When it comes to holidays, I love the ones that aren’t hyper commercialized. So yes, that means I LOVE April Fools Day. Playing tricks on people is something I live for. And no, I do not need a holiday for that. But when our nation decides to celebrate it–yeah, sure. I’m in.
My co-worker Amber and I spent our April Fools Day playing tricks on our co-workers. Sure, it was fun switching our boss’s diet coke for lemon juice and creamer. But it only made my thirst for mayhem stronger. I needed more.
So, this year I decide that Matt would be the perfect target for a fake cake. I told Matt that I made him his favorite cake–a black forest cake.
But in reality, I took a balloon–blew it up and covered it with homemade icing. Matt was psyched that I made him a cake out of the blue. I gave him a knife and asked him to cut us both a piece of cake. And then….bam! The “cake” exploded in his face and icing went everywhere. It was awesome. I laughed hysterically, and Matt looked at me and said, “So, there is no cake?” And that was the best part. He was all excited for cake. And there none. Bahahaa.
All and all, it was a good April Fools Day. Messing with our co-workers with Amber was fun. Messing with Matt only made the day better. And really, what is was was a reminder that there is no need to take life so seriously. Sure, I definitely get stressed. I have mini-panic attacks at work over nothing. I freak out over little things. But at the end of the day, I need to remind myself that I need to just laugh it all off. And that’s why I love April Fools Day.
Besides making an exploding cake, I made this delicious eggplant dish! I watched this Italian tv show with my father-in-law and memorized the ingredients as well as I could. This recipe is easy to make and delicious to eat. Try it. You will thank me.
Ingredients
- 4 small eggplants
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 cups cubes of day-old country bread
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped
- 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut eggplants in half-lengthwise. Scoop out the middle. Chop the inside you just scooped out and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium- high heat. Add onion, and cook until it begins to soften, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add pork and pour wine over the meat. Add pepper and chopped eggplant, and season with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Cover and cook until the vegetables become soft, about 10 minutes.
Place into a bowl to cool. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and milk. Once the bread has softened, squeeze out the excess milk and put the bread in the bowl with the cooled meat filling. Add the grated cheese, parsley, egg, and tomatoes, and mix well. At this point. you are basically making stuffing.
Place eggplant halves in a large baking dish, and drizzle with the remaining 4 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of salt, and toss well to coat all of the eggplant with the oil. Fill the eggplant halves with the filling, and place in baking dish.
Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top of the filling is browned and crispy, about 10 minutes more. Enjoy! This dish is amazing.
Modified from: Lidia’s Italy
