Happy Valentine's Day! (And some new bars from Trader Joe's)

Happy Valentine's Day, Yumsters! What did you all get from your sweeties this Valentine's Day? I want to hear all about your giant hearts filled with chocolates since I don't have one of my own. (I did, however, get something *almost* as good; Mr. Goodbar replaced one of my kitchen cabinets, which have been down in the basement for a year.)

I haven't been eating much candy lately, but I did score some new bars at Trader Joe's recently. One was Dark Chocolate filled with Chocolate Buttercream. The other was Dark Chocolate filled with Speculoos (Cookie Spread). Yes, you read that right. Cookie spread. Can you imagine anything more delicious? First I tried the buttercream bar. The chocolate was good, but not stellar, like in their giant 3 pound bars. The filling was really sweet. It reminded me of a cream-filled chocolate from a box of candy.
I was really excited to try the speculoos bar, because I've never had cookie spread before. I don't know that I can really compare it to anything, but it was sweet and creamy and a nice treat. Not anything that I'd have to have again, but it satisfied my sweet tooth.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Yumsters! I hope you all had wonderful holidays with lots of candy goodness. Here's a picture of some mini "donuts" made from Cheerios that we left for Santa's elves. (After all, they do all the work while Santa reaps all the cookie benefits.)
I wanted to check in and let you know that Candy Yum Yum will probably be a bit sporadic for a while. As I mentioned before, I've been dealing with some crazy vertigo and-- well, I'm just going to come out and say it-- I'm cutting back on the sugar to see if my diet will change anything. Believe me, I am not thrilled at the prospect of cutting chocolate out of my daily food plan, but if it will stop the spins, then I have to do it. I hope you'll check back from time to time and drop me a note if you see anything exciting, unusual or distressing in the candy world.

Mmmm, mmm, Mint M&M's

I love mint. I love dark chocolate. I love M&M's. Therefore, I love dark mint M&M's. That's all I have to say.

Candy Empire State Building!

I'm not exactly sure why I thought going to the top of the Empire State Building last weekend was a good idea, considering I've had vertigo for four months and it was one of the busiest weekends in the city all year. Nevertheless, up we went. It was great and all, but the real treasure was at the bottom. A candy replica of the sky scraper! So very cool.

Christmas Gift Idea #2: Made in the U.S.A. candy canes!

You've heard me complain about candy made in China before and at this time of year I always seem to get a few e-mails from people asking about candy canes. I was so excited when I received a press release yesterday about a new candy cane on the market. Check this out: True Blue Candy Canes are red, white and blue candy canes for a cause. Twenty-five percent of profits from the candy canes benefit the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, which assists children who have lost a parent in the Marine Corps by allowing them to pursue higher education.

In 2009, Alexander Lynn—just 18 at the time—vowed to help families of U.S. service members after his cousin returned home from a nine-year assignment in the Marine Corps. It was just two weeks before Christmas, and Alexander glanced at his Christmas tree laden with candy canes, and the idea of True Blue Candy Canes dawned on him.

Each True Blue Candy Cane is handcrafted by Hammond’s Candies of Denver. True Blue Candy Canes can be purchased online at truebluecandycanes.com. 

 

Now, as is usually the case, these are more expensive than made-in-China candy canes. They're $9.99 for a box of three (don't choke!), but it should be noted that these are big and substantial. (I haven't tried them, so I can't comment on the taste.) And, of course, $2.50 goes directly to the charity. So it all comes down to how strong your political leanings are.

Let the giving begin!

Let the countdown to Christmas begin! I'm going to start posting some ideas for holiday gifts here, so let me know if you have any ideas or are looking for something specific. In the meantime, here's Gift Idea #1 for Christmas 2011:

Lindt Bear
I think these bears are adorable and make great gifts because a) they're good-quality chocolate, so they feel like a real gift rather than just some last-minute purchase and b) they're a nice price (around $4 for the big bear). I was sent some samples from the company, and I fully intended on putting the little bears in the Sugar Baby's stocking. (You know, in case Santa forgets the chocolate.) But one night I heard the sweet Siren call of the chocolate bears and I couldn't resist. Oh yes, there was plenty of chocolate in the house, but for some reason, a little hollow bear seemed to be just the thing I needed. I was quite surprised when I peeled back the foil and was just overcome with the most perfect, intense chocolate aroma. It was like the good old days at the chocolate shop when I'd come home from work and sniff my hair which was permeated with the smell of cocoa. I thoroughly enjoyed my little bear, so much so that there aren't any left. Looks like Santa had better remember to bring some more with him. 

