While I had certainly heard of April Fools Day before, I hadn’t done more to celebrate it than maybe say something stupid followed by, “April Fools!” And I’m not even sure if I did that. Basically, April Fools food wasn’t something I thought about.

Sometime after I was married, but before I had kids, I went to a ladies’ Bible study hosted by a mom of five. It was April 1, and she made the most exciting assortment of tricky dishes for dinner. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I loved it! 

And at that moment, I vowed to make April Fools Day magical for my kids.

April Fools Food Ideas

My push towards magic centers around food, and last year was a total success. My kids have talked about the meals all year. I think part of the reason they did is that I didn’t have much of a main course. You’ve heard of plant-based meals. This meal was not one of them. It was certainly carb-based, but I think that’s OK for a once-a-year celebration.

#1 — April Fools Waffle and Eggs

If you know my Loo Loo Lizard, you’d understand the distress this food offering causes her. She likes waffles. She likes eggs. But waffles and eggs together? No thanks!

But she was quickly relieved when she realized the egg whites were whipped cream and the egg yolks were butterscotch pudding. But what about the dreaded pepper? None of my kids like pepper, but they did like the jimmies (or sprinkles for all you people that aren’t from Philadelphia) sprinkled on top.

#2 — EmzeeDoodle’s Brown E’s

EmzeeDoodle came up with this idea and worked with her occupational therapist to use both hands to cut out brown E’s. She covered up the pan and told us all day about the brownies she made. We were so looking forward to them. Oh, the disappointment to discover the brown E’s instead of brownies.

#3 and 4 — April Fools Grilled Cheese and French Fries

I think lunch was my crowning moment. The kids were surprised to bite into the grilled cheese and discover they were strawberry pound cake slices.

Here’s how to make it:

1. Make or buy a pound cake loaf
2. Make a simple frosting and add red and yellow food coloring to make orange
3. Slice the cake like bread
4. Fry the cake slices on a dry skillet until they turn golden
5. Spread the orange frosting on each slice
6. Slice strawberries and lay them on the frosting
7. Sandwich two pieces of pound cake together
8. Cut in half and serve like grilled cheese

I told the kids they were tomato grilled cheese sandwiches. If you want to avoid food coloring, just use white frosting and say it’s white cheese.

I peeled an apple for the french fries and used a corrugated cutting tool to cut it into fries.

# 5,6, and 7 — Chicken Nuggets, Berry Pie, and Fruit Punch

I told the kids we would have dessert first and cut into the berry pie. Of course, as I’m sure you’re catching on to, it was not a berry pie but a shepherd’s pie. I mixed mashed beets with the mashed potatoes to get the lovely raspberry color.

For dessert, we had chicken nuggets. Those were rice crispy treats shaped into nuggets, dipped in melted white chocolate, and rolled in crushed pretzels. I got this great idea from Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons.

The mustard dipping sauce was a chia pudding with turmeric added for the yellow color. 

The fruit punch was jello.

Planning for This Year

I might have to make the pound cake grilled cheese a yearly event because it was so good and so much fun. But I’m also looking forward to trying some new tricky foods.