April Fool's day started with Breakfast. They had to hurry because both Annie and Emmi needed to get to school. Annie was supposed to substitute for a sick 4^th grade teacher in Clatskanie and she had promised Emmi a ride.

Annie had prepared a "special" breakfast, for Emmi. Emmi discovered that what she thought was a fried egg on bread, was really plain yogurt simulating egg white, perched on toasted pound cake. What appeared to be the yoke, was a canned apricot half.  Her "breakfast" was served with slices of green tinted ham. Her Orange juice had a green hue and when Emmi poured her milk, it was blue.

"April Fool," said Annie and Emmi giggled.  The food was good and the meal was fun.
Your dad had to leave early for the livestock Auction; he plans to buy some new calves.
Sorry that he wasn't able to eat breakfast with us.
Emmi giggled; "I'm glad that I'm buying lunch at school; I'd hate to see what you might have packed for me.

Annie helped Emmi with her coat: "Harry and Carolyn will be coming over for Dinner. Doc Harry said that Carolyn would be making us a "special" April fools meal.
Emmi got her book bag and they both left for school

The day passed. Emmi took the school bus and had most of her chores completed before her mother arrived home. Her father arrived a short time later, unloaded his calves and quickly began tending to his other farm animals. 

Harry and Carolyn arrived early. They had packages of food and big grins.
Annie greeted them and said to Harry, "Sulo is still finishing up at the barn, but please help yourself to some of his homemade Elderberry wine while I help Carolyn fix dinner."

Harry grinned.

Emmi looked at Harry "Momma said that you used to be a School Superintendent and Dad said that you know just about everything. When did April fools day start and why?"

Harry grinned and poured himself a large glass of wine. It was evident that Harry enjoyed having an audience. "There are various stories about how "All fools Day" started. One very common story is that we all used to celebrate the New Year on April 1^st. In 1752 England finally adopted the Gregorian calendar where the year starts January 1^st. A number of rural people continued to celebrate April as the New Year. People called these country bumpkins, "April Fools.""

"Wow!" Exclaimed Emmi.

Harry poured himself some more of Sulo's wine. "It's a good story, but I doubt if it's true. The Gregorian Calendar was adopted by most of Europe in 1582 and there are many mentions of an All Fools day that go back well before the time of Pope Gregory; even the Romans celebrated a festival in late March called Hilaria. They would have fun and play practical jokes on each other…"

Sulo stuck his head in the door. "I still need to clean up a bit, but Annie tells me that dinner is almost ready."

Everyone assembled in the dining room. Sulo sat down at the head of the table and gave the blessing.

Annie passed around the salad bowl. It was a delicious spinach salad with blue cheese, tomato, eggs, cheddar cheese, fruit loops and gummy worms.

Emmi said "Great Salad! What fun!"

Everyone laughed and Doc Harry's wife said, "Just you wait until you see the main course, but first try the soup:

Annie went from person to person and set down a bowl of hot soup. It was milk white, and floating in it were what appeared to be Cheerio's.

"It looks like my cereal," squeaked Emmi in a mock scream.

Harry's wife grinned,  "It's really cauliflower soup with garam masala-spiced toasted-Os! It's cooked with butter, cream and onions…and I added a bit of garlic too. Be careful, it does have a bit of a kick, but I think you'll like it."

The main course was served. Harry's wife and Annie brought out what appeared to be a round layer cake with white icing and red and green sprinkles. The 'cake' was cut; it turned into meatloaf with a layer of catsup and covered with white mashed potatoes sprinkled with red and green bell peppers.

"Delicious" said Sulo.

"It even tastes good," chirped Emmi.

Annie stood up. "Now the coup de grace, desert! I made it last night after everyone went to bed. I hope you like it. It's Kitty litter cake!"

She went into the kitchen and carried out a large aluminum-roasting pan with a kitty litter scoop. If you didn't know better, you might think it was a well-used litter box. 

Annie grinned and explained, "I used German Chocolate cake, white cake, white sandwich cookies, vanilla instant pudding, green food coloring and some melted tootsie rolls. Gross huh?"

Emmi gingerly took a taste and said. "It still tastes good!"

Everyone seemed to enjoy this April fools meal.

After the meal, little 10-year-old Emmi Lahti stood up and hugged Harry's wife. "Thank you so much for this wonderful meal. I don't know why April fools day isn't a holiday. I think it's wonderful. This was the best April fools day ever."