This is an excerpt from a short story I originally wrote in 3rd
grade. (Coming soon to Amazon as a short ebook).
We join our hero, Jim, as he attempts to break a world record by making
the world’s largest no-bake cookie in a last ditch effort to save his failing
bakery business...
Jim decided to do all of the real cooking the day before Halloween. This
would allow the dragon cookie to set up overnight, and he would simply pour some
white chocolate over the teeth and claws in front of the press, as a finishing
touch.
“This is stellar!” Colten Peters, high school football star and wanna-be
filmmaker, made a nuisance of himself all day, filming the cooks while providing
obnoxious running commentary. “I’m sending this to the Food Network.”
“Yeah?” Jim stood up straight and waved into the camera. “You think they’ll
make me the next Food Network Star?”
Colten rolled his baby-blue eyes. “Uh – maybe if you had a little more hair
and a lot less belly.”
Jim deflated. “Oh yeah? Well, you might make it as a director if you had a
little more brain and a lot less mouth.”
Jim tried to ignore the incessant droning of the student athlete and
concentrated on his work. It was coming together nicely. The cookie mixture
was lumpy, and each batch a slightly different shade of green, giving the
creature’s skin depth and texture. Chocolate no-bake batter was used for the
eyes, plain batter for the teeth and claws. At 20 feet in length, weighing in
at approximately 500 pounds, this behemoth cookie was sure to make the record
books. Jim’s Bakery would soon die, but its memory would live on in Guinness
history. At least until someone else made a bigger no-bake cookie.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jim thought he saw movement near the dragon’s
tail. He turned, looking directly at the tail, then noticed something wiggle
near the upper right claw.
“Did somebody let Sparky inside? I swear, if that mutt lifts a leg near this
cookie I will cook him next!”
Esther, Farmdale Middle School’s middle-aged, heavy-set ‘lunch lady,’ dumped
her last batch of green cookie mix on the dragon’s considerable snout. “Relax,
SlimJim. Nobody let that mongrel in here. You been at it all day; it’s almost
midnight. Why don’t you go on home and get some sleep? Whatever’s left to do
can wait ‘til morning.”
Jim nodded. “I’m just going to clean up a little, turn the temperature down
a few more degrees.”
Esther lugged her huge cook pot toward the front doors. “It’s dang-near
freezing in here already, Jim. There’s no ice on that rink floor.”
“Right, but if anybody goofed up my recipe and their batch didn’t set up,
this should make things freeze up solid. Don’t want a soupy cookie after all
this.”
Colten filmed Jim as he turned down the temperature and washed a few pots and
utensils in the rink’s simple kitchen. Esther stopped for a smoke outside the
rink. Meanwhile Freddy arrived with Roslyn, hoping to impress her by giving her
a sneak peek at the monster cookie. That’s when it happened.
Colten and Jim could hear the wooden frame snap and splinter from the kitchen
and came running into the arena to see what was happening. Esther the lunch
lady heard the racket from the front steps and bolted through the doors. Roslyn
and Freddy had barely walked into the rink when they saw it.
It was green; it was lumpy; it smelled like peanut butter and vanilla; and it
was moving.
Will the dragon cookie be stopped before it destroys downtown Farmdale? Will
Jim save his failing bakery? Will Freddy ever win the Goth girl’s affection?
Available soon on Amazon - buy it there & find out!
Here's the recipe for Dragon Cookies...
DRAGON COOKIES:
2 C. sugar
½ C. milk
1 C. butter
~12 drops military grade animation fluid (er, I mean green food coloring)
1 tsp. vanilla
3 C. quick cook oats
½ C. Chunky Peanut Butter (Jim recommends Lumpy’s brand, Super Chunk style)
In a saucepan, stir together first 3 ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until peanut butter dissolves and food coloring evens out. Drop into dragon mold and allow to cool. (Or by the spoonful onto wax paper). Please note, green food coloring + no-bake cookies = cookies resembling giant boogers. My boys love them!
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