(Published on surfKY News on May 18, 2012)
I remember as a child going to the circus when it came to town,
watching all the wild animals, the flashy costumes and beautiful horses.
I was also fascinated by the huge elephants and how such a gentle giant
would allow the beautiful women to ride them. I do not remember ever
meeting any of these exotic animals up close but when my son was little,
there was nothing he was scared of.
We started a Thanksgiving weekend tradition of going to the circus each year. One year, JoJo would want to get his picture made with the baby tigers and the next year, he wanted to pet the horses. The year he wanted to ride the elephant, I felt a huge lump come up in my throat. It's one thing to admire these huge creatures from afar and it's one thing to watch the trained performers ride them. It's another thing to watch your child climb up on an elephant that has a mind of its own, that could take it upon itself to go in a different direction than where it is being led. I think I held my breath for the entire three minutes he was on that gray bull. JoJo was so excited when he climbed down from his ride. Little did he know that his mother was nearly in cardiac arrest.
I recently watched the movie “Water for Elephants”, which I like to call “Circus Titanic”. Set during the years of the depression, it is a love story between the beautiful, rich (at that time) wife of the circus owner, Marlena (played by Reese Witherspoon) and the lowly stowaway, Jacob, (played by Robert Pattinson) that had jumped on the train, not realizing he had hopped onto the train carrying the Benzini Brothers Circus. Jacob becomes attracted to Marlena while performing duties as the veterinarian for the circus but has several run-ins with Marlena's husband, August. After Jacob, Marlena and several animals, including the beloved elephant Rosie, suffer at the hands of August, they decide to run away from the circus. They remain together until Marlena's death.
If you love circus animals, give this movie a try. If you love circus recipes, give a few of these a try.
We started a Thanksgiving weekend tradition of going to the circus each year. One year, JoJo would want to get his picture made with the baby tigers and the next year, he wanted to pet the horses. The year he wanted to ride the elephant, I felt a huge lump come up in my throat. It's one thing to admire these huge creatures from afar and it's one thing to watch the trained performers ride them. It's another thing to watch your child climb up on an elephant that has a mind of its own, that could take it upon itself to go in a different direction than where it is being led. I think I held my breath for the entire three minutes he was on that gray bull. JoJo was so excited when he climbed down from his ride. Little did he know that his mother was nearly in cardiac arrest.
I recently watched the movie “Water for Elephants”, which I like to call “Circus Titanic”. Set during the years of the depression, it is a love story between the beautiful, rich (at that time) wife of the circus owner, Marlena (played by Reese Witherspoon) and the lowly stowaway, Jacob, (played by Robert Pattinson) that had jumped on the train, not realizing he had hopped onto the train carrying the Benzini Brothers Circus. Jacob becomes attracted to Marlena while performing duties as the veterinarian for the circus but has several run-ins with Marlena's husband, August. After Jacob, Marlena and several animals, including the beloved elephant Rosie, suffer at the hands of August, they decide to run away from the circus. They remain together until Marlena's death.
If you love circus animals, give this movie a try. If you love circus recipes, give a few of these a try.
CIRCUS PEANUT SALAD
6 oz. orange flavor gelatin
2 c hot water
30 marshmallows (circus peanuts candy)
20 oz. pineapple (crushed, drained save juice)
18 oz. cool whip (thawed)
Put gelatin and circus peanuts in a bowl. Add hot water and stir well until completely mixed. Pour pineapple juice into a measuring cup and add cold water to make 2 cups of liquid. Add to gelatin mixture. Refrigerate until partially set. Fold in drained pineapple and Cool Whip. Chill.
CIRCUS BARK
6 cups white chocolate chips
3 cups animal crackers
Colored sprinkles
In a double boiler melt the chocolate or microwave in 30 second intervals stirring until smooth. Lightly crunch up the crackers so the animals are still recognizable, yet not crumby. Lay a layer of the crackers down on a 9 by 13 pan. Spread the white chocolate. Chill until hardened. Break into bite size chunks.
OLD FASHIONED CRACKER JACKS
Pop 4 quarts of popcorn
Melt 1/2 cup margarine or butter in a heavy pan. Add to this 1
tablespoon of molasses and 1/3 cup of honey. Mix into the popcorn. Add
peanuts. Spread mixture in a greased pan and bake for 12 minutes at 350
degrees. Stir once. Let the cracker jacks cool and serve in paper cups.
Add a small prize to each if you want
NEXT WEEK—Flourless Cookies
Remember......Life is short. Eat Dessert first!!
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