Random candy tidbits

I've got a new computer, which should be a good thing, but it came equipped with Windows 8, which is a bad thing. It's the most un-intuitive, difficult abomination of a system I've ever experienced. I'm telling you this because I'm just going to start posting some random candy stuff since everything seems to be working okay tonight. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

First up, candy from Singapore. The Sugar Baby's friend from preschool (who has the same name, only spelled differently), moved to Singapore for a couple of years. But last summer, Shuger Babee returned from the other side of the world, much to everyone's delight. And lucky me! His mom brought me some super yummy hard candies called Sticky. I love these. First of all, they're visually fantastic. The Passionfruit Rock looks like little pieces of passionfruit. The I (Heart) Mango Pudding has little red hearts in the center and the Pineapple Rock has pineapples in the center. The Lychee Pillows are little pink and green puffs. They're adorable. Even better is the taste. They're juicy and tart. Why can't we have hard candy like this in the U.S.?

 

 

 

Next up, a picture of the contents of the Sugar Baby's piñata. He turned 7 in May and I filled his Minecraft Ghast piñata with Ring Pops, Laffy Taffy, SweetTarts, Bottle Caps and other assorted sugary delights.

 

Lastly, we have this York Peppermint Patty-flavored creamer. My boss put these out at work one day and I couldn't wait to try some in my coffee. Looks yummy, right? Wrong. It was too artificial tasting and it didn't do anything to satisfy my chocolate craving.

The aptly-named See's Awesome Walnut Square Bar

This is how I originally started this post:

"It's not often you see candy bars with walnuts in them. In fact, I can only think of two. The British Walnut Whip and ..." (insert long pause here).

I was about to write 5th Avenue. But then I second-guessed myself and looked up 5th Avenue which I haven't had in probably decades. This was a candy bar that regularly appeared in our house, even though it was a dud of a treat. For some reason though, my mother liked these and bought them. I distinctly remember, though, that they were topped with a chocolate-coated walnut half. Yet, when you look at the picture and ingredients of them now, there are no walnuts. Am I imagining this? Am I thinking of another candy bar? It's a mystery! Please chime in if you know what I'm talking about.

In any case, walnuts are rare in the candy world, so I've been intrigued by See's Awesome Walnut Square Bar. When I was offered the opportunity for a sample, I jumped at the chance. The bars come 8 to a box and are individually-wrapped squares. The description on the wrapper says, "Chewy caramel and crunchy walnuts coated in dark chocolate." The chocolate is thick and smooth and the filling is dense and chewy. It's definitely a unique bar. The closest thing I can liken it to is a Goldenberg's Peanut Chew, except that there's more chocolate and the walnuts give it a bitter contrast unlike the peanuts in the Goldenberg's. I loved these little bars. They're a step up from your everyday drug store candy bar, but still down-to-earth and satisfying. In fact, that's what I love about See's candy in general. It's not foofy candy laden with exotic spices. It's good, old-fashioned candy that tastes great and is special. Check them out at www.sees.com.

Eat your words

You've got to love it when you open a package and find this:

This is from Swallow My Words, a chocolate company that combines yummy chocolate, interesting add-ins and words. For example, you could order a Cereal Killa bar which is toasted corn flakes, seasoned Cap'n Crunch, pretzels and orange balsamic caramel. Then you can have them write your own personal saying on it, like "I've made a huge mistake" or "You're killing me, Buster!" I love these because, not only is the chocolate smooth and rich, but the add-ins are unique.The 3-ounce slabs are $5.95 plus an additional $2 for engraving. It's the perfect gift for birthdays, weddings, break-ups and Wombat Day. Check them out at www.swallowmywords.com.

State of candy emergency

It's Teacher Appreciation Week! Hooray! For those of you who don't have kids, let me explain what this means. On Sunday night all across the nation, weary parents finally get around to reading their e-mails from the weekend. On this particular Sunday, the e-mail reveals that each day during the upcoming week, little Mary Jane and Baby Ruth have a special assignment to make their teacher feel appreciated. For example, on Monday, each child should bring in a cardboard flower decorated with paint, glue, glitter and so-forth and write why they love their teacher on it. On Tuesday, they should write a poem extolling the virtues of their classroom, and so on and so forth. Tomorrow, the Sugar Baby is supposed to bring in a sweet treat for his teacher. No problem for me, right?
Um. We have a problem. My first idea was to bake cookies, but I realized too late that I didn't have any butter. (I'm already in my pajamas so I'm not going out.) My second thought was the frozen cookie dough I'd made a few weeks ago. Oh, but I gave that to my sister. So it was time to raid the candy stash. Surely the writer of a candy blog, a self-admitted sugar addict, would have something special on hand to pass off, right? This is all I could find:

A package of leftover Peeps and a single Dum Dum.What am I going to do? In times of personal emergency, I know I can always resort to a bag of chocolate chips, but somehow I don't think she'd get the wry wit behind that. I think I might just have to write her an I.O.U. 

