Spangler’s Circus Peanut Salad (1976)

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by yinzerella

Greetings and salutations!

It’s been a while since I’ve unmolded something for the blog. And I angered a lot of people with my Jell-O fail on Christmas Eve:

So I consider this my chance for GELATIN REDEMPTION.

The recipe comes from a gem of a flea market find called Stump Creek Residents Cookbook. It was a gift from my Aunt Mary Jo and her long-time partner, Dave.

I think that it is obvious why I picked the recipe—CIRCUS PEANUTS. I had never eaten one, let alone cooked with one.

I learned something while making this salad: circus peanuts do not magically dissolve or become soft in hot water. They are not marshmallows.

Yet, after 5 or so hours chilling in the fridge, my salad unmolded beautifully for an 8-cup mold.

I wasn’t able to dunk it in warm water (see sink full of dishes), but I was able to wrap the mold in a hot towel.

You can see in the picture how little those circus peanuts dissolved.

They just get a bit soft around the edges–which makes for an interesting surprise texture when eating it.

That’s why I made a sign for it. The salad is like any other jell-o salad but then you hit a hard, banana-flavored marshmallow.

It’s not as bad as it sounds.

 

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yinzerella

8 thoughts on “Spangler’s Circus Peanut Salad (1976)”

  1. Sounds like like an acceptable use of circus peanuts to me. (Says I who is waiting for my tomato/veggie aspic to gel). Got to keep things interesting for family during the pandemic!

  3. For some arbitrary parental reason, circus peanuts were banned at my house. Like, yeah parents routinely have to tell their kids at the grocery store to put the cookies and the candy bars back on the shelf, but if we ever wanted circus peanuts, the refusal always was a bit more… personal.

    Am I missing anything?

  4. Those circus peanuts were among my dad’s favorite candies. Yes, my father had questionable culinary taste — he also put Wishbone French dressing on cottage cheese and pineapple. I’d have eaten a piece of your creation if only for the nostalgic connection to my dad. 😉

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