Spicy chocolates for Thanksgiving

There's definitely been a void in the confectionery department when it comes to Thanksgiving. It seems like every holiday has at least one special candy to call its own, but Thanksgiving has always been lacking. Not any more. Check it out, Yumsters. First, we have Lindt Holiday Spice truffles.
Let me just say that I love cinnamon. It's my favorite spice. But, like pumpkin, I've never really found it to be a good compliment to chocolate, so I was a little afraid to try these truffles. I feared they would taste like a Yankee Candle.
No worries, though. These are a nice balance of Lindt's sweet, creamy chocolate and just enough spice to make it interesting. These would be great for the Thanksgiving table.

I was in Target the other day and was surprised to find Cinnamon M&M's. As is often the case with Limited Edition M&M's, these are larger than Plain M&M's. The colors are pretty fall-inspired oranges and browns. Again, I was afraid they might be too cinnamony, but in fact, they were nicely balanced. I wouldn't call them subtle, but they weren't in-your-face, either. My mother-in-law gives them two thumbs up. Mr. Goodbar, on the other hand, feels that all Limited Edition candies are an affront to candy world. He likens it to cable tv. Too many channels (or in this case, flavors). "They're diluting their own brand," he says. I can't say I disagree, but it's also fun to try something new.
What will you be serving as your Thanksgiving chocolate?

Thank God it's over with

As you may recall, last year my friend Alexandra found some interesting stuff in her kids' trick-or-treat bags. My favorite is the empty Scooby Doo bubble bath bottle. This year was nary so interesting. Lots of political stuff, and a Kicking Daisies CD, but the rest was all pretty mainstream. They did score quite a few full-sized bars, though.

So that about does it for Halloween 2011: The Horror Story.

How did your Halloween stack up?

Halloween 2011: You can't keep us down

You didn't really think we'd stay in on Halloween, did you? Despite the odds, we decided we were going to keep up with tradition and do all of our annual Halloween activities. So after the downtown trick-or-treat, it was off to my parents' house to show off the mummy costume (and score a Russell Stover Chocolate Marshmallow Pumpkin). Then, onto the church to visit Father John!

As you may recall, last year 186 kids visited the church to get a full-sized candy bar. Every year, Father John tries to beat the previous year's record. He said he was hopeful that this year would be good, since school was closed and people were anxious to get out of the house. But since it was weird with the snow and all, it was questionable whether the turnout would be good or not.

Just a side comment, here. Father John does a great job of setting the scene in the rectory. There were candles burning and Gregorian chant playing on the stereo. He had cheese and crackers set out for the adults, a really cool frame that displayed old timey candy bags and-- you've gotta love this-- a table decorated with spooky stuff, including a copy of "The Exorcist." Now that is funny!

Of course, the focus of it all was the big basket filled with not just full-sized candy bars, but KING sized. Nice, right? He let the Sugar Baby take not one, not two, but THREE candy bars. He picked a Hershey bar, a Snickers and a bag of Skittles.
We talked a bit and then it was back in the car to drive home and contemplate what the night would bring. The Sugar Baby took a brief snooze in the car after all the exercise and candy.

By the time 6 o'clock rolled around, I was wiped out, but I saw some of the neighbors put their lights on. People were posted frantically on Facebook: "Are you going out tonight?" "Who's trick-or-treating?" "You can't cancel Halloween!"
So Mr. Goodbar and the Sugar Baby headed out into the vast unknown while I stayed behind to hand out full-sized Twix. One gaggle of teenagers nearly wiped out my full supply.
An hour later, the crew returned with a bucket brimming with candy. We dumped it out and began the ritual sorting.
As you can see, there wasn't anything particularly unusual, except for the Toy Story notebook. What was surprising was the absence of certain candies. No Smarties! No Necco Wafers! No pennies! The selection was kind of disappointing, really. I mean, it's great that he got such an abundance of top-tier candy bars, but it's nice to have a little variety.