You win some, you lose some

Yes, Easter came and went without a peep (no pun intended!) from Candy Yum Yum! I took lots of pictures of some of the new candy that I saw on the shelves, but I just wasn't motivated this season. Even the Easter Bunny didn't really pull through for the Sugar Baby. He brought some jelly beans, some gummies and a chocolate rabbit, but overall it wasn't a big sugar rush here. I guess I've just been in a candy funk lately. That doesn't mean I haven't been eating candy, of course. It's just that there's not much to say about eating half a bag of Hershey Kisses, especially when you only meant to eat four.

In any case, here's something new that I tried recently: a Trader Joe's PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar. My first thought was, why ruin a peanut butter cup with jelly? But then I tried it. It's a different taste experience than a peanut butter cup. Obviously, first of all it's a bar. The peanut butter is very smooth and creamy and the jelly is more like the liquid filling you find in "fancy" candy bars, like the Godiva raspberry bar. It wasn't overly sweet, which I liked. I would definitely do this one again.
However, the same can't be said about the Snickers 3X Chocolate. Snickers with three times the chocolate? What's not to love, right? Well, let me just say that this bar was a dud. It was actually 2 mini bars inside one package. I like that concept, because sometimes you just don't want a whole candy bar. The description says "milk chocolate, chocolate flavored nougat, chocolate caramel and peanuts." All of that adds up to, well, practically no taste difference between the ingredients. I missed the lip-puckering maltiness of the regular Snickers nougat and the chocolate caramel just seemed blah. I really uphold Snickers as probably the most iconic candy bar, so this was a huge disappointment.

Merci winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Merci Chocolates Giveaway. I loved reading all your answers. The winner, chosen from Random.org is: jwfong! Congrats. A box of Merci chocolates, champagne glasses, popcorn holders and some helpful toasting hints are on their way.

Breaking News: Carrot Cake M&Ms!

I just got a text from the Baroness. She found white chocolate carrot cake m&ms at her local WalMart. She is a carrot cake expert and said the m&ms taste just like the real thing. You can try to find them by typing in your zip code at this page: http://see.walmart.com/mms-easter. Sadly, it appears they're no where near me.

Giveaway Time! Merci chocolates

It's that time of year again ... time to put on a Snuggie, pour the champagne and watch the glitterati make their way down the red carpet.  (I don't know why they bother commenting on the men's tuxedos; they all look the same to me.)

To celebrate, Merci chocolates is offering one lucky Yumster a chance to win a "Joy of Thank You Red Carpet Kit," which includes

• A box of Merci chocolates to share
• Four elegant Champagne flutes
• A festive popcorn container 
• A list of tips to help you share meaningful thank yous and toasts

I love these fancy little chocolates. Each box has an assortment of flavors (milk chocolate, coffee and cream, hazelnut-almond, hazelnut-creme, dark cream, dark mousse and praline-creme). The chocolate batons are the perfect size for an after-dinner treat; just big enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. 

So what do you have to do to be nominated for this great prize? Leave me a message here telling me who you'd thank if you won a big award. 

(If I won an award, say for being the World's Greatest Candy Fan, I'd start by thanking my mom, who taught me to always have candy stashed in your nightstand.)

Here's the fine print: open to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends on midnight on Feb. 28, 2013. One winner will be chosen at random.

Happy Hallo--- oh wait, I mean, Valentine's Day!

As I've written in the past, Valentine's Day is the new Halloween. The Sugar Baby came home from school loaded down with with all sorts of sweets from his friends. Note the tube of Skittles arranged like a rainbow. I wouldn't have the patience to make one of those, let alone 20. 

Random sweet thoughts

'Tis a snowy day here in New England. The snow is so deep my mailbox is completely covered. I'm just thankful that I don't have a dog that's whimpering to go out. It's going to take a while to shovel out of this mess. The good thing is, I finally have time to catch up on all the miscellaneous candy posts I've been wanting to share.

I finally tried an Unreal candy bar. You may have seen these around at CVS or Target or other places. The packaging is attractive and funky, and their tagline is "Candy Unjunked." Basically what they've done is recreated candy favorites, like Snickers, Milky Way, M&Ms and Reese's without artificial ingredients, corn syrup or GMOs. Sounds great, right? I tried the Unreal 8, which is the Snicker's doppelganger. I really, really wanted to love it, but I thought it was just okay. Admittedly, I expected it to taste just like a Snickers when I bit into it, but it lacked that sort of zesty tang in the nougat. (Yes, probably from all the artificial crap, I know.) I just found the bar to be bland. If I was super vigilant about eating healthy, I'd definitely be excited about these, but when it comes to candy, all my ethics go out the window. Just keeping it real.

It's been a while since I posted about the Sugar Baby, who alas, is no longer a baby. Here's a picture of him at the library with his Piggy cupcake that he made. 

And speaking of libraries, here's a shot of a-- get this-- bacon, marshmallow, caramel bar that our librarian Kara made for the Super Bowl. How decadent is that?!

