I've got a huge sweet tooth.
Always have, always will.
That makes October an especially fun month.
My friend Scott is a Jehovah's Witness, so he doesn't celebrate Halloween (how sad, that's my favorite holiday!), but he says he loves this time of year because he can buy candy corn.
My friend Leslie feels the same way, and picks up bags of Brach's in every flavor--caramel candy corn, regular, and chocolate.
She then pours them all in a bowl together and we get sick from gluttony.
I was thinking about my favorite candies, and I keep coming back to old-fashioned varieties.
I love flavored Tootsie Rolls, and Blue Raspberry Tootsie Pops (the one pictured is a Pomegranate flavor).
The Caramel Creme are the round versions of the stick-shaped candy called Cow Tails.
The little peanut butter bars stir up some kind of childhood warm-and-fuzzy feeling for me.
They sort-of taste like Clark bars (remember those?), or 5th Avenue bars, or Chick o Sticks without the coconut (ummmm...Chick o Stick....).
Do I care that it's a ton of sugar and the dreaded corn syrup? Uh...no.
Do I care that this time of year is the busiest for dentists because fillings get pulled out and all that stuff? Uh...no.
Candy is fun and frivolous and nostalgic.
When I was a kid, I used to roller skate over to the little mom and pop store and buy Pixie Stix. It's cool those are still around.
Remember Razzles? Lik-a-Maid? Those little candy dots stuck on paper? O'Henry?
For my friend debs' birthday recently, one of the things I bought for her were pig-shaped gummy candies by Fred Ferkel out of Germany.
I sent away to Germany for them, spent a ridiculous amount on shipping, but they were fun and flavorful and worth it.
A week later I found them in the Cost Plus World Market down the street from my house!
Go figure.
Cost Plus is actually a great resource for candy though.
That's where I bought the chocolate-coated licorice (yum).
They carry a bunch of old-time candies like Mary Janes, Good and Plenty, and the little honey-flavored chewy things that I can't remember the name of right now.
Henry's Market carries big malted milk balls with a peanut butter filling (omg).
Funny how some sweets can only be appreciated as an adult.
I never cared for candy corn or Good and Plenty when I was a kid, but I do now.
I used to participate in a candy swap--it was fun.
I got some amazing things sent to me from the UK, like licorice pinwheels.
What are your favorites?
Labels: candy
