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Somewhere in Dreamland
I know it's a small picture, but it's a clip from one of my favorite cartoons as a child. It's a Max Fleischer cartoon made in 1945 called "Somewhere in Dreamland". One of the first colour cartoons produced, it's the story of two small children that you can tell are quite obviously poor right from the outset of the cartoon...walking down the street in their clothing that is little more than rags...they stop to look in all the windows of the shops along the way....at the baker's they see beautiful cakes and confections....the little boy is so eager, he actually licks the window glass. The baker sees them, but by the time he rushes out to gift them with two cakes they are gone. Back home their loving mother has dinner set out for them....a bowl of what appears to be hot water and a half each of a hard crust of bread....impossible to eat without dunking, which they do. Then off to bed, where threadbare blankets full of holes cover them...they fall asleep and therein begins their wonderful journey...through a magical land where trees hold beautiful clothing for them to wear, fields are full of ice cream cones and popping corn, a magical cake carousel with animal crackers to ride on and other delicious and wonderful treats are awaiting them.....only to wake up in the morning to their harsh reality....but then.... upon leaving their bedroom....they enter the kitchen to find that the baker and all his friends are there and the kitchen is festooned with ribbons and the table overladen with goodies all for them.
I absolutely loved this cartoon as a child. The idea that you could find a magical place where all these things were just for the taking was fanstastic to me! Can you imagine pathways cobbled with sweet, chocolate covered biscuits? Trees dripping with sour lemon drops and rhubarb and custard creams? The magic of it all was they dreamt it and..... lo and behold!!! The next morning they got up and the dream had come true! They weren't actually running through fields of goodies....but the goodies had all appeared in the comfort of their own home!
When I was about eight years old, I wanted nothing more than a Tressy doll....she was beautiful...with long golden hair that you could magically make grow even longer just by pushing a button on the small of her back. OH, the styling you could do with a doll like that...the mind boggles. A girl at school had one, and she loved to taunt the rest of us with it daily at recess....or at least she did, for a few weeks anyways.... Each time I saw her doll, with it's pretty plaid jumper and "real" gold heart shaped locket adorning it's neck, I was filled with a yearning and longing for such a prize as this that was so great I could hardly bear it. One night I lay in bed dreaming and I dreamt that deep in the recesses of my closet, right in the middle of my toy box, there lay such a doll....a beautiful Tressy...golden locks trailing down her plastic back....with a gorgeous pink fluffy dress, complete with several crinolines...no simple gold locket adorned her pretty neck...this one had a diamond necklace and beautiful earrings to match! I awoke in the morning and lay there....rubbing the sleep from my eyes.....the remnants of the dream whirrling through my mind....it seemed so real....was it true.....could it be possible....I could almost smell that new plastic doll smell emanating from the closet. Bounding out of bed I ran to the closet, knowing for sure, absolutely positive that there I would find her....the beautiful doll of my dreams...waiting just for me. You can imagine my dissapointment when I didn't find her...there was no doll...it WAS only a dream...and unlike cartoons I had no jolly baker and his friends waiting for me in my closet to grant me what was then my only wish....ahhh misery....
I never did get a Tressy doll, but I'm quite sure that only a few weeks later that longing and yearning was replaced with a longing for something completely different, but such is childish whim and fancy. Looking back, I realize I was really lucky that it was only pretty dolls and things of that ilk that I longed for....that I had a warm bed to lie in and food to fill my belly and my blanket was not full of holes....I had clean clothes to wear every day and they were not rags...I had a mom and dad that loved me and cared for me....a brother and sister that filled my days with a combination of joy and angst....good health.....my life was full of the stuff of other less priveledged children's dreams. I was already living somewhere in dreamland....I still am.....
Now...here is something that can fuel a grownup's dreams....at least it does it for me
*Chocolate Volcanoes*
Serves 5
Rich sensuous chocolate baby cakes, oozing with dark, gooey chocolate. Served with a simple raspberry coulis. This is one of the most popular desserts I make up at the Big House that I work in. It’s easy and always delicious and the best part of all is you can make the batter several days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator, bringing it to room temperature just before baking.
14 TBS butter
1 cup good quality semi sweet chocolate morsels
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted
1 TBS butter
5 (8 ounce) ramekins
RASPBERRY COULIS:
1 (12 ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed
2 TBS castor sugar
½ cup orange juice
Pre-heat the oven to 230*C/450*F. Butter the ramekins and set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir until melted, then remove from the heat and cool slightly.
Beat the eggs and egg yolks together in a mixing bowl until very thick and lemon coloured. Beat in the icing sugar and flour, one at a time, until smooth. Beat in the melted chocolate. Divide evenly amongst the buttered ramekins.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops are just beginning to crack. DON’T over bake, too much cracking is a sign of over cooking. It should be slightly undercooked in the middle. Let stand exactly for 8 minutes, then turn each out onto serving plates that you have spooned some of the raspberry coulis onto.
While the cakes are baking it is the perfect time to make the coulis. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture is pureed. Strain through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. I have a plastic squirt bottle that I use to squirt the coulis onto the plates in a decorative pattern
PS If you'd like to watch this cartoon, you can find it at: http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=771&format=tv&theme=guide
Written by mariealicejoan Blog about this entry |
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My favorite doll was a Revlon doll. There were three different dolls made, and I wanted the small one like Barbie. My parents, in their eagerness to please, gave me a whopping big one. I still have a picture of me dressing that doll on Christmas morning with a big red bow in my hair. Looking back, I know I was blessed over and above alot of children.
I've been looking for a recipe for this volcano ever since I saw the advertisement for M & S's version. Yum and thank you!
Susie
14/10/06 10:20