Tasty truffles and a discount!

Let's start 2013 off right, Yumsters! On New Year's Eve, we went to a friend's house where much food and champagne was enjoyed, but the standout of the evening was a box of Truffles by Coquette that I brought along. The Classic box contained three types of beautiful truffles: Colette (French caramel with a touch of Fleur de Sel and enrobed in 55% dark chocolate), Annie (a gooey marshmallow filling dipped in milk chocolate and topped with a mini marshmallow), and Katherine (dark chocolate ganache dipped in dark couveture).
One friend said, "I don't even like marshmallow but I love these! You have to write that!" And so, here it is. The truffles were all very smooth, very rich and the perfect way to cap off 2012. And here's some good news: Jennifer, who owns Truffles by Coquette is offering Candy Yum Yum readers a 20% discount. Check out her website at www.trufflesbycoquette.com and enter CANDYYUMYUM in the discount code field.

From Connecticut, with love

Happy Holidays, Yumsters!
If you've been following this blog for a while, you may recall that the Candy Yum Yum headquarters are located in Connecticut. It's been a tough week here  for reasons the whole world knows. I live 15 minutes from Newtown, and suffice it to say that things are different here now. There's a stillness in air wherever you go. People don't even have to talk about the situation; you just look at each other and know they're thinking the same thing you are. It's impossible to make sense of it all. I have a few friends who write Mommy Blogs, and I've been reading as they try to sort out their feelings through their writing. I've asked myself how I can possibly write about candy (such a silly, frivolous topic) when there is so much sadness and shock and grief. It just didn't seem right.
But the thing is, the link between candy and childhood is immense. I started this blog because of all the happy memories I have of my childhood that are intertwined with sweets. Candy and childhood and happiness all go hand in hand.
As we've all been scrambling to try and do something, anything for the people of Newtown, some residents sent out a message saying that they need this time to heal. They said the best thing people in the neighboring towns could do is spend time with their children. Hug them and love them and enjoy every moment.
And so that's what's been happening in the House of Yum.

The other night, the Sugar Baby and I got down to work on a gingerbread house. I'm pretty sure he ate more candy than he used, but I thought the final product was pretty sweet.  (And so does he!)
Here's wishing you all a very happy Christmas. 

(Note: There are numerous ways to give monetarily to the families of the Newtown tragedy. If you're looking for a reputable fund, I suggest the My Sandy Hook Family Fund. It is run by the parents of the children who survived. The website is: www.mysandyhookfamilyfund.com.)

What we're eating

I'm happy to say that we've finally found some new candy to try here at Candy Yum Yum. It seems like the candy world has been so slow lately. Limited Editions have come and gone and now it's just the occasional random new thing that makes its way onto the shelves. What's going on, candy makers? I'm bored! I want more!
I took the Sugar Baby to a cabaret-style play yesterday and we loaded up on the snacks. One of the fun things I brought was a bag of Snyder's of Hanover York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich. These are round pretzels filled with peppermint filling and dipped in dark chocolate. I wasn't sure about them at first, but then I discovered that if you pry the top pretzel off with your teeth and eat that first, then you have a layer of bumpy peppermint fondant filling that you can eat next. It tasted much better to me that way. Needless to say, the Sugar Baby loved these. I wasn't paying attention to how much he was eating until I looked over at him halfway through the play and saw that he was holding his stomach. Oops.

As for Mr. Goodbar and I, we've been fighting over a bar of Lindt Limited-Edition Mocha Coconut. This new flavor was the winner of the Lindt Excellence Recipe Challenge, a scholarship contest for students at the Culinary Institute of America. According to the press release, Meredith Walker developed the concept for the bar after pairing mocha and coconut to create a birthday cake for her mother and uncle. Holy cannoli, this bar is good. Get one while you can. Check it out at www.lindtusa.com.
 

Oh fudge!

Okay people, ready or not the holidays are on their way. What are you giving this year? You don't know, do you? Well, I'm here to help. I'll be posting some ideas over the next few weeks to get you in the giving spirit. Let's start with a simple but decadent present: fudge.

Who doesn't like fudge? It's fantastic because you can just slice a little off at a time and it's enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. I recently tried a sample of SendFudge in cookie dough flavor. This is the real deal... sweet, sugary, buttery and dense. I love this as a gift idea because it's easy, it's fun and they offer over 40 flavors (like caramel vanilla, dark chocolate chili mango and pumpkin pie). Prices start at $14.99, so it's an affordable gift. Check it out at www.sendfudge.com.
Oh fudge!

Desperately seeking Elvis Reese's

Hey friends, can you help a fellow Yumster out? I received an e-mail yesterday from a reader who has started a Reese's collection. He eats the candy and then saves the wrappers. Here's his dilemma: back when the Elvis Reese's with banana was out, he tried one, but didn't keep the wrapper as he hadn't started his collection yet. Now he's kicking himself. Does anyone have a spare wrapper around? If so, contact me and we'll work out the logistics. I'm sure he'll be forever grateful!