With a chill in the air, fall was in full swing as it settled over Coolsville like a blanket. The autumn leaves turning various shades of red, orange and browns… falling about the houses like little bits of colored confetti. Setting the proper tone for the upcoming Halloween holiday.
Bent over his current project, Shaggy was getting himself ready to help his dad's Annual Halloween celebration that the police station put on for the kids. Giving them a safe place to celebrate, and fun games to entertain children and adults alike! And putting his talents to use, Shaggy was in charge of making a bunch of treats for the festivities.
The challenge this time around, was Jell-O! Everything that he was making, had to be made out of the wobbly stuff. From eyeballs to worms, to little specimen cups with a foaming liquid. Jell-O was the main ingredient his father had tasked him to prepare. And he and Scooby had raided several grocery stores to gather enough packets to take on this years
"So, like' Scoob. You have our list of ideas this time around for what we should make?" Looking over at the Dane as he crumpled the bag and tossed it among a pile of others from their earlier escapade. Pulling the last Jell-O box from the bag in one hand, he laid the container upon a stack of others sitting on his kitchen counter. A wall of Jell-O boxes and other recipe ingredients loomed over the edge, casting a shadow from the fading sunlight.
"Rah Rah Raggy. R'ere you ro!" Nodding his head, Scooby looked over the list before handing it to his taller friend. Tail thumping on the ground in eager delight at what was set before him. Knowing that most of the finished products would go to the kids, but that didn't mean that they would make everything perfectly the first try. So it was his solemn duty to make sure nothing goes to waste!
"Thanks pal!" Giving Scooby a head rub, Shaggy then took the clipboard from his paws. Scanning a finger across the written down notes, he smiled as he read the little descriptions.
"We'll have to thank Velma for looking these up for us." Shaggy reminded himself aloud, and also to Scooby in case he forgot. "These instructions seem pretty easy to understand. Like' which one should be start on Scoob?"
Tilting himself to the side, he offered the list for the Dane to look over. A paw coming up to pan down the list before poking the clipboard.
"R'hat one!" Scooby barked readily, tapping a claw on the wooden board a few times to make sure Shaggy knew which one he wanted to start on. Reading the name, Shaggy flipped through the various pages till it came across the instructions of their first project.
"Alright! Gummy Worms it is!" Shaggy said with a nod, scanning across the page for the steps they needed to do to get it right.
"Up to the counter Scoob! We need six packs of Raspberry Jell-O. Make sure it's the 3oz boxes though, since we got some of those weird boxes from our last store. Then nab three of those gelatin packs, and the whipping cream!"
"Rum! R'hipped cream!"
"Yeah, I know. Though we need just normal whipping cream, like' the liquid stuff. But we can split a can later when we are done… or sooner. Let's at least get something started before we treat ourselves!" Shaggy mention to Scooby, knowing that the dog was eager for a treat. But they couldn't get distracted before they even got something done.
"Rah rah!" Scooby agreed, plucking the boxes of Jell-O and gelatin from the piles on the counter and moving it to their work space on the nearby small dining table. Making sure to grab only what Shaggy told him.
"Next is the bag of straws. Oh, and nab a bit of food coloring from the pantry." Shaggy murmured, reading over the next steps as he told Scooby what to grab next.
Padding over to their walk in pantry, Scooby shoved his front half past the door and scanned the nearby shelves. It took a little bit, before his paw came down upon the box of food coloring that had been sitting to his left.
"Oh!" Shaggy shouted at Scooby backside as he was still in the pantry. "Make sure you grab those milk cartons that Velma left us in her junk bag!"
"R'ok!" Scooby replied, turning to fish a paw into a black garbage bag that had been hanging off the back of the door. Velma never liked to toss something out if she could use it for a building project later on. So that made her tend to hoard various containers, toilet paper tubes, and other useful bits of things in a bag in the pantry. Though it tended to be used by everyone, since you never knew when you might need just the right sized piece of cardboard. It took a bit of rummaging, but eventually his paws fell upon the two milk cartons that Velma had placed in just for the gummy worms. Pulling them out, Scooby walked himself over to place the containers and food coloring down before landing back on his haunches and stared up for the next phase.
"Can you wash out those containers Scoob? While I grab the mixing bowl we need and start on these straws?" Shaggy asked, moving to the right drawer to get one of his bowls out. Stacking and unstacking a few bows before getting the right sized bowl, he also made sure to pluck the funnel that sat among the bowls as well. Never knew when you might need a good sized funnel!
