I’m never very good at coming up with good April Fools jokes, I usually come up with something to do on April 2nd and I forget by the next year. I remembered this year, here is what we had for dinner….

We had “Cupcakes” for dinner

Then we had “Meatloaf” for dessert

I tried to be sneaky, but before dinner Helen saw the meat in the cupcake pans and she asked me what I was, I told her that it was a new spice cake recipe. Then she saw me cutting the meat loaf and she didn’t suspect a thing. When we sat down for dinner I told them that we were going to have a wacky dinner and eat dessert first, they were pretty surprised that I was going to let them eat cupcakes first. When Helen opened the cupcake and found meatloaf inside she asked if she had to eat that or if she could have the real meatloaf. So I went and got the meat loaf, I had it in the oven and I told her that it was really hot and to be careful. Then all the kids wanted a slice of the real meatloaf. We dished it out pretending that it was really hot and to their surprise it wasn’t hot at all, and it was hard and sweet. I was surprised that I pulled it off so well, especially since I couldn’t get them out of the kitchen for too long while I was making it. The meat loaf really did look like real meat, it turned out better than I thought it would. So if you want the recipes for next year, or just for a fun dinner, here you go…

Chocolate rice cereal Meat Loaf

6 Cups crushed chocolate rice cereal
10 oz. bag of Marshmallows
Green and red fruit leather chopped into small chunks
2 T. butter
Strawberry Jam (No seeds)

Melt butter in large bowl in microwave, add marshmallows and melt. Stir in crushed cereal, and fruit leather bits. Dump into a greased bread pan, spread jam on top and let sit for about 30 min. before cutting.

Meat loaf Cupcakes

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 C. seasoned bread crumbs
1 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
3 T. Ketchup
1 egg
1/2 t. celery salt
1/4 t. pepper

Potato frosting
3 cups mashed potatoes
food coloring

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with foil cupcake papers

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the meat loaf ingredients until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the lined cups. (the liners should be about three quarters full)

3. Place the filled muffin tins on a cookie sheet and bake the cupcakes for about 15 min. or until cooked through.

4. Divide the mashed potatoes and color with food colors, pipe potatoes on meatloaf to look like frosting. Or you could spread it on too.

I would love to hear about your pranks. Did you pull a good one on somebody or did somebody get you good?