April Fool's Day FOOD

For some reason, we never really celebrated April Fool's Day until a few years ago.  Now we're having the best time with our "funny food."

This year, I'm serving "sundaes" for dinner....

Kiddo is going to be so disappointed when he realizes we are not having ice cream for dinner, but that it is, in fact, mashed potatoes and gravy. 

{To make things super easy, we're using instant mashed potatoes and jarred gravy.  I know, I know...not the healthiest, but I won't tell if you won't.}

And how cute is that "cherry?"  I was SO excited to find that jar of Peppadew peppers at the grocery store! I might have squealed.

Here are a few blasts from April Fool's past:

Mashed Potato Cupcakes...

{I think these are my favorite.}

Meatloaf Cupcakes (yes, those are meat cakes, my friends)...



Spaghetti & Meatball Cupcakes...


 I also love these ideas and am filing them away for next year:

Macaron "sliders" from One Vanilla Bean
"Grilled Cheese" from Family Fun (will be in kiddo's lunchbox tomorrow)
Candy-filled Fruit Cup from Come Together Kids
"Lasagna" from Food Network
Candy Sushi from La Casserole Carree (in French, oo-la-la)
Ducky Punch (not an April Fool's post, but I still think it would be great) from TidyMom
"Fakin' and Eggs" from Making Memories (sold by the name alone!)

Do you have any April Fool's FOOD ideas?  I wanna hear 'em.

Cupcakes for Dinner and Mashed Potatoes for Dessert?!?

April Fools!!!

Oh yes, those are meatloaf cupcakes, my friends (with mashed potato frosting)! Who can resist a meatcake?!? When I saw this post on Fine Furious Life while blog-surfing yesterday, I knew that I had to make them! :)

The meatloaf is really good....scroll down for the recipe. The mashed potatoes are super simple; the pink "frosted" ones are tinted with beet juice.


And for dessert....mashed potato cupcakes! These are from the Hello Cupcake! book by Karen Tack. She has instructions for an entire TV dinner set of cupcakes, but we went all mashed potatoes.

To make them, I followed the book's instructions for doctoring a cake mix. Substitute 1 cup of buttermilk for the liquid, add the amount of oil called for on the box and use 4 eggs. This makes 24 cupcakes.

Once cooled, frost with vanilla frosting, mounding it in the middle. Use a teaspoon to make an indentation in the middle, and plop down a yellow Starburst. Drizzle with gravy (caramel sauce).


It was a fun April Fool's Day! :)

Meatloaf Cupcakes:
(adapted from Fine Furious Life)

1/2 lb. ground chuck
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 small carrot, chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3/4 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2 eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 12 regular size muffin tins.

Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk and set aside.

Saute the vegetables in olive oil until softened. Transfer to a food processor and process until very finely minced.

Mix the meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, salt & pepper and vegetable puree in a large bowl with your fingers.

Place meat mixture into the muffin tins and bake until brown and pulling away from the sides, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from tin and cool on rack.

For the frosting:

2- 3.3oz. packages instant mashed potatoes (I used butter flavored to stay away from any "bits" in the mix)

Follow the instruction on the packages. Follow one exactly. For the pink frosting, use the juice from 1-2 cans of beets for the liquid, adding water to equal the amount needed.

Let cool slightly, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe the frosting on the cakes.

Sprinkle with very finely diced green bell pepper.

And the winner is...

My official, impartial name selector...

...and the winner is....
...Bethany!!!

I am so happy that anyone entered at all!!! Over 20 comments and only 3 were relatives!!! Wow, I'm amazed! :) I will do this again; it is fun!

The funny thing about the drawing was that I was reading the comments to my husband and Bethany asked in hers if I was "the cookie angel." I said to my husband..."well, that's it. I'm sending them to Bethany right now." :) I guess a cookie angel was looking over her name in the drawing!!!