Lifting himself up, Scooby turned on the facet to the double sink, and popped the top off to get the running liquid into the containers to clean them out. Usually the gang was good at washing things out, but it was better to give it another one just in case. With one in each paw, he shook the pair of milk containers like maracas to get the water to swoosh around inside. Spinning them around in a way similar to a flair bartender, Scooby juggled the cartons till it was good and washed out. Making sure to rinse a few times before returning to the dining table with the mostly empty vessels. Ready to be trimmed and used.
By the time Scooby came over, Shaggy had set up the bowl and moved on to straightening out the straws. The Jell-O and gelatin mixture would be poured into the various straws, giving the thickening liquid the look of a wiggly worm. The bent part of the straw making the look of little ridges that real worms had.
"Alright, now can you get some boiling water from the kettle I put on earlier? It should still be good enough for mixing. Just fill up the bowl to about an inch from the top, and mix in one packet of gelatin for now. I don't know how many worms we'll be making, so we'll do one batch at a time. Let me know when you get that done?"
Shaggy instructed Scooby, as he continued to straighten out the straws and trim the edge off the carton. Leaving room for him to pack in the straws and be able to fill them without losing too much of the mixture. Shoving as many straws into the box as he could fit.
"R'ot it Raggy!" Scooby saluted, moving to get the water and carefully pour it into the bowl. Making sure to not spill, and then put the kettle back before opening the gelatin package. Pouring the contents, he shook the last little bits before moving to his wooden spoon to mix lightly. He wanted to make sure the powder combined with the water well enough, but not stir too hard and send the hot water everywhere… like he had done before. Stirring for a while, he made sure it was fully mixed before wandering over to where Shaggy was finishing up.
"R'all rone!"
"Good going!" Shaggy said as he gave Scooby a pat on the head for a job well done. Placing the two milk containers, now filled with straws aside. "Now while that cools down, we can make the 'dirt' for the kids to pull the worms from. Come on."
With a wave of his hand, he led the Dane to counter where they had put their various building materials. Searching across the wall of Jell-O, he peered a bit before seeking out the two bags of chocolate cookies he needed. Nabbing the crinkly bags, he tossed them into the air to clear the wall and caught them skillfully on the other side. Tossing the bags at Scooby, Shaggy then moved to find a large plastic Tupperware to put the cookies in when they were done crushing them. The dark brown crumbles made for a great edible dirt substitute!
"Now we just need to make these into dust, so let's get crunching!" Chirped Shaggy, snagging a bag for himself. Giving the bag a squeeze, he crushed the little cookies against one another under his hands. He wanted them to be as small as they could make it, without breaking the bag that held them. Making sure to keep as many of the dirt off the floor as he could help. Not wanting to waste time from their cooking, to clean up after a delicious spill. Plus, they had a lot of cookies to break.
After a while of crushing and crunching, Shaggy moved to check on the gelatin mixture. Placing a finger in it, it still had a way to go before it was cool enough to work with. Though it reminded him that he should set up some of the other projects on his list, while Scooby could take care of cookie demolition. Plus, looking over at the dog, he seemed to be having fun. What dog didn't like playing in dirt? And this was even edible dirt!
Pulling out two pans and two cookie sheets, he was setting up for some Pumpkin bites. Making two mixes of orange Jell-O in the various pots; he added gelatin and water to one, and vanilla yogurt to the other. Double handed mixing, Shaggy made sure to keep it at a low temperature and keeping an eye on the gelatin to dissolve. He then sprinkled in a bit of water and gelatin to the yogurt mix to help firm it up. Normally he would make the plain gelatin first, then use the yogurt out of the same bowl. But he had made this enough times over the years that he was able to eyeball how much he needed to make the yogurt one work. Once both mixes were ready, he turned and poured the hot mixture into the two, non-stick cookie sheets he had waiting. Letting them fill up the sheets to make a rectangle of deliciousness to then use cookie cutter shapes of various jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins. This was the best, because anything that wasn't a pumpkin, meant that Scooby and Shaggy could eat... While not taking any snacks away from the kids.
Popping the cookie sheets into the huge double doored fridge to cool, Shaggy moved to look over the list again.
"Let's see what is next?"