All in all, it was the weirdest Halloween ever. Some kids went out, others waited until the rescheduled Halloween that took place this past Saturday. (Friends are reporting that it was just creepy. Desolate streets and hardly a spooky Halloween atmosphere.) Let's hope the rescheduling of Halloween never happens again.

And oh, as far as Father John, his Halloween wish came true! He had 262 trick-or-treaters and he had to run down to the corner gas station to get more candy. Now that's some Halloween spirit!

Scariest Halloween Ever.

Q: Why did the vampire love this year's Halloween?
A: Because it was a giant suckfest.

I began writing a detailed post about all of the elements that went into making this the most bizarre Halloween ever, but it was too painful to relive. So here's what you need to know:
1) Snow in New England.
2) School is cancelled.
3) The First Selectman cancels Halloween and reschedules it for this-coming Saturday night.
4) The vertigo which I've been experiencing for 3 months now takes a wicked turn for the worse.
and then this:

I took the Sugar Baby to my parents' town for the afternoon trick-or-treat in the downtown shopping area. On the green, all the local politicians and police set up booths where they give out candy and fliers. There was one table being manned by some grouchy old men offering up lollipops. The Sugar Baby took one just as another kid grabbed a handful, so one of the old men said loudly, "Just take one!" This freaked the Sugar Baby out, so he reached into his bucket and pulled out a Butterfinger, which he tossed back into their pile of low-rent lollipops. Oh the horror! A bad trade! I couldn't really reach back into the pile and pull out the Butterfinger, so we just moved on. But it was that kind of day.

Tired, dizzy and hungry, we took a short break where I had some soup and the Sugar Baby began sorting his loot, including the two glow-in-the-dark bracelets with politicians' names on them. (Who thought of this brilliant idea? Don't they know these are going straight into the landfill?)
So how did the rest of our Halloween go? Did we follow the rules and stay in on Halloween night, or were we rebels, hitting the streets as soon as the street lights went on? Stay tuned ...

Halloween is cancelled?!

What can be more depressing than getting a rock in your trick-or-treat bag? How about this e-mail, sent from my town's superintendent: 

"There are a little more than 1,000 homes in Candyland without power.  While the storm is over, there are still downed trees and live power lines throughout Town.  As such, in light of this evening being Halloween, the Chief of Police and our Emergency Management Team are strongly advising residents not take children out this evening for Trick or Treats.  Accordingly, the Town of Trumbull is determining a make up date for this annual event. 

Once the Town determines that all downed power line and tree limb issues are resolved, a new Halloween date will be scheduled for later in the week.  Residents will be advised of this date as soon as it is determined.

With predicted high winds, tree limbs and downed power lines are still a major issue. In the interest and safety of our children and parents/guardians, we believe the above course of action should be considered."

A make-up date? You can't make-up Halloween! Stay tuned, folks. It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

Happy Halloween!

Happy ... Halloween?

Yep, this is the worst trick of all. You may have heard that New England was walloped with a storm last night. Giant, wet flakes of snow fell from the sky while the winds blew and tree branches snapped off. It was all kind of crazy. The Sugar Baby of course thought this was great, but in the back of my mind all day I just kept thinking, "What about trick-or-treating?" Let me tell you, nothing kills the candy-begging mood like the crunch of wet, cold snow under your feet. Fortunately, it warmed up pretty well today and the streets are pretty clear. School has already been canceled for tomorrow, but as far as I'm concerned, Halloween is ON!

No costume, no candy

This time of year, lots of candy statistics get tossed around. 35 million pounds of candy corn will be made this year. About one pound will be consumed in my house, one corn per day. The folks at Twix sent along some interesting tidbits to ponder.

