J is for Jello Worms

Everybody hates me

Nobody likes me

I'm gonna eat some worrrrrrms

Soooo, I found this pin:

http://onelittleproject.com/
how-to-make-jello-worms/

Ewww, right?

Obviously, I couldn't resist trying it. And I'm going to say RIGHT NOW that the author said it would require some effort to make these, and she wasn't kidding.

Other than having to stop at Dollar General and pick up a couple of packages of bendable drinking straws, I even had all the ingredients, and that included the right sized jar for the project.

I put one package of raspberry jello in a large measuring cup, along with three packets of unflavored gelatin, added 3 cups of boiling water, stirred until the gelatin was dissolved, then put the whole thing in the refrigerator to bring the temperature down to lukewarm (hee hee - I just typed "lukeworm" instead of "lukewarm"...). 

While the gelatin mixture was lukewarming, I got to work on the straws. The recipe calls for 150 straws. 150. The writer of this post, however, said she only (ONLY!) used 125. I stretched straws and stretched straws and got 110 of them into the jar and called it good.

That's 110 straws. Trust me.

Once the gelatin mixture was at the correct temperature, I put green food coloring into 3/4 of a cup of whipping cream and stirred it into the gelatin, then s-l-o-w-l-y poured it into the straws.

The color is disgustingly perfect.

This is where the writer and I differed in our experiences. She said each straw need not be filled individually; rather, the mixture would self-level into all the straws once the jar was filled.

It did not. Some of the straws (the ones in the middle) were pretty full. Others around the edges only had a couple of inches of gelatin in them. Many of the straws had air pockets in them as well.

Also, after a few hours, the cream separated and rose to the top of the jar (as cream is wont to do). This little chemistry experiment was not reflected in the pictures with the recipe, so I'm at a loss as to how to prevent it in the future (if there IS a worm-making future for me). 

This was NOT addressed in the recipe.

We both let our mixtures sit in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then the FUN began.

The straws were hard to get ahold of, as the 110 straws stuffed in a jar with solidified gelatin stood firm. Like pulling a tooth, I wiggled one free, rinsed it for a few seconds under hot water per the instructions, and then squeezed the straw at the top and slid my fingers down the length of it, squirting the worm out the end. Yes, it was just as appetizing as it sounds.

Worm-filled straws

First worm squirting out of the straw.

Repeat 109 more times.

Oh, and some of the straws sprung a leak in the bendy part, causing worm entrails to squiggle out. That was delightful.

Disgustingly realistic

45 minutes (yes, you read that correctly, 45 MINUTES) of rinsing, squeezing and squirting, and I had a bowlful of worms.

A little bitty bowlful of worms.

But I'm not going to lie; in spite of the time it took, and the mess I made, they were AWESOME.

Mmmmm....

I feel like a robin, if robins had fingers
and fed themselves worms.

Overall, a Pinterest win.