I Want to Talk to the Animals

August 20, 2011

It's that time of year again where our neighbors and fellow towns people gather together for the County Fair.  They haven't changed a whole lot since I was a child.  There's still the cotton candy, the corned dog, the elephant ears and rides to make you wish you'd waited to eat your favorite treat.

It warms my heart and gives me hope to see the number of young people still involved in 4-H whether through the home arts or raising animals.  I was in 4-H when I was young and my strongest memory is when I did a presentation, complete with a bullet pointed poster (!), on how to bake Quaker Granola Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I couldn't have had a more receptive audience since we got to eat the results!  They're still my favorite and I thought I'd share the recipe:

Quaker Crunchy Drop Cookies (makes about 3 doz)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1 egg 3 tbsp. milk 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups Quaker 100% Natural Granola cereal
*Add a bag of chocolate chips to mix if you're like me! Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; mix well and set asid. In large bowl, beat together brown sugar and shortening until light and fluffy; blend in egg, milk and vanilla. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in cereal. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.

 Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees.  

12 day old kid

But the 4-H group I really wanted to belong to was the one that got to raise animals.  I think you'll agree that the responsibility and teaching opportunity of raising a baby animal to adulthood is rewarding.  I think I would've wanted a kid or lamb so I could avoid the auctioning off of my well-loved grown calf in what must be a heartbreaking experience for a younger person.

Judging time...

Before and After

And the cutest thing I saw today... besides the Prairie Dog?  How about a snoring Sow with lots of piglets and one concerned piglet that's worried Mom is having a nightmare?!

If I conferred with our furry friends, man to animal,  Think of the amazing repartee

If I could walk with the animals, talk with the animals,

Grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals,

And they could squeak and skwawk and speak and talk to us! 

Leslie Bricusse (written for the film Doctor Doolittle)

This post was inspired by a blog carnival that my Unique Women in Business is hosting.