April Fools' Day

Last weekend, we had a couple people over for an April Fool's Day gathering. It was more low-key than expected, but there was still an ill-advised piñata (filled with liquor and inflammables and glass things and candy and tinned meat products) that we busted open with swords and a broken tail pipe.

There was also cheese.

Image by Michael CotéEarlier in the day, I stopped by my favorite local cheese counter. This is always a dangerous proposition. The prime danger, of course, is that I would buy some St. Andre. I did. I also saw one of the most beautiful cheeses I have ever laid my eyes on. It looked like it was made of stained glass, with a rich, dark brown leading between panes of cream. I asked about it. It was an Irish cheddar, Cahill's Porter Cheddarto be specific. I'm occasionally a sucker for presentation, so I snagged some of that, too. I did taste it first. It was good, but subtler than I expected. The porter taste is definitely there (look at it - how could it not be?), but it is far from overpowering. It was a cheddar, but not a super-sharp one. I wanted a third cheese for the plate, something with bite. I might have gone with a goat cheese, but Angela is (sadly) allergic to such things, so I got a really nice, intense fontina.

When I got home, I made an ill-advised cheesecake. I needed to make something that I was ashamed to like. I decided to hide it. So I made a cheesecake, inside which I placed eight Cadbury creme eggs. It was somewhat gratuitous and wholly appropriate.

A few days later, the leftover porter cheddar was turned into the grilled cheese sandwich of the gods. Have you ever seen dark brown melted cheddar? Beautiful.

Also, Yoo-hoo can be used as the base of a damn fine White Russian variant. Do not contradict me on this.

I'm not 100% down with the bacon-mania that permeates the Internet these days, but I am well aware of it. I'm also aware of the Internet's ability to turn people's musings (or mad ravings) into (often unfortunate) reality.

Thus, when ThinkGeek came up with Squeez Bacon® for April Fools' Day, my first thought was, that while it might be a joke today, it has better than average odds of becoming reality soon.

In case you haven't seen it, here's ThinkGeek's video for Squeez Bacon®:

After an unfortunate incident in college in which I nearly alienated my best friend, I don't really play April Fools' Day jokes anymore.

Image by Josh StaigerNew traditions, however, arise to replace those we have abandoned. For the past few years, my friends and I have had small April Fool's Day gatherings at which we revel in... well... foolishness.

In addition to the ill-advised piñata, and the tendency to do awful things to Peeps, we celebrate the food and drink that we are embarrassed to enjoy... those secret culinary shames we all have.

What do food or drink do you have a foolish love for? You can probably guess mine...