According to their research, women prefer chewy treats more than men do (42 percent to 33 percent), while more men than women seek out treats with a crunch (33 percent to 23 percent). I don't know if I agree with that, but I did take a particular interest in the next statistic:

Nearly 7 out of 10 adults (69 percent) ages 18 to 24, and half of adults ages 25 to 34 said they would do it if they could. Trick-or-treating, that is. The only thing holding them back is dirty looks from the neighbors.

As I mentioned on my interview with The Sporkful, I love taking the Sugar Baby trick-or-treating. Heck, yes, I dressed him up when he was just a baby and strolled him around town looking for treats. I'm shameless that way, and so are many other parents. Sue me. 

I did mention, however, that I have a *special* bucket of leftover crap treats that I use for teenagers who call a baseball cap a costume. I freely admit that I've been known to clean out the pantry and collect all the granola bars, oatmeal packets, tea bags and raisin boxes that aren't going to be eaten and dole those out. I always thought that I was against trick-or-treating once you reached a certain age, say 17 or so. But the guys at The Sporkful made me realize that I'm not really an ageist, I'm a costumist. This was pretty revelatory to me. I feel empowered. So if you've got a costume, stop by my house on Halloween, even if you're 45 and don't have a kid in tow. I'll be giving out full-size Twix.

Post-The Sporkful Interview: When things got really scary

Hopefully by now you've listened to The Sporkful podcast I mentioned in my previous post and you've become instant fans of Dan and Mark. (I dare you to listen to the egg sandwich episode and not stop at the deli tomorrow morning.) If you haven't heard it yet, take a 1/2 hour and give it a listen. Then come back and read the rest of this post in which I reveal to you what happened after the taping. I'll wait here.
***
Okay.

I went to bed that night full of nervous energy. I’m not a public speaker (if you couldn’t already tell), so I thought my nerves were all jangly over that. But then, suddenly! Terror raced through me! Ohmygosh … I realized that the Sugar Baby had never had a full-sized, four-fingered Kit Kat. I knew the challenge that lay before me.

The next day I went out and bought a Kit Kat. After I fed the Sugar Baby lunch and he was fully ensconced in Phineas & Ferb, I casually pulled it out of the pantry. “Hey,” I said, “check it out.”

His eyes grew when he saw, what very possibly might have been, the first non-Fun Size candy bar he’s ever had. “I can have it?” he asked. “The whole thing?”

“Yes!” I said, excitedly. “Your first big Kit Kat!” And then I got out the camera, as if I wanted to document this huge milestone in his life. Of course, what I was really doing was baiting him. I wanted to see what an unconditioned, un-candy-socialized soul would do with four connected Kit Kat fingers. And this, dear Yumsters, is what he did.

He bit into the whole thing. He grasped all four chocolate fingers at once and bit into them. Oh the humanity! I started laughing, not in a good way, but in an anxiety-ridden, holy crap kind of way. “Let me show you something,” I said, and pulled the bar from his grasp. “Look at these sections. Don’t you think it would be fun to break off each piece?” I asked.

He looked seriously ticked off. “No,” he said, and took the bar back. Eventually it split of its own accord, and that really aggravated him. 

 

Meanwhile, I was having a moment of my own, being transported back in time to that day at Grand Union when the little boy chomped on the Kit Kat and forever altered my world.

As I mentioned on The Sporkful, my own way of eating a Kit Kat is certainly not for everyone. (I believe Dan referred to it as "corn-cobbing.") It requires a certain level of patience and dexterity that I understand not everyone has. So then I was hit with a second blow. I was mentioning my typical Kit Kat attack plan to my Partner-In-Crime, and she said, “Well, that’s how I eat it, too.” WHAT? Now this was a shocker. I don’t understand how I’ve never seen her eat a Kit Kat and furthermore, I can’t believe she eats it the same way. We could’ve gone to our death beds and not known that we had this brilliant piece of confectionery minutiae in common.

Well, you know where this is all leading. I have to know how you eat a Kit Kat. Are there other four-finger biters out there? Or other deconstructionists? Tell me your technique and I’ll tell you all about yourself. A sort of fortune telling by Kit Kat strategy, if you will.