break my leg, but am rewarded for standing there cold and dripping by that kidnapper-sounding machine-generated telemarketer voice telling me that the IRS has a warrant out for my arrest. Do they take you in naked? Or can I at least dry off and put on some granny panties? 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4a) My oven is calling, I actually left that last batch of cookies in there before I went to take a quick shower and yeah, they're burning.

OR

4b) It isn't the oven calling at all, it's the fire department letting me know they're about to break down my front door.

Strawberry Cream Filled Chocolate Thumbprints

5a) I answer to hear that I've inherited a million dollars . . . if I can just provide my social security number and bank account.

OR

5b) Hubs, who buys my tickets for me, has called to say I won the lottery. Question is, did he put on his glasses before checking those numbers. And if he says "April fools", he's a dead man.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

6a) College Boy needs me to come open the door, he's lost his key. Again.

OR

6b) College Boy has called to say that he hasn't allowed yet another key to our house to be out there for burglars to find, for a change . . . but I locked the top lock (which I never do, and for which he doesn't have a key) and the garage keypad battery has died. Oops, my bad (on both counts).

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

7a) College Boy has called to tell me that it's his turn, he's broken his leg, and just as I'm about to crumble to the (wet) floor in tears, adds "April fools!!!".

OR

7b) My bank is calling about suspected fraud on my account (yes, again but not through someone hacking Amazon this time). Have I bought a couple of jet skis lately? In Uzbekistan?
Me (desperately): " Please say "April Fools", please say "April Fools".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The moral of the story: take showers seriously friends, turn your water on and your ringer off.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Never Ever Give Up Hope
Wandering Web Designer 
Cognitive Script
The Bergham Chronicles   
The Crazy Mama Llama
Climaxed  
Southern Belle Charm 
Bookworm in the Kitchen
Stacy Sews and Schools 

Strawberry Cream Filled Chocolate Thumbprints

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

2 eggs, room temperature
1 stick butter, softened
1 stick margarine, softened 
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP chocolate syrup
2 cups flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa

1/2 of a 7 oz jar of marshmallow creme
1/4 cup seedless strawberry jam
1/2 tsp strawberry extract

Directions:
*NOTE: We're only using the egg yolks in this recipe. With one more egg white you can make my Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Meringues.
*Separate the eggs and beat the egg yolks with the butter, margarine, brown sugar and chocolate syrup until smooth. Mix in flour and baking cocoa. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper. 
*Form the dough into approximately 1-inch balls and place on the baking sheets.
*Make an indentation into the center of each cookie, making sure you don't go all the way through.
*Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and, using the bottom of a wooden spoon, press the centers gently to reform the indentation. Cool completely.
*Whisk together the marshmallow creme, strawberry jam and strawberry extract. Spoon about 1 tsp into the indentation of each cooled cookie.