Bethany...I didn't see a way to contact you, so please email me. There is a link to my email at the very bottom of the blog (and in the comments from the last post). Thanks! Off to decorate some cookies...

Who, ME?!?

I just have to start out by saying I am beyond flattered to be tagged again for a meme by Aran of Cannelle et Vanille. My first thought is she reads my blog?!?!? Her blog and creations are absolutely gorgeous...gorgeous! If you didn't click on the first link, here it is again. Check it out!

Five more things about me, this time about cookies and blogging:

1. Years ago, I remember reading a book that said you should follow what you loved as a child and you will be happy. I really racked my brain and couldn't think of anything I was really into as a kid. Now, I get it. My most memorable birthday party...we decorated our own mini-cakes and my mom made all of the girls coordinating aprons and chef's hats out of dotted swiss! In a high school Spanish competition, I won a prize for dessert (I made flan, haven't made it since). As a girl, I loved to make these giant, soft chocolate chip cookies from a kids' cookbook (can't find it now), but I always got a secret thrill when people said they were good. I wish I would have noticed this food trend much earlier in life! A major in psychology?!? What was I thinking?
2. I started making decorated cookies 9 years ago when my son was a baby and I quit work to stay home. I had no idea what I was doing. I wish I had pictures...they are tucked away in a box somewhere. I used to dip the cookies in icing and spread with a spatula. Most had only 2 colors and sprinkles. I made all of them on a stick and put them in clay pots and sold them to mainly family and friends. (Thanks, guys!)
3. That blossomed into learning all about cookie decorating and finally opening a web store, shipping nationwide and then focusing on local deliveries only. When 2008 came, I decided to hang up my apron, so to speak, and quit selling cookies and just make them for fun. It gives me more time to spend with my son who we are now homeschooling and less late nights decorating.
4. I was introduced to blogging by my cousin, Maura. Her blog, paper bluebird, was the first one I ever paid attention to and soon became addicted. She is an inspiration, always finding the beauty and joy in life and crafting some amazing things along the way. So, I thought, OK...maybe I'll try combining cookies and blogging.
5. My sister & I also have a blog, two curlytops, where we share what we are up to. My sister's posts are a combination of quilting, crafts, photography and food...mine, well, just food. She's more multi-faceted than I am. :)

There you have it...more than you ever wanted to know! Since I tagged 5 bloggers last time, I'll just leave you with 1 more link to Aran's blog...Cannelle et Vanille.

Meme!

Oh, Yay!!! I've been tagged by adorable Ema from Ema's Edible Experiments who has a yummy blog and her own personal lab rat! :)

So, here are the meme rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.


Five facts about me:

1. I've been married for 11 years to this great guy who is a great taste-tester, cookie cutter maker (when I'm desperate) and wonderful dad. Did I mention he does the dishes? No, you can't have him! We have a 9-year-old son who is into Legos, computers, Animusic (don't get me started) and likes to run around in his underwear. :) He's pretty funny! Here we are just a few weeks ago at Epcot.


2. I love cookbooks and cooking magazines! I can't get out of the library without scanning the cookbook aisle. Current library fines: $23.50...yep, $23!


3. Celebrity crush....Bill Murray. How can you not love that face?!?!?


4. Favorite movies...Grease, Love Actually, Spanglish, When Harry Met Sally and, most recently, Waitress.


5. Favorite dessert...chocolate chip cookies! We used to go to a restaurant in Dallas, Kathleen's Art Cafe, that served a Hot Chocolate Chip Cookie in an individual baking dish, hot from the oven with a scoop of ice cream on top, heaven!

Now I tag:

• Robin at Made with Love...
• Happy Homebaker at Happy Home Baking
• Brooke at ....and a cookie for dessert
• Evie at The Incredible Shrinking Whimsigal
• Mrs. Presley at Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats

Scenes from a bakery supply store

I know this has nothing to do with cookie decorating, but I couldn't resist posting a picture of the "MEN" drawer at the bakery supply store. :)