The Making of a Fool

Monday, March 30th began as most Mondays do. Drag my ass out of bed, help get the girls fed, dressed and on the bus. Kiss Trish at her car and go back inside to decide whether to shower or eat first.

Then, the phone rang. It was my friend Andrew Galarneau of whom I often speak. He's a staff writer for the BuffNews and a fellow food addict. He was apologetic, not wanting me to think he only called when he was in a jam, but he had a problem. He had a photographer coming over, and no way to whip cream. Little did he know that Trish and I had decided that our old KA was going to be a housewarming gift.

So I traveled to his house, mixer and some glassware in hand, to make Fools. Andrew had the mango one made, but more work was ahead. I made a second trip home and back because his daughter Zoe had the brilliant idea of not just serving them in a cocktail glass, but making it look like a cocktail. I had paper umbrellas, and little sippy straws. I also had to make a stop at the Wine Cellar, where I knew they carried those cute little bottles of Cointreau that so resemble the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

So, with Klezmer music in the background, berries macerated, cream was whipped, chocolate melted and the Fools assembled and garnished. It was a hoot.

You might think the Fool in the title refers to the delicious desserts we created. You'd be wrong - it refers to me. It took my 8.5 year old daughter Alison seconds to point out that I had missed the obvious: "It's for April Fools Day, Daddy!"

And so, when I picked up last Wednesday's BuffNews I was able to show the photo's to the girls and point out that I had placed that mint sprig or that it was our martini glass in the photo above. How cool is that?

Not as cool as when I noticed that Andrew was credited as "News Food Writer". Congrats, bro! (I have to be nice to him - he is holding my Martini glasses hostage to ensure my continued co-operation

The photo is copyrighted by Sharon Cantillon / Buffalo News.