"Blood" Worms - Disgustingly Delicious Halloween Treat

 Hungry anyone? 

Steve found this awesomely gruesome treat while randomly searching the internet. After he sent me a picture of them, I went in search of a "how to". When I came upon this website, www.theidearoom.net/2009/09/jell-o-blood-worms.html, I knew I had not only found the recipe I was looking for, but also a great new site to get future ideas from. I'm officially addicted! 

Back to the worms... If you read the story that goes along with the "how to" then you will note that she says her daughter couldn't even look at them but once she tried one she liked it. That's how I knew that I was making these this Halloween. I really love to make foods that have that WOW (or ewwww) factor! 

Some tips that I can think of to share: 

*These were fun to make, but pretty time consuming. Make sure to make these at least a day or two in advance. 

*Cardboard milk carton would work best, but other containers can work as well. I used a plastic milk jug. I'm sure it wasn't as efficient, but it was what I had on hand. 

*Because my container was bigger I used as many straws as needed to fill up the empty space. I would recommend doubling the batch of gelatin if you are going to use a larger container.

Ingredients:

*100 flexible plastic straws

*an empty, cleaned 1-quart milk or orange juice carton to hold straws (A cardboard carton would work best. The straws will fill up to the height of the container, the taller the better.)

*1 package (6 ounces) raspberry or grape flavor gelatin
*3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
*3 cups boiling water
*3/4 cup whipping cream
*12 to 15 drops green food coloring

*waxed paper

Instructions: 

Combine all gelatin in a bowl and add boiling water; stir until completely dissolved. Chill until lukewarm, about 20 min.

Meanwhile, gently pull straws to extend to full length; place in tall container with bendable neck at the bottom of the container. Wrap together with a loose rubber band to hold straws together.

Blend cream and food coloring with the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Carefully pour into container, filling straws.

Chill until gelatin is firm, at least 8 hours, or cover and chill up to 2 days.

Pull straws from container or, if you’re using a carton, simply tear the carton away from the filled straws. Pull straws apart. Run hot tap water for about 2 seconds over 3 to 4 straws at a time. Starting at the empty ends, push worms from straws with rolling pin, or use your fingers.

Lay worms on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Cover and chill until ready to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. Worms will hold at room temperature for about 2 hours.

I was finishing these up around lunch time today and put one on Logan's plate and said "Would you like to eat a worm?" He looked at it and said "Um, yeah!" and ate it without a second thought. I swear that kid will eat anything. (I'm not complaining. I'd rather have an excellent eater than a picky one!) He kept saying "Yum, worms good!" At this point I decided I had better explain to him that these were made out of Jell-o and that we don't eat real worms that are on/in the ground outside. Hopefully he understands what I was saying and doesn't have to learn that lesson the hard way...YUCK!