April Fools!

Phyllis Hoffman is the editor-in-chief of a magazine called Celebrate, a specialty magazine loaded with entertaining ideas and recipes. Celebrate only releases four issues a year, one every season. I recently purchased Celebrate Spring 2009 (how could I resist?) I found some great ideas for an April Fools Day party.

Some of the fantastic ideas in the article were:

- Place a whoopee cushion in everyone's seat.

-Set a classic groucho Marx disquise on top of each guests plate

Offer guests nostalgic candies like cracker jacks, bazooka gum, and laffy taffy.

Use ribbon to tie rubber chickens on the backs of each guests chair.

Last but not least bake up some Gotcha! Trick cupcakes

These are cupcakes that look like sweet treats but are really meat loaf pies with food-coloring-tinted mashed potatoes. Gotcha! ( recipe below )

Gotcha! Trick Cupcakes

ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup shredded colby jack cheese blend

1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning

2 large eggs, beaten

2 2/3 cups frozen mashed potatoes

1 1/3 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon bbutter

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 or 4 drops food coloring

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place foil liners into 15 muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, garlic, cheese blend, bread crumbs, worchtershire sauce, Italian seasoning, and eggs, mixing well.

Spoon mixture evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until done. Prepare frozen mashed potatoes according to package directions using 1 1/3 cups milk. Stir in butter, salt, and food coloring.

Spoon potatoes evenly over meat mixture , spreading gently to resemble frosting.

Serve immediatley and enjoy